Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft

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AI in media organisations: Factors influencing the integration of AI in the newsroom
(2024) Grimme, Meike; Vogelgesang, Jens
The overstated generational gap in online news use? A consolidated infrastructural perspective
(2021) Mangold, Frank; Stier, Sebastian; Breuer, Johannes; Scharkow, Michael
Recent research by Taneja et al. suggested that digital infrastructures diminish the generational gap in news use by counteracting preference structures. We expand on this seminal work by arguing that an infrastructural perspective requires overcoming limitations of highly aggregated web tracking data used in prior research. We analyze the individual browsing histories of two representative samples of German Internet users collected in 2012 (N = 2970) and 2018 (N = 2045) and find robust evidence for a smaller generational gap in online news use than commonly assumed. While short news website visits mostly demonstrated infrastructural factors, longer news use episodes were shaped more by preferences. The infrastructural role of social media corresponded with reduced news avoidance and more varied news repertoires. Overall, the results suggest that research needs to reconsider commonly held premises regarding the uses of digital media in modern high-choice settings.
Do sexist comments hinder participation in online political discussions?
(2023) Reich, Sabine; Bachl, Marko
Women who visibly engage in politics online experience a lot of backlash. The presented study investigates sexist incivility against women in online political spaces as a possible explanation for the gender gap in online political discussion and expression. Online sexism solidifies the masculine norm in online political spaces. Drawing on social cognitive theory and the theory of normative social behavior, we understand online incivility as communication mechanisms that enforce gender norms in online political discussions. We use a preregistered online survey experiment with German Internet users to investigate how sexist comments in online political discussions affect women’s participation in the discussion, perceived social norms about participating, and their internal political efficacy. We found no effects of sexist comments on the propensity to engage in the discussion or the political efficacy to contribute. However, the presence of sexist comments increased the fear of sanctions in both men and women. The null findings of the preregistered experiment occurred despite sufficient statistical power and a successful treatment check. We discuss several possible explanations for the null effects and ways forward.
Knowledge-based and generative-AI-driven pedagogical conversational agents: A comparative study of grice’s cooperative principles and trust
(2023) Wölfel, Matthias; Shirzad, Mehrnoush Barani; Reich, Andreas; Anderer, Katharina
The emergence of generative language models (GLMs), such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is changing the way we communicate with computers and has a major impact on the educational landscape. While GLMs have great potential to support education, their use is not unproblematic, as they suffer from hallucinations and misinformation. In this paper, we investigate how a very limited amount of domain-specific data, from lecture slides and transcripts, can be used to build knowledge-based and generative educational chatbots. We found that knowledge-based chatbots allow full control over the system’s response but lack the verbosity and flexibility of GLMs. The answers provided by GLMs are more trustworthy and offer greater flexibility, but their correctness cannot be guaranteed. Adapting GLMs to domain-specific data trades flexibility for correctness.
The role of public opinion on ethical AI principles and its implication for a common good-oriented implementation.
(2024) Kieslich, Kimon; Vogelgesang, Jens
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a tremendous impact on society. While artificial intelligence encompasses a variety of different systems, algorithmic decision-making (ADM) systems in particular are being used to augment or even replace human decision-making. Because ADM systems are susceptible to ethical ramifications, such as fairness issues, opacity, and lack of accountability, how to manage the implementation of ADM is a societal challenge. This is particularly relevant when ADM is used in high impact situations that can potentially affect every member of society, such as in the public sector. As a way to address the harms of ADM, ethical guidelines have been proposed by companies and policy makers. However, scholars argue that these guidelines lack reinforcement mechanisms and that additional incentives are needed for decision makers to actually invest in ethical systems. In my dissertation, I focus on one potential factor that could contribute to the development of ADM in the public interest or for the common good, respectively -- public opinion. Critical public discussions about whether and how society wants ADM to make decisions can put pressure on decision makers to actually develop and implement ADM systems that adhere to ethical standards. The public does this by articulating (political) demands and by legitimizing or critiquing current practices. My research is situated within normative theories of the political public sphere, which propose different approaches for public discourse in the formation of democratic will, as well as the Society in the Loop framework, which emphasizes the need to include citizens' perceptions in decision-making about ethical trade-offs in the design and implementation of AI systems. This cumulative dissertation consists of four peer-reviewed papers: Paper 1 critically discusses at a theoretical level the role of public opinion as an influential factor in technology adoption. It argues that given the serious implications that the emergence of AI could have on society, public opinion can be a crucial incentive for both technological and political decision-makers to invest in AI for the common good. However, the paper also acknowledges and discusses the limits of public influence, and outlines potential avenues for greater inclusion of the public voice. Paper 2 presents data from a large-scale survey on public opinion on AI in Germany. In particular, it examines 1) what citizens have in mind when thinking about AI, 2) what role ethical AI issues play in this regard, 3) which demographic and AI-related factors contribute to a higher salience of (ethical) AI issues, and 4) what consequences the salience of ethical AI issues has in terms of AI avoidance and engagement in public discussions about AI. The paper's main contribution is to provide an empirical database on the engagement of German citizens with AI, thus helping to assess citizen influence on technological and political decision makers. Paper 3 empircally examines citizens' perceptions of the ethical trade-offs that must be made in the design process of AI systems. It uses a use case of AI in the public sector which, from the normative standpoint of AI development for the common good, requires citizen participation. Paper 3 provides insights into 1) citizens' ethical preferences for the design of AI systems, 2) shows that there are different publics with different preferences, and 3) describes how these publics are constituted in terms of demographic as well as AI-related factors. The paper's main contributions are to propose a measurement for evaluating ethical AI principles and to describe different preference patterns of the German public. Paper 4 delves deeper into the topic of the consequences of (non-)compliance with ethical design of AI systems. Again, the paper presents a use case of AI in the public sector and discusses the role of trust in AI as influential factor leading to the legitimization of AI technology. The main contribution of the empirical paper is to elaborate on the role of trust in AI, as it is treated as a major factor in empirical research and policy discussion in light of a widespread implementation of AI. In summary, my dissertation contributes to the literature on public opinion research, the Society in the Loop framework, and the efforts of the FAccT (Fairness, Accountability and Transparency) community, and specifically discusses the role of the public as a potential critical voice in the design and implementation process of AI systems. On a methodological level, I propose a measure for exploring the preference for trade-offs in ADM systems. On an empirical level, I provide a rich empirical (baseline) data on citizens' perceptions of ADM on which future studies can build. On a theoretical level, I discuss my findings in terms of normative theories about the role of the public and the Society in the Loop framework. On a practical level, I address the interplay between public opinion and the economic, media, educational, and political & legal sectors, and I elaborate on future steps that can be taken to strengthen the common good orientation in the development and implementation of AI systems.
Public knowledge of alternative media in times of algorithmically personalized news
(2021) Klawier, Tilman; Prochazka, Fabian; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Citizens are likely to encounter various types of alternative media online, especially on algorithmically personalized news channels (APNC) like social network sites or search engines. It is unclear, however, to what degree they are aware of these outlets and familiar with the concept of alternative media. This study investigates the relation between exposure to alternative media and knowledge of them, taking the role of APNC into account. Analyzing representative survey data of German Internet users, we find a gap: While many individuals report to use alternative media, few of them are able to name alternative media titles matching scholarly conceptions. Although the use of APNC increases self-reported exposure to alternative media, it does not improve actual knowledge of them. All in all, many Internet users have little awareness of alternative media and do not clearly distinguish between different types of sources they come across online.
Psychological responses to jihadist terrorism: Exploring a small but significant opinion shift towards minority inclusion among French citizens in response to the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks
(2023) Lueders, Adrian; Wollast, Robin; Nugier, Armelle; Guimond, Serge
Experiences with jihadist terrorism sparked debates about the boundaries of religious expression within secular societies. Standpoints majority members hold in such discussions may be inclusive or exclusive towards religious minorities and inform wider intergroup perceptions. The present research explores these relationships in the context of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks in Paris, France. Using longitudinal data from a diverse French sample (N = 558) collected before and after the attacks, we test whether within‐person changes in exclusionary and inclusionary interpretations of the French Laïcité principle can account for changes in public perceptions of context‐relevant minorities. Meta‐analytical findings suggest a small significant conservative shift after experiences with terrorism. Previous research conducted in the context of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks departed from this pattern, however, without identifying underlying psychological mechanisms. Accordingly, the present data suggests a small but significant opinion shift in favor of context‐relevant minorities. This shifting was partially explained through an increased endorsement of an inclusionary interpretation of the Laïcité principle that stresses the freedom of religious expression. We offer a contextualized interpretation of our data, suggesting that the collective coping dynamics that followed the events (i.e., republican marches, #JeSuisCharlie) have been critical for the observed effects.
Kulturwandel in der Unternehmenskommunikation : die Etablierung einer datengetriebenen Kultur und ihre Auswirkungen
(2024) Groß, Marie Sophie; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Daten nehmen als immaterielle Ressource eine immer zentralere Rolle für die Unternehmenskommunikation ein, werden jedoch häufig noch nicht für die Entscheidungsfindung genutzt. Stattdessen werden intuitive Entscheidungen basierend auf Erfahrungen und Emotionen getroffen. Um dies zu ändern, ist ein Verständnis über eine datengetriebene Kultur in der Unternehmenskommunikation essenziell. Die bisherige Forschung konzentriert sich allerdings auf den Nutzen einer etablierten datengetriebenen Kultur für die Gesamtorganisation und weist Forschungslücken hinsichtlich der Charakteristika, Etablierungsfaktoren und Reifebeurteilung auf. Mithilfe der Erkenntnisse aus zehn qualitativen Expert:innen-Interviews unterstützt die vorliegende Arbeit die Schließung dieser Forschungslücken. Dabei werden sowohl die Perspektiven von Befragten direkt aus der Unternehmenskommunikation als auch von Personen, welche die datengetriebene Kultur auf Gesamtorganisationsebene betrachten, einbezogen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich eine datengetriebene Kultur in der Unternehmenskommunikation nicht losgelöst von der Gesamtorganisation betrachten und zudem durch den Dreiklang der technischen, menschlichen und organisatorischen Ressource charakterisieren lässt. Dabei steht die menschliche Ressource im Kern des Konzeptes. In allen Ressourcen lassen sich dann wiederum für jedes Charakteristikum Etablierungsfaktoren identifizieren. Grundsätzlich ist hier die Dynamik der Charakteristika innerhalb der und zwischen den Ressourcen zu beachten. Gelingt es, eine datengetriebene Kultur in der Unternehmenskommunikation zu etablieren, führt dies zu einer Vielzahl an Vorteilen für die Abteilung selbst sowie für die Gesamtorganisation. Insgesamt zeigt sich zudem, dass das Verständnis einer datengetriebenen Kultur sehr individuell ist, wodurch nur vereinzelt Muster hinsichtlich Position und Branche erkennbar sind, keine in Bezug auf die Unternehmensgröße. Während das Verständnis bezüglich Charakteristika, Etablierungsfaktoren und Nutzen recht ausgeprägt ist, stellt die Reifebeurteilung auch Expert:innen vor Herausforderungen. Daher sollte diese im Fokus weiterführender Forschung stehen.
Subtitling vs. dubbing and original version : the effects of different translation methods on consumer behavior towards product placement on audiovisual content
(2024) Noschang, Luis Octávio; Vogelgesang, Jens
The main objective of this dissertation was to investigate whether different versions of a program concerning audiovisual translation formats as well as multitasking would influence product placement effectiveness on audiences. Also, if there would be any relation between levels of multitasking and the version of the program being watched. The first problem to be addressed was determining whether the above-mentioned questions have not been the subject of research in the past. A systematic search on the three most prominent research databases available (Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCO) followed by a manual analysis of the publications was conducted and research items of these publications were further investigated to identify effects caused by placements as well as variables or drivers of product placement effectiveness. Some 320 research items (hypotheses, research questions, empirical generalizations, and results) featured effects caused by placements. The total of effects identified was 11. Brand attitude and brand recall were the two most prominent effects identified. In the case of variables, or drivers of effectiveness, 417 research items included 57 different variables that could be divided into 2 categories: 33 variables derived from characteristics of the audience and 24 variables pertaining to the content, medium, or placement. None of the publications featured audiovisual translation formats as variables, confirming the research gap in the field. For multitasking, 2 publications were identified that covered the subject, nevertheless, in a different form than the intended of this dissertation. The empirical investigation was performed through an experiment where participants could freely choose between four options of pre-defined episodes of two different sitcom series as well as the version between original, dubbed, and subtitled, the last only as a choice for those that could not understand the spoken dialogues. Some 2302 participants were recruited and answered a questionnaire containing questions about aided recall of brands placed in the episode, and multitasking behavior while watching the program. Results on brand recall of placements remained constant between groups watching different versions of the programs. Punctual percentual differences could be identified, nevertheless, reversed results appeared for different products, and Chi-square tests revealed no statistically significant differences. The presence of subtitles did not significantly alter brand recall. Brand recall also remained stable among viewers of programs in original, dubbed, and subtitled versions. Results compared brand recall of placements between viewers who declared that they engaged in other activities while watching the program and viewers who did not multitask. The levels of brand recall did not differ significantly between these two groups. The time spent not looking at the screen was the next aspect evaluated in the experiment. Here, no significant difference in the levels of brand recall was identified between the viewers who did not look at the screen for less than 1 minute and the viewers who looked away from the screen for between 1 and 5 minutes during programs of around 20 minutes in length. The different versions of the program were tested with regard to their influence on multitasking behavior. The presence of subtitles decreased viewers’ levels of multitasking when compared with those of viewers who watched the program in its original or dubbed versions with no subtitles added to enhance comprehension of the spoken dialogues. The levels of multitasking remained constant between viewers of the dubbed and original versions of the program. To increase the validity of the results, a method of observing the respondents was also implemented. A total of 274 respondents were recorded in videos that were later analyzed manually. This method was introduced to more precisely determine the time they spent not looking at the screen as well as to detect false positives on the respondents’ answers.
A gendered perspective on online privacy and self-disclosure
(2024) Frener, Regine; Trepte, Sabine
In research on online privacy and self-disclosure, gender is commonly included as a potentially predictive variable. The results are heterogeneous and sometimes controversial; explanations are often lacking or based on stereotypical assumptions. With this dissertation, I seek to provide a gender-focused perspective on online privacy and self-disclosure by taking a closer look at gender effects in privacy-related outcomes, studying the implementation of gender as a research variable, and investigating how gender is related to people’s inherent need for privacy. To this end, I present a short introduction in the first chapter, followed by four publications: a book chapter on privacy and gender (Study 1), a systematic literature review (Study 2), an empirical investigation of gender effects in privacy behavior (Study 3), and the development of the Need for Privacy Scale (NFP-S; Study 4). In Study 1, the book chapter, I summarize key theoretical advancements in gender and privacy research in line with the feminist movement. Further, empirical findings on gender disparities are presented from a communication science perspective. I discuss the ongoing gender-based digital divide as well as risks associated with automatic gender categorization. Lastly, I address the problems of conceptualizing gender as a binary, static variable, and propose alternative perspectives for more equitable treatment. In Study 2, my co-author Prof. Dr. Sabine Trepte and I examine how scholars in the field of online privacy incorporate gender into their research. For n = 107 articles reporting gender effects (or a lack thereof), we assess whether gender theory is included, to what extent it is referred to, and what function it serves. The results show that in most studies, gender is undertheorized, resulting in reduced explanatory power and the risk of gender essentialism. To meet the need for gender theorization in online privacy research we identified in Study 2, I present an empirical investigation of the social web gendered privacy model (Thelwall, 2011) in Study 3. The model aims to link gender differences in online privacy concerns, data protection behavior and online self-disclosure and explain them via gender differences in offline factors. Using longitudinal data (n = 1,043), I found partial support for the relationships between the privacy-related variables as well as for the transfer from offline to online contexts. The expected gender differences did not arise consistently, which challenges the model’s claim that women constitute an especially vulnerable population regarding social media usage. To offer added value for the broader field of privacy-related research, my co-authors Jana Dombrowski and Prof. Dr. Sabine Trepte and I present the Need for Privacy Scale (NFP-S) in Study 4. The NFP-S is a concise measure of the need for privacy as a personality trait, developed to be applied in any context. Against the theoretical backdrop of Burgoon’s (1982) privacy dimensions, we propose a second-order model with informational, psychological, and physical need for privacy as the first-order factors. In two large-scale surveys (Study 1: n1 = 3,278; n2 = 1,226; Study 2: N = 1,000), the scale was validated with regard to relevant personality traits, privacy-related cognitive criteria and behaviors as well as socio-demographic variables. With the goal of disentangling (biological) sex and gender, we include self-assessed femininity and masculinity. We find that congruity between participants’ perception of their femininity/masculinity and their sex is related to a higher need for privacy. In the overall discussion, I combine insights from the studies, provide ideas for future research, and offer societal and practical implications. Taken together, the four studies contribute to the field of online privacy by emphasizing the psychological perspective of gender as a socially constructed, multifaceted, and dynamic construct. Adopting this view is desirable for privacy researchers, as it helps to better understand privacy-related attitudes and decision-making, hence increasing overall validity. Furthermore, a differentiated understanding of gender is needed to prevent oversimplifications and stereotyping and to promote ethical and fair research.
Issues Management unter veränderten Umweltbedingungen
(2023) Wnuck, Corinna; Schweiger, Wolfgang
The idea of issues management aims to ensure that companies actively exert influence on other environmental developments through early identification and strategically planned participation in publicly and organisationally relevant issues. The goal is to maintain their own room for manoeuvre and secure their corporate reputation. Environmental conditions play a central role in shaping issues management. These have changed noticeably since the first issues manage- ment approaches at the end of the 1970s. Digitalisation, medialisation, globalization, and the transformation of the public sphere through digital structural change are the drivers of these changes. Issues management has not yet been tested for its validity under changed environmen- tal conditions. The overarching research question of this study therefore is: How do companies shape issues management under changed environmental conditions? The empirical study uses qualitative, guideline-based expert interviews to examine how issues management is carried out today under changed environmental conditions. For this purpose, the research question is deepened on the basis of six issue management dimensions: the concept, the structure, the process, the management, the actor and the resource dimension. For the research, 22 experts from the agency/consultancy context and the corporate environment were interviewed. Conceptually, issues management has not altered under changed environmental conditions. It remains a preventive function that identifies issues in the corporate environment as early as possible in order to secure and enhance the companys reputation and to deal with these issues in a strategically planned manner. Issues management has a deprioritised existence in many companies, partly because the overlaps with other disciplines are high. Therefore, in many com- panies issues management is practised but not called such. At the structural level of issues management, changes due to digitalisation and globalisation are becoming visible. Modern is- sues management organisations have to work faster, more agile and more flexibly than before. They have to identify issues globally, in real time, and prepare them in a way that is appropriate for different cultural areas. This requires efficient and transparent information and knowledge management systems as well as flexible resource adjustment options. The study shows that changes due to digitalised environmental conditions are effective on the processual level. Due to the acceleration of environmental developments, the process phases run faster or parallel to each other. Reflection and reaction times have shortened with increasing issue complexity. Fol- lowing the sequences of the Scrum logic from software development, an alternative process model is developed in the study that maps the simultaneity and growing complexity of environ- mental developments. The management level is characterised by changes due to accelerated environmental developments, globalisation, medialisation and changed public structures, which are evident to different degrees in the individual phases of the management level. The study shows that the evaluation of issues management is still a challenge today and is only carried out with limitations in the companies. Agencies see a lack of will here, companies justify this with the lack of meaningfulness of the results about the actual performance of issues management. At the actor level, the transformation of the public sphere is having an effect. There is an in- crease in the number of situational, volatile and well-networked sub-publics, which are grouped around various issues and ensure that once an issue has arisen, it can no longer be laid to rest. In addition, the balance of power has shifted in favour of previously weakly represented groups. Furthermore, "journalism bypassing" is a frequently observed phenomenon. On the resource level, issues managers need a significantly expanded repertoire of competences and skills due to digitalisation and medialisation. Furthermore, the use of digital tools in issues management is increasing. At the time of the survey, these were primarily online monitoring tools, editorial management tools, collaborative work platforms and virtual team environments. AI and chat- bots, on the other hand, are the exception. Overall, the study concludes that the changed environmental conditions make the idea of issues management more relevant than ever. Although not always under the name, strategically planned early recognition and management of issues has become established in most compa- nies. At the same time, the environmental changes have a strong impact on implementation. Furthermore, there is a need to catch up especially in the area of digital and data-based corporate communication. This is where potential lies dormant to remedy some of the problems identified in the paper.
Intermedia agenda-setting from the far right? Three case studies on spillover effects by alternative media inGermany
(2023) Klawier, Tilman
Right-wing alternative media can increase their public impact if they succeed to set their issues on the mainstream media’s agenda. In three qualitative case studies, the present article explores whether and how such intermedia agenda-setting occurs in Germany. Special attention is given to spillover effects between different actors, both at the level of attention and tone towards the issues. Furthermore, the analysis of news articles is supplemented with Twitter data to account for the role of social media. Two of the case studies indicate that right-wing alternative media contributed to push pseudo-scandals into the mainstream. The analyses also reveal alternative news outlets with particular agenda-setting power and point to the crucial role of tabloid media as a bridge to the mainstream. The third study, however, which centered on the Global Compact for Migration, presents a case where intermedia agenda-setting failed. Against this background, the article discusses the conditions under which intermedia agenda-setting by right-wing alternative media is likely to occur and how journalists should deal with such attempts.
Kommunikationsprobleme zwischen Landwirtschaft und Naturschutz in Deutschland und ihre Ursachen
(2022) Menauer, Verena Theresa; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Communication is considered a key prerequisite for anchoring nature conservation in agriculture in the long term. However, the longlasting, sometimes heated disputes between ac-tors from both sectors in Germany show clear deficits, especially in public communication. Instead of finding solutions and compromises, the fronts are hardening in many places. The study aimed to identify and detail the existing communication problems and their causes. A coherent framework of communication studies that explicitly deals with communication problems is missing. Nevertheless, there are a number of theoretical approaches and research traditions that examine individual aspects of communication problems or, complementarily, deal with the conditions for successful communication. Of outstanding importance is research on public discourse – it forms the main theoretical point of reference of this work. Studies on journalistic news selection, approaches to strategic communication and research on group identities also appear to be relevant. Within the framework of a qualitative content analysis, 160 publications from the years 2019 and 2020 of the four relevant groups of actors (interest-led actors, state actors, news and specialist journalism) and the available user comments were examined. Thus, a current inventory of the existing communication problems was created. The analysis also provided initial indications of their possible causes. Subsequently, four group discussions were held with representatives from agriculture and nature conservation. The results of the content analysis were discussed and deepened. The initial findings of the content analysis were thus deepened, questioned and supplemented by the subjective perceptions and assessments of those affected. The results show that the observed problems and their causes are manifold: Firstly, actors are often unwilling to reach a rationally motivated agreement. Instead of openly engaging with all actors involved in the dis-course, they refuse to talk or try to influence individual target groups through strategic-manipulative communication. Secondly, not all topics, events and presentation perspectives have the same chance of being publicly discussed. Both news and specialist journalistic media usually only report on negative, conflictrelated issues, their reports are sometimes tendentious and limited to presenting one of several possible perspectives. Thirdly, it became apparent that the manner of communication is not always appropriate because actors do not sufficiently substantiate their positions with arguments, respond sufficiently to topics and arguments of the opposing side or express themselves appropriately. The following aspects can be named as causes for the lack of discourse quality: (1) Farmers seem to have an enormous distrust of outsiders, but also of their own professional representation. More or less all actors are met with great suspicion. (2) Especially among agricultural actors, emotional and financial concerns seem to play a major role. As a result, they sometimes find it difficult to communicate objectively and to accept that non-agricultural actors are also heard in the pub-lic discourse. (3) The actors involved sometimes lack the necessary knowledge to be able to participate optimally in the discourse. This applies to actors from agriculture and nature conservation as well as to journalists. (4) The media, interest groups and state actors are subject to various path dependencies and internal organisational constraints that are not only, but primarily of an economic nature. In some cases, they have the consequence that actors cannot act or communicate freely and discourse-oriented. (5) Moreover, various unresolved conflicts of objectives lead to problems. For example, actors from agriculture and nature conservation are sometimes confronted with the problem of having to pursue conflicting interests at the same time. (6) Group-specific differences in behaviour and evaluation can be cited as a further cause. Future studies should focus on the aspect of lack of knowledge, which negatively impacts the discourse quality in several respects.
Berufsfelder der Medienpsychologie
(2023) Weber, Silvana; Stein, Jan-Philipp; Trepte, Sabine; Reinecke, Leonard; Gimmler, Roland; Gleich, Uli; Winter, Stephan; Frischlich, Lena; Krämer, Nicole; Appel, Markus; Hutmacher, Fabian; Mengelkamp, Christoph; Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft (540)
There are many professions in which the topic of media psychology is addressed. However, in contrast to the interest, these professions are not yet clearly defined, and there are no studies available on entry-level opportunities or job descriptions. Only rarely does the job title media psychologist exist. Nevertheless, our conversations with companies show that the subject is in high demand in many industries and business sectors. There is a wide range of occupational fields in which media psychology is relevant; in fact, whenever it is a matter of describing, explaining, and predicting the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral processes surrounding media use. Media psychology can make valuable contributions in these areas: marketing, media research, communication management, management consulting, user experience and content management, media education and science. The description of the occupational fields in this publication is based on typical tasks and assignments. After a definition of the respective occupational field, we describe what the individual occupational fields entail, which assignments or tasks are handled and, finally, in which companies and institutions they can be found.
Stress management and coping using smartphones by mothers of young children
(2021) Wolfers, Lara N.; Utz, Sonja
Being a parent of young children is associated with both joy and stress. High parental stress was shown to be associated with decreased parental wellbeing and negative child outcomes. Thus, it is important that parents successfully cope with stress. Research has shown that becoming a parent often results in constraints on time allocation and a perceived state of isolation, making it harder to cope with stress. Smartphones might be a useful tool for parental stress management. For most parents, smartphones are always and easily accessible. Moreover, smartphones can provide many resources such as social support and information and can be used for short periods. Accordingly, first studies show that parents often use their smartphones to cope with stress. However, parental smartphone use has been widely problematized in academic and public discussions because smartphones are said to distract parents from interacting with their children. Research on how parents use smartphones to their benefit is still limited. Moreover, we do not know yet whether and under what circumstances coping using smartphones effectively reduces parental stress. To fill this knowledge gap, I examined in my dissertation how mothers of young children use their smartphones for coping with stress and under what circumstances coping using smartphones is effective. As mothers are still the primary caregivers, my dissertation mainly focuses on mothers. In a first theoretical step, I conducted a systematic scoping review summarizing and integrating the previous literature on media use for coping. Many studies assessed how media are used for coping. However, the literature had not clearly identified where media have their place in stress management models. In the scoping review, I suggested placing media in the transactional model of stress and coping by differentiating between coping strategies, such as social support or distraction and coping tools, such as talking to a friend or using a smartphone. When confronted with a stressful encounter, individuals choose a combination of coping tools and coping strategies to cope with stress. The fit of this combination with the situational circumstances determines whether the coping efforts are successful. Based on this conceptualization, I conducted a qualitative focus groups study and a quantitative experience sampling study (ESS). In the focus group study, building on a synthesis of the literature on digital media use for parenting and smartphone use while parenting, I interviewed parents in a medium-sized city and a parent-child health retreat clinic about how they use their smartphones for stress management. In the ESS, I additionally drew on theoretical conceptualizations from mobile communication and digital wellbeing research. Over 200 mothers filled in four questionnaires a day for one week and answered questions about a stressful situation that had happened in the last two hours. Both studies showed that when mothers are in stressful situations with their children, they mainly use their phones to distract themselves from the stressful encounter and to find information and support. In the focus groups study, parents reported many instances in which they successfully used their phones for stress coping. In the ESS, mothers, however, experienced a smaller stress decrease in stressful situations in which they used their phone than in situations involving no phone use. Using positive phone content, though, was related to increased coping effectiveness. My dissertation also demonstrated that social norms around maternal smartphone use play an important role when mothers use their phones for coping with stress. To explore this, I suggested a social constructivist viewpoint on media use and media effects. This viewpoint posits that the perception of and feelings around ones own media use are just as important for media effects as characteristics of objectively measurable media use, such as usage time. Further, I argue that these media use perceptions are influenced by what others say about media use and are, thus, socially constructed. Confirming the value of this viewpoint, I show in the ESS that mothers who perceived stronger injunctive norms against parental phone use experienced increased guilt when they used their phone for stress coping. Feelings of guilt around phone use in turn were related to a diminished coping effectiveness. Overall, my dissertation shows that by using positive content, mothers can use their smartphones to their benefit when they are confronted with stressful situations. Negative social norms against parental smartphone use can, by inducing guilt, be associated with diminished coping effectiveness when mothers use their phone to cope with stress. Therefore, academic and public discussions around smartphone use should consider the benefits of smartphone use for parents so that a more nuanced debate does not lead to social pressure and feelings of guilt among parents.
VERZERRT. SCHRILL. GESPALTEN. Meinungsklima und Diskursqualität im Internet und ihre Wirkungen auf den Journalismus
(2022) Fulda, Stefanie; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Journalists play a dual role in shaping public opinion. On one hand, they influence public opinion through their publications. At the same time, they themselves continuously monitor public opinion and orient themselves to it. It seems obvious that the way journalists perceive the world can also influence their work. In fact, it has not yet been studied in terms of the perceived climate of opinion. It is similar with the perceived digital debate culture. Quality, tone and content of online discourses are already widely addressed under keywords such as incivility and hate speech. Effects on journalism are also mentioned, but they don´t focus on how journalists perceive the combined climate of opinion and quality of discourse and how this affects their work. In fact, user comments, individual opinions and opinion leaders are of particular importance to journalists in this perception. Due to the still incomplete state of research on the perception effects of public opinion and discourse quality on journalism, qualitative, guideline-supported interviews were therefore set up on the question "How do journalists perceive opinion climate and discourse quality on the Internet and how does this affect their work?" in order to approach the possible manifestations of this topic in an explorative manner. For these interviews, which lasted 1 - 1.5 hours, 20 journalists from all over Germany were interviewed. The net sample of participating journalists differed according to department, type of employment, age, location, gender, subject areas and degree of position, with the aim of obtaining answers from as many different journalists as possible and being able to compare the answers of certain groups with each other. In addition, a website was created as a central information point for the project. With the help of a repetitive change of perspective in the survey, which addresses the approach and considerations of the interviewees, but also inquires how, from the interviewees point of view, other journalists deal with the same issue, it was possible to identify some hidden perceptual effects. Beginning with the question about the central sources of public opinion perception, via processing and the mechanisms in this process, to the recognizable effects on journalistic work, it was thus possible to trace the path of perception of opinion climate and discourse quality to the effects on journalistic topic selection and topic processing. A key finding of the survey is that it remains unclear to the group of journalists surveyed whether the perceived climate of opinion on the Internet is representative of society as a whole - many do not rule out parallels of digital and general public opinion. At the same time, it is rationally clear to many journalists that they should not be too impressed by the experiences on the Net, since these represent only a small section of society, but emotionally it does happen - because the quality of the experienced, digital discourse is so impressive. On the other hand, almost all of the journalists surveyed assume that the perceived climate of opinion influences their journalistic work, but show a lack of clarity about the extent to which they are personally affected by this in their work. They do not know the concrete effects. Finally, it became obvious that journalists base their perception of public opinion quite significantly on the perceived quality of discourse. This is an understandable approach, but one that harbors the risk of misperceptions due to third person, negativity or false uniqueness effects, to name just a few of the most important potential distortions of perception. This has consequences: If those who report on public opinion are subject to a distorted perception, then they bring this into their reporting, which reinforces the tendency for recipients to also be subject to a distorted perception of public opinion. Citizens, in turn, express themselves in social media or below journalistic articles in the comments. These are read by editorial teams and in turn used for journalistic reporting. This is where the circle closes, because this is how recipients and journalists influence each others distorted perceptions and draw conclusions about public opinion in society. Minority opinions are perceived as majority opinions, the emotionally heated discourse on the Internet shapes the impression of a growing polarization of society, and journalism carries this idea into its reporting. The consequence is a possible misinterpretation of public opinion by journalistic media, so that journalism runs the risk of arguing past the actual public opinion of society through a distorted perception of public opinion and discourse quality on the Internet.
Glaube Online - Auswirkungen von religiösen Online-Angeboten auf das Wohlbefinden von Kirchengemeindemitgliedern
(2021) Siegle, Laura
Through the measures taken against the spread of the Corona Virus in early 2020, the churches in Germany also had to find new ways to implement their offerings. Many Christian churches have offered religious online formats. Studies have already shown that religious people have a better well-being than non-religious people. This study examines now, how the use of religious online offers affects the well-being of church members. To investigate the research interest, an online survey was conducted in cross-sectional design. The sample includes 169 parishioners aged between 15 and 83. 103 of the respondents used religious online services, on average they used them sometimes. 66 of the respondents did not participate in the religious online offerings. The survey found that parishioners who used religious online offerings had both better subjective and better religious well-being during the pandemic. There was no difference between interactive and non-interactive religious online offerings in terms of subjective well-being. It turned out that improved religious well-being is positively related to the balance of affection. However, there was no significant connection between the religious well-being and the life satisfaction of the parishioners. Overall, it can be stated that the well-being of church members could also be influenced by other factors not researched in this study, which will need to be investigated and identified in future research.
Eröffnungskommunikation im Einzelhandel : Strategie und Effektivität von Kommunikationsmaßnahmen bei Filialeröffnungen
(2021) Mulack, Genevieve L. D.; Brettschneider, Frank
Due to the corona pandemic and the associated nationwide restrictions, German retailers are facing a particularly big challenge: not only specialist retailers but also large shopping chains are fighting for survival. Nevertheless, wherever shops close, there is also free capacity for new stores to open. This example shows how dynamic the retail market is. While location shutdowns can have a negative impact on a company´s reputation, branch openings demonstrate effective and lively competition. In contrast to the closure of a location, which can have negative consequences on the reputation of a retail company, openings are the sign of lively competition and a dynamic retail industry. Additionally, retail openings symbolize the economic success and growth of a company to an incomparable extent. As a result, the German retail industry has a high turnover and is therefore the most interesting market in Europe. That is why more and more international companies are attracted to the German retail trade and enter the market. Whenever new stores open, a special opening communication takes place. This specific type of marketing communication includes a longterm planning and design process, which includes the informal arrangements, the official announcement of the new location and the wideranged advertising campaign shortly before the final opening. In addition to entering the German retail market (Niemann (2016: 140), opening a branch in Germany is also complex. Sometimes store openings are accompanied by protests and postponements. The area of the opening communication shows how the individual retail topics, such as location criteria or local references, affect each other and how diverse different actors are involved. Despite its economic relevance, the communication of store openings has not received any attention in research so far. Nevertheless, an effective and efficient communication strategy as well as practical applications are important in many different areas. Companies benefit from a positive image and higher sales when applying a highquality communication strategy for store openings. The public is involved in the plans of the retail companies and municipalities. More information is published and citizens are having a say. This prevents conflicts and protests and determines the success of the new project. Store openings stimulate the economy by increasing the attractiveness of a location and stimulating the purchasing power of customers. Politicians therefore exploit retail openings for their own purposes, as their reputation and survey ratings increase with successful openings in their district. In addition, good communication can lead to a permanent establishment of a company, whereby the council benefits from trade taxes and new jobs. With this research paper, the company DECATHLON is described in the form of a case study. DECATHLON has opened a large number of new German locations during the economically strong years and has therefore expanded its business. The present work examines the area of opening communication with a descriptive study, which consists of two surveys. The first part of the study is a guided interview with eleven retail industry experts. The second study is a quantitative survey which targets 7.668 visitors of store opening events. The structure of the quantitative survey is based on the results of the expert interviews, which have been analysed beforehand. The studies build on the theoretical basis of combined communication approaches, such as Integrated Corporate Communication (IUK), Integrated Multi-channel Communication (IMCK) and Modern Marketing Communication. In addition, the basics of the theoretical field of successful communication in construction and infrastructure projects, such as the guideline 7001 from the Association of German Engineers (VDI 2014), as well as the basic rules for good communication which are contained within the guideline, are applied and checked in reference to opening communication in retail.
News endorser influence in social media
(2020) Teutsch, Doris; Trepte, Sabine
Social networking sites have become an online realm where users are exposed to news about current affairs. People mainly encounter news incidentally because they are re-distributed by users whom they befriended or follow on social media platforms. In my dissertation project, I draw on shared reality theory in order to examine the question of how the relationship to the news endorser, the person who shares news content, determines social influence on opinion formation about shared news. The shared reality theory posits that people strive to achieve socially shared beliefs about any object and topic because of the fundamental epistemic need to establish what is real. Social verification of beliefs in interpersonal communication renders uncertain and ambiguous individual perceptions as valid and objectively true. However, reliable social verification may be provided only by others who are regarded as epistemic authority, in other words as someone whose judgment one can trust. People assign epistemic authority particularly to socially close others, such as friends and family, or to members of their in-group. I inferred from this that people should be influenced by the view of a socially close news endorser when forming an opinion about shared news content but not by the view of a socially distant news endorser. In Study 1, a laboratory experiment (N = 226), I manipulated a female news endorser’s social closeness by presenting her as an in-group or out-group member. Participants’ opinion and memory of a news article were not affected by the news endorser’s opinion in either of the conditions. I concluded that the news article did not elicit motivation to strive for shared reality because participants were confident about their own judgment. Therefore, they did not rely on the news endorser’s view when forming an opinion about the news topic. Moreover, the results revealed that participants had stronger trust in the news endorser when she expressed a positive (vs. negative) opinion about the news topic, while social closeness to the news endorser did not predict trust. On the one hand, this is in line with the social norm of sharing positive thoughts and experiences on social networking sites: adherence to the positivity norm results in more favorable social ratings. On the other hand, my findings indicate that participants generally had a positive opinion about the topic of the stimulus article and thus had more trust in news endorsers who expressed a similar opinion. In Study 2, an online experiment (N = 1, 116), I exposed participants to a news post by a relational close vs. relational distant news endorser by having them name a close or distant actual Facebook friend. There was a small influence of the news endorser’s opinion on participants’ thought and opinion valence irrespective of whether the news endorser was a close or distant friend. The finding was surprising, particularly because participants reported stronger trust in the view of the close friend than in the view of a distant friend. I concluded that in light of an ambiguity eliciting news article, people may even rely on the views of less trustworthy news endorsers in order to establish a socially shared and, therefore, valid opinion about a news topic. Drawing on shared reality theory, I hypothesized that social influence on opinion formation is mediated by news endorser congruent responses to a news post. The results indicated a tendency for the proposed indirect relation however, the effect size was small and the sample in Study 2 was not large enough to provide the necessary statistical power to detect the mediation. In conclusion, the results of my empirical studies provide first insights regarding the conditions under which a single news endorser influences opinion formation about news shared on social networking sites. I found limited support for shared reality creation as underlying mechanism of such social influence. Thus, my work contributes to the understanding of social influence on news perception happening in social networking sites and proposes theoretical refinements to shared reality theory. I suggest that future research should focus on the role of social and affiliative motivation for social influences on opinion formation about news shared on social networking sites.
Professional online networking : investigating the technological and the human side of networking with professional social networking sites
(2021) Baumann, Lea; Utz, Sonja
Professional social networking sites (SNS) have become a vital part of modern days professional lives. They are a convenient way to receive information about job offers, work-related content, and to connect with other professionals independent of time and space. Research in the field of social capital has shown that a network of people can give access to information, influence, and solidarity which positively affect both subjective and objective career outcomes. Moreover, research has shown that a diverse network is most beneficial as it gives access to non-redundant information, new perspectives, and new ideas. Yet, most professional SNS users are mainly connected with others from their direct work environments such as colleagues and university friends. For one thing, this is because of the homophily principle which states that people tend to surround themselves with others who are similar to them. On the other hand, contact recommender systems of professional SNS support connecting with similar others as contact recommendations are usually based on similarity. The cumulative dissertation, therefore, was set out to investigate the technological and the human side of professional online networking to gain evidence on how to encourage professional SNS users to build more diverse business networks. The dissertation consists of four research articles answering the following four research questions: 1. Is there a difference between offline and online professional networking in terms of intensity and in terms of influence factors? 2. How do basic technological features and functions (e.g. diverse contact recommendations) influence professional online networking? 3. How do different information designs of contact recommendations influence professional online networking? 4. How does diverse online networking influence people’s social identification with their online business networks? In summary, the four research articles show that people’s online networking is mainly driven by cognitive factors, more specifically, people’s knowledge about the benefits of (diverse) networking. When people know about the benefits of networking and the benefits of diverse networking, they network more and more diverse. This can be addressed in the design of contact recommendations by displaying an explanation why someone is recommended thereby hinting at the benefits of networking in general and at the benefits of diversity. Moreover, this can be addressed by presenting contact recommendations emphasizing dissimilarity information in contrast to similarity information. Both different types of explanations and different types of information weaken the homophily principle and encourage people to network more diverse. Besides, basic technological functions influence online networking. When people are presented with a more diverse set of contact recommendations to choose from, they do not network less but consequently, end up with a more diverse business network. Furthermore, the negative affective influence of anxiety towards unknown people is different for offline than for online networking. In line with the social compensation hypothesis, in online settings, the negative influence is weaker than it is in offline settings. When only looking at online settings we see that higher levels of anxiety still reduce the number of people connected with but not the diversity of the resulting networks. Hence, people do not feel less anxiety when connecting with similar others than when connecting with dissimilar others. Finally, returning to the side of the user we see that more diverse online networking leads to a reduction of social identification with people’s online business networks. Diverse online networking reduces social identification with the network and as a result the willingness to support the network. Hence, diverse online networking compromises the benefits a network provides. Yet, in the absence of similarity, there is also evidence that people attribute others in their online networks with characteristics of their own to perceive them as similar. Shared characteristics function as a reason to identify and compensate for the lack of formal similarity when business networks become more diverse. Moreover, the specific features and functions of professional SNS besides contact recommendations can compensate for the lack of identification.

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