Hyegyu Lee

Connection Overload? A Cross Cultural Study of the Consequences of Social Media Connection

Both positive and negative impacts of specific social media channels have been identified, but their cumulative impacts across media and across cultures have not been examined. A connection overload path model was developed from data gathered in Ireland, the United States, and Korea. The magnitude of connection demands reduced negative affect, while connection habits reduced negative outcomes and negative affect. Difficulties controlling connection habits were related to negative impacts on important life activities, stress, and affect. Cultural differences were interpreted through the individualism-collectivism framework. Collectivists may be buffered from mechanisms that can adversely impact psychological well-being.

Attention cycles and the H1N1 pandemic: a cross-national study of US and Korean newspaper coverage

This study analyzes US and South Korean news coverage of the H1N1 pandemic to examine cross-cultural variations in attention cycle patterns, cited sources, and news frames. A content analysis was conducted on 630 articles from US and Korean newspapers during the period of April to October 2009. It found that attention cycle patterns, news frames, and sources varied across the two countries according to professional norms, cultural values, social ideologies, and occurrences of relevant events. While US news coverage showed two phases of waxing and waning attention, Korean news coverage showed five phases. The frames used in US news stories placed more emphasis on attribution of responsibility, action, and reassurance. Other framing variations were found as news attention in each country rose and fell. Regarding sources used, Korean news stories relied more on governmental sources, while US news stories used a greater diversity of sources. This study advances research on variations in the attention cycle for transnational issues by specifying how journalists’ framing of social problems can differ according to the following: cultural factors, the shape of the news attention cycle, and the occurrence of events related to the issue at hand.

Impact of norm perceptions and guilt on audience response to anti-smoking norm PSAs: The case of Korean male smokers

Objective: To examine how norm appeals and guilt influence smokers’ behavioural intention. Design: Quasi-experimental design. Setting: South Korea. Method: Two hundred and fifty-five male smokers were randomly assigned to descriptive, injunctive, or subjective anti-smoking norm messages. After they viewed the norm messages, their norm perceptions, guilt and behavioural intention were measured. Results: The study revealed several findings: (1) injunctive norm perceptions significantly affected behavioural intention; (2) descriptive norm perceptions had a non-significant impact; (3) subjective norm perceptions had an unexpected impact on behavioural intention; (4) guilt arousal strongly and directly affected behavioural intention in all three conditions; and (5) guilt arousal did not mediate the relationship between norm perceptions and guilt. Conclusion: Injunctive norms messages that smoking in the presence of others is an unacceptable behaviour in society could persuade smokers to alter their behaviours. In addition, our study suggests substantial potentials of guilt in smokers’ behaviour change.

Roles of guilt and culture in normative influence: testing moderated mediation in the anti-secondhand smoking context

Abstract This study simultaneously explored direct, indirect, and joint effects of types of norm messages, guilt, and culture on smokers’ behavioral intentions in the anti-secondhand smoking context. An online study among 310 smoking students in an individualistic (United States) and a collectivistic (Korea) country indicated that (1) norm messages had no conditional indirect effects on behavioral intention, (2) guilt arousal had a strong and direct impact on behavioral intention, and (3) guilt arousal and its impact on behavioral intention were stronger among Korean smokers than among US smokers.

When Do People Speak Out? Integrating the Spiral of Silence and the Situational Theory of Problem Solving

Combining spiral of silence theory with the situational theory of problem solving, this study explores the extent to which publics differ in their willingness to express their opinions in hostile social situations. Based on analysis of a survey among 369 college students about their willingness to express opinions on 2 controversial topics (gun possession and climate change), 3 key findings emerge: (a) Fear of isolation suppresses peoples willingness to express their opinions in public; (b) active publics are more likely than other types of publics to express their opinions; and (c) there is no interaction effect between fear of isolation and types of publics. In addition to several theoretical contributions, the findings provide public relations practitioners with a model for predicting which types of publics would be more or less likely to express their opinion.

The Impact of Cultural Characteristics and Message Appeals on Attitudes toward Anti-Secondhand Smoke PSAs : Cross-Cultural Comparison

This online evaluation study of anti-secondhand smoke messages investigated two related questions. First, to what extent do different message appeals ― norm versus threat ― have differential impacts on people from a predominantly individualistic culture compared to people from a predominantly collectivistic culture? Second, how do country-level and individual-level cultural orientations interact to affect attitudinal outcomes? Using a 2 (Culture: Individualism vs. Collectivism) × 3 (Message Appeals: Descriptive Norm vs. Injunctive Norm vs. Threat) between-subjects design, the study was conducted online among nonsmoking college students in the U.S. and South Korea. Message appeals were tested in ads that oppose secondhand smoke, a prominent health issue in both countries. There are two major findings. First, regardless of culture, norm appeals ― particularly injunctive but not descriptive norm appeals ― are more effective than threat appeals on behavioral intention. Second, people in an individualistic culture responded more favorably to threat appeals than those in a collectivistic culture, while no clear evidence was found on preference for norm appeals among people in a collectivistic culture. Regression analysis produced no evidence that individual-level cultural orientations of individualism or collectivism would affect the interactive relationship between country-level culture and message appeals for attitude toward ad or behavioral intention.