Research

Top Paper Awards

Refereed Conference Presentations

Research Fellowships, Grants and Scholarships

Most Recent Publications

Li, M. (2022). Blending identity-specific depiction and activism advocacy in Black-centric health advertising on social media: intersectional health communication targeting Black cisgender heterosexual and Black LGBTQ populations. International Journal of Advertising. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2022.2135348 

Li, M. (2022). Visual social media and Black activism: exploring how using Instagram influences Black activism orientation and racial identity ideology among Black Americans, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. In Press/Online First. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990221108644

Li, M. (2022). Influence for social good: exploring the roles of influencer identity and comment section in Instagram-based LGBTQ-centric corporate social responsibility advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 41(3), 462-499. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2021.1884399
 

Li, M. (2021). The Synergistic Effects of Solutions Journalism and Corporate Social Responsibility Advertising. Digital Journalism, 9(3), 336-363. doi: 10.1080/21670811.2020.1840407

Li, M. (2021). Exemplifying Power Matters: The Impact of Power Exemplification of Transgender People in the News on Issue Attribution, Dehumanization, and Aggression Tendencies, Journalism Practice. In Press/Online First. doi:: 10.1080/17512786.2021.193010

Champlin, S., & Li, M. (2020). Communicating Support in Pride Collection Advertising: The Impact of Gender Expression and Contribution Amount. Internationa Journal of Strategic Communication, 14(3), 160-178. doi:10.1080/1553118X.2020.1750017

Champlin, S., Elias, T., Kreshel, P.J., Li, M., Thomas, K.D., & Timke, E. (2020). American Academy of Advertisers: Teaching about Social Issues in Advertising. Advertising & Society Quarterly 21(2),  doi:10.1353/asr.2020.0020.

Li, M. (2019). (Mis)Matching: Journalistic Uses of Gender Pronouns and Names Can Influence Implicit Attitudes towards Transgender People, Perceived News Content Credibility, and Perceived Reporter Professionalism. Newspaper Research Journal. doi: 10.1177/0739532919873083

Li, M. (2019). Transitioning together: Negotiating transgender subjectivity with family and other trans people on reality television. Journal of Homosexuality. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2019.1657750.  

Li, M. (2019). Mediated vicarious contact with transgender people: How narrative perspective and interaction depiction influence intergroup attitudes, transportation, and elevation. Journal of Public Interest Communications, 3(1), 141-166. doi: 10.32473/jpic.v3.i1.p141. 

Li, M. (2019). Priming mediated vicarious intergroup contact: How narrative focus influences attitude changes toward gay people, same-sex family, and social dominance. Imagination, Cognition and Personality. doi: 10.1177/0276236618810203.

Li, M. (2018). Intermedia attribute agenda setting in the context of issue-focused media events: Caitlyn Jenner and transgender reporting. Journalism Practice, 12(1), 56-75. doi: 10.1080/17512786.2016.1273078.  

Interdisciplinary Researcher in Media Diversity

I locate my research at the intersection of multicultural advertising, prosocial strategic communication, emerging technologies, and intersectional critical media effects, with an emphasis on the LGBTQ and racial minorities. I am especially interested in 1) the shifting media representation strategies of social minorities in digital advertising and journalism, and 2) the media effects of multicultural and prosocial strategic communication regarding marginalized groups, within the context of the growing media consumer economy of commodified diversity and activism. My research program is supported by my interdisciplinary training in mass communication, social psychology, and LGBTQ & gender studies.

In addition to my publications and ongoing projects, I have presented my work at the annual conventions of the International Communication Association (ICA), the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), American Academy of Advertising (AAA), the National Communication Association (NAC), the Trans* Studies Conference, and the Southern Political Science Association.

Research Skills

I oftentimes apply experimental design, quantitative content analysis, and discourse analysis in my research.

My experimental research applies both explicit and implicit measurement techniques. As a media psychologist and a former manager of the Media Effects Lab, I am professionally trained and sufficient in using reaction time (e.g. Implicit Association Test, Secondary Task Reaction Time), eye-tracking technology, and biometric research measurements,