Elizabeth Johnson-Young, Assistant Professor of Communication, has published a peer-reviewed research article in Corporate Communications: An International Journal. The article, “The CSR paradox: When a social responsibility campaign can tarnish a brand,” looks at instances when a social campaign can hurt a brand even though it may successfully raise concerns for the campaign issues. The paper presents results of an experiment looking at prevention versus promotion-framed messages in a real-world corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign to understand differences in concerns for the campaign issues and attitudes towards the sponsoring corporate brand. Results indicated that even when message framing produced strong concerns for the issues, negative effects of the message framing were directed at the brand itself. The publication is now available online and will be in the next printed journal, as well.

Assistant Professor of Communication Elizabeth Johnson-Young presented research at the CDC’s National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media, in Atlanta. The research presented, “Pediatric Residents’ Comfort, Confidence, and Communication in Relation to Anticipatory Guidance about Firearms,” was completed with researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The work investigates how and why pediatricians decide to counsel patients and their parents on firearms and firearm safety during well visits. This counseling is encouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but a large portion of pediatricians do not include this in their well visits or they rely on handouts given during visits. The investigation found that training, confidence in ability, and comfort in discussions influence decisions and that female pediatricians are less likely to indicate confidence and comfort in these discussions, even though they indicate these as more important than male pediatricians. This is a first step in a larger work with the aim to develop programming and training for both pediatricians and patients in opening dialogue regarding firearms and firearm safety surrounding children and teens.

An article by Elizabeth Johnson-Young, assistant professor of communication, has been published in the journal Qualitative Research Reports in Communication. The article, “Help Me Understand What I Can Expect While I’m Expecting: What Women in a Prenatal Yoga Class Communicate About Body Image, Fitness, and Health,” reports the results of pilot study using ethnography and in-depth interviews with women participating in a prenatal yoga class.

The results indicated several themes regarding what characterizes the way women in the prenatal yoga class talk about body image, health, and fitness during pregnancy. These themes include: expressions of body image and fitness as communal, expressions of desire for relationship-building with women in similar situations, expressions of desire to maintain pre-pregnancy fitness, expressions that redefine “fitness” and “health,” expressions of concern about post-pregnancy fitness and weight loss, and expressions of self-consciousness. The article provides practical and theoretical implications for future study.

The study will be published in the Fall 2016 journal, but is now available online.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17459435.2016.1196386?journalCode=rqrr20

Elizabeth Johnson-Young, assistant professor of communication, received a top paper award in the Theory and Methodology division of the Eastern Communication Association. The paper, Uses and Gratifications During Pregnancy and Their Impact on Breastfeeding Intentions, was presented at the association’s annual conference held in Baltimore, Md.

The paper utilized uses and gratifications, traditionally employed as a descriptive media theory, to help explain breastfeeding intentions among surveyed pregnant women. Starting with a qualitative approach to the uses and gratifications data, a typology of media uses was constructed for data analysis. Findings demonstrated the importance of rethinking traditional uses and gratifications research and some ways that media messages might impact breastfeeding intentions on their own and through interactions with other important variables, such as body satisfaction.