Moonhee Cho

• Doctor of Philosophy
• University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationships between anthropomorphic cues (i.e. degrees of the humanized profile picture and naming) in artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and business types (utilitarian-centered business vs hedonic-centered business) on consumers’ attitudes toward the AI chatbot and intentions to use the AI chatbot app a...

Acknowledging the unique challenges of the socially stigmatized industry and the substantial but varying impact of COVID-19 on business, this study examined how corporate social responsibility (CSR) fit influences public attitudinal and behavioral responses. This study found that low (high) CSR fit generated a higher level of public-serving motive...

A lack of empirical studies prompted the development and testing of a model investigating the antecedents and outcomes of perceived relationship investment (PRI) in nonprofits. All parts of the model were supported including antecedent tactics of tangible rewards, interactivity, and information sharing, their effect on relationship quality, and pos...

Purpose This study investigated the interrelations of US consumers' perceptions of their ownership of digital media content, their perceived importance of various digital rights and ownership rights and their preferences for owning vs accessing media content. Design/methodology/approach This study used an online questionnaire survey and analyzed d...

This study examined the effects of message framing, image valence, and issue involvement on consumers’ advertising attitudes, brand attitudes and purchase intention in the context of green advertising. A 2 (message frame: gain vs. loss) X 2 (image valence: positive vs. negative) between-subjects randomized experimental study was conducted to addres...

Emphasizing the potential impact of publics' ethnic identities in crisis situations, the main purpose of the study is to explore how two ethnically different publics respond to the United Airlines' dragging crisis. Using semantic network analysis and thematic analysis, the research examined how Twitter messages written in both English and Chinese r...

This study investigates the factors of members' supportive behavioral intentions to donate and recommend membership to others in the context of engineering professional membership associations. Using data collected from 3,464 members across three engineering professional membership associations, this study found that age, past donation experience,...

Applying the expectancy violation theory (EVT) to the sustainability communication context, the main purpose of the study was to explore how publics respond to an organization whose sustainable development diverges from public expectation. Specifically, this study investigated how the violating behaviors of both for-profit and nonprofit organizatio...

This study investigates the effects of consumers’ media exposure and attention to corporate sustainability communication on their environmental protection behavior intentions and green purchasing behavior intentions as well as the moderating effects of consumers’ perceptions of media credibility. Based on an online survey of 503 participants, the r...

Purpose Proposing an integrated model based on multiple theoretical approaches, such as the theory of planned behavior, the model of goal-directed behavior and self-determination theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine factors influencing college students’ campus recycling intention and actual recycling behavior. Design/methodology/approac...

By applying expectancy violation theory and confirmation bias to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) context, this study explored how consumers respond to an organization’s CSR activities. A 2 (CSR expectancy: positive vs. negative) X 2 (CSR practice: positive vs. negative) experimental study examined how both negative and positive expectancy...

Purpose In the age of transparency, nonprofit organizations have attempted to raise awareness of unethical business practices through diverse social media platforms, putting firms under great pressure to incorporate sustainability in their operations. Focusing on the issue of animal cruelty which is a relatively under-investigated topic in the fash...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the comprehensive, ongoing role of communication in an enterprise crowdfunding context, which has been largely overlooked. Design/methodology/approach A large public higher education institution in the Southeastern USA was chosen as the case study unit to illuminate an enterprise-wide crowdfunding...

Crowdfunding has gained popularity as a fundraising strategy for reaching an online “crowd” of contributors, with many making small donations and promoting the project online to social networks. Universities are exploring crowdfunding as a strategy to connect with non-traditional donors beyond alumni – including students. While higher education ins...

This study examines the relationship between factors central to community building, including local government-public relationships, sense of community, positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM) toward community, and community participation. A national survey of U.S. respondents (n = 447) was conducted through MTurk. The results indicate that the effects of loc...

Given increasing interest in both socially responsible consumption behavior (SRCB) and socially responsible corporate practices in marketing, this study addressed the effects of several personal traits on SRCB (i.e., personal values, collectivism, age, and gender). Findings from an online survey revealed that consumers who valued self‐transcendence...

During the #MeToo movement, social movement organizations (SMOs) played a crucial role in the online mobilization by utilizing various message frames and appealing hashtags during the social movement. Applying a co-creational approach and using framing as a theoretical framework , the study explored how SMOs use words and hashtags to participate in...

Using data from a national survey conducted in the United States, we examined factors affecting tablet computer users’ intention to purchase mobile applications, using an extended model based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Participants were 316 tablet users, who completed measures of performance expectancy, effort expect...

The notion of ownership of digital media content is complicated and fragmented, because of the interplay of intellectual property law, personal property rights, and contractual arrangements. Drawing from the existing literature on theoretical analysis of ownership, we present a framework with multiple ownership configurations of digital content. Us...

This study seeks to give a timely perspective on understanding how business news covers corporate social responsibility in light of heavy criticism financial journalists have faced since the latest economic depression in the United States. Building upon previous research and using agenda setting, framing, and agenda building as a theoretical base,...

This study explored the relationship between the big five personality traits – agreeableness, intellect, conscientiousness, emotion, and extroversion – and the involvement, engagement, and perceived relationship investment (PRI) of participants with nonprofit organizations. The role of personality is important because it reflects fundamental qualit...

Despite the popularity of crowdfunding in academy and practice, there is a lack of cross-cultural study. To fill the research gap, this research explored similarities and differences of successful crowdfunding. In addition, by applying Hofstede's cultural dimensions, this research compared crowdfunding projects of U.S. and South Korea. By employing...

The purpose of this study was to explore what corporations with good reputations communicate on social media. Based on a content analysis of 46 corporate Facebook pages from Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies,” this study found that corporations communicate noncorporate social responsibility messages more frequently than corporate social res...

This article explores the place for empowerment in community relations programs. Descriptions of 97 corporate community programs are analyzed to determine how these companies articulate community engagement and the importance given to community empowerment in their work. Empowerment is proposed as a key construct for understanding a company’s role...

This study investigated relationships among celebrity motive attribution, celebrity-cause congruence, and involvement with a cause. A 2 (altruistic motive: high vs. low) X 2 (congruence: high vs. low) X 2 (involvement: high vs. low) experimental study examined perceptions of celebrity credibility, attitudes toward celebrity endorsement and nonprofi...

According to scholars, there has been a move toward a more professional or occupational focus in postsecondary education, a focus that Grubb and Lazerson suggest “undermines education’s moral, civic, and intellectual purposes.”1 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the public relations curricula of U.S. universities and colleges and the requir...

Using the coorientation model, this study examines the views of leading U. S. corporations and charitable organizations about types of relationships between corporate donors and charities that receive corporate contributions. Results of the national expert survey show that both corporate giving officers and senior fundraisers of charitable organiza...

Despite the proliferation of social media and the widespread adoption of these diverse communication tools, there is a lack of studies that conceptualize the characteristics of social media as perceived by users and compare the perceived characteristics or benefits of different social media types. This study examines the user perceptions of six mai...

Given the increasing need for the retention of satisfied and successful students, the purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence the perceived quality of relationships formed between students and their academic departments. Based on the extensive review of interdisciplinary literature, the study proposed three factors—student–f...

The proliferation of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube has brought dramatic changes in consumer’s media consumption behavior. With more and more consumers participating in some forms of social media, these platforms have become important means of consumer engagement. From a branding perspective, such a two-way communication mechan...

Given that South Korea, traditionally considered an ethnically homogeneous country, has experienced a significant increase in ethnic minority groups due to international marriage, the purpose of this study is to examine how the media portrays this minority group. The study also explored whether the proximity characteristic in news value criteria in...

The purpose of this study is to examine the case of anti-U.S. beef protest in Seoul in 2008 to explain how issues are created and emerge into the public and how the issue activation process takes individuals and groups from a state of inactivity to activism using Hallahan's Issues Processes Model (2001) as a theoretical framework. The study also lo...