Seoyeon Hong

The Real You? The Role of Visual Cues and Comment Congruence in Perceptions of Social Attractiveness from Facebook Profiles

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social cues in self-presentations and the congruence of other-generated comments with the self-presentation in peoples evaluations of a profile owner. A 2 (level of social cues: high vs. low) × 2 (congruent vs. incongruent) × 2 (order) × 2 (multiple messages) mixed-subject experiment was conducted with 104 college students. The results showed that a profile owner was perceived less socially attractive when other-generated comments were incongruent with the profile owners self-presentation. No matter how people package themselves with extravagant self-presentations, it cannot be very successful without validation from others. Interestingly, an interaction effect between congruence and the level of social cues suggested that perceived popularity was low in the incongruent condition regardless of level of social cue. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.

Does Race Matter? Implicit and Explicit Measures of the Effect of the PR Spokesman's Race on Evaluations of Spokesman Source Credibility and Perceptions of a PR Crisis' Severity

One rationale offered for why there are fewer people of color in public relations is that publics would respond less positively if racial minorities represented the public face of an organization. To determine the plausibility of this rationale, this study employed a 2 (race: Black vs. White spokesman) × 2 (performance history: with prior crisis vs. no prior crisis) × 2 (crisis type: sports vs. product recall) within-subjects experiment (N = 64), using both implicit (reaction time) and explicit (self-report) measures. Contrary to expectations, participants rated Black spokesmen as significantly more credible than White spokesmen using explicit measures. Most significantly, implicit tests, using response time measures, revealed that heuristic cues, such as the spokesmans race, have an influence on perceptions in the absence of a performance history, i.e., when no other information must be cognitively processed. But in cases where there is a crisis history, i.e., when there is more pertinent information, racial cues play less of a role.

What Corporations Say Matters More than What They Say They Do? A Test of a Truth Claim and Transparency in Press Releases on Corporate Websites and Facebook Pages

This study explicates two strategic ways to enhance organizational transparency in the eyes of its public during a crisis. By using 2 (a corporate website vs. a corporate Facebook) × 2 (presence vs. absence of statement asserting factuality of an official statement) × 2 (presence vs. absence of sentences disclosing more detailed information) mixed-subjects experiment (N = 133), this study showed that a statement by a corporation claiming the official announcement as true affects public assessment of organizational transparency and reputation, and that participants’ favorable reputation perceptions prompted by the truth claim were not determined by different online media.

Generalizing Baseball: Holding and Applying Stereotypes to America's Pastime

Prior content analyses of sports coverage have revealed sports journalists ascribe particular adjectives to athletes based on race. A recurring pattern is the brain-versus-brawn dichotomy. In a 2 (race: Black versus White player) x 2 (description: consistent versus inconsistent stereotype) x 2 (source: journalist vs. blogger) within-subjects experiment, we empirically tested if the same set of stereotypes holds true among those exposed to these media stereotypes. Using both implicit (response latency) and explicit (credibility rating) measures, we found a consistent pattern of stereotyping Black athletes. Stereotypes were activated most quickly by a stereotypical description of a Black athlete. A journalist was also rated most credible when stereotypically describing a Black athlete.

Exposing The American Dilemma: How Aversive Racism Plays a Part in Homicide News Reception

ABSTRACT This study examined whether news stories about violent shooting homicides impact implicit and explicit attitudes about race. To explore these relationships, the authors used a 3 (race: White, Black, control) × 3 (role: victim, perpetrator, control) × 3 (multiple messages) mixed factorial design. The study found that high social dominant-oriented (SDO) individuals expressed more empathy in general, with the most empathy toward Black perpetrators in homicide news stories in comparison to low SDO individuals. Ironically, for high SDO individuals, perpetrators in the stories received more explicit negative Black stereotyping than victim in the stories. These findings indicate that aversive racism occurs in the processing of news stories. This has practical implications for journalists because stereotyping and bias in news coverage could reinforce aversive racism.