Sean J. Upshaw

University of Texas at Austin | UT · Department of Advertising and Public Relations

Most African countries report low COVID-19 vaccination rates (Msellati et al., 2022; WHO Africa; 2020). This study focuses on factors associated with vaccine hesitancy specifically in the country of Cameroon. Social media use and medical mistrust have been suggested as key variables that may increase vaccine hesitancy. Adopting the information-rela...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to healthcare and public health messaging in the United States. One area of focus has been vaccination uptake among Black Americans, who have experienced COVID-19 deaths disproportionate to their share of the United States population, raising questions about the processes involved in vaccin...

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) photography and photoaging visuals make hidden sun damage visible to the naked eye, granting the potential to create messages that vary in temporal dimensionality. As UV photos depict immediate skin damage, the photo communicated that exposure in sun causes invisible damage to the young truck driver (near temporal fram...

Objectives: Targeting is a communication strategy in which a message is designed to address a particular group. It has been postulated that targeting increases message relevance; however, researchers are still explicating relevance and its impact on downline cognitive processes (e.g. message quality, cognitive cost). The current study addresses bot...

Despite decreased susceptibility, darker skin individuals who develop melanoma have worse survival. This disparity in melanoma mortality is the largest for any cancer, and partly driven by a lack of patient education materials targeted to darker skin populations in whom acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is the most common subtype. To address this co...

Black newspapers historically procure, tailor, and disseminate information for Black Americans and the communities in which they live. Examining the relationship between Black newspapers and Black communities reveals the role of cultural knowledge when faced with the prevalence of COVID-19. This qualitative content analysis explores COVID-19 news c...

Past research has demonstrated that ultraviolet (UV) photos - which reveal skin damage as dark patches - can increase preventive behaviors. Emerging camera technology facilitates personalized UV photos for interventions, yet little is known about how personalized photos compare to other visuals and what cognitive or affective mechanism explains the...

Importance Screening for breast and colorectal cancer has resulted in reductions in mortality; however, questions remain regarding how these interventions are being diffused to all segments of the population. If an intervention is less amenable to diffusion, it could be associated with disparities in mortality rates, especially in rural vs urban ar...

Narrative messaging research has demonstrated that story outcome (e.g., whether the main character lives or dies) can impact audience behavior, but more research explicating and testing mechanistic pathways is needed. The current study tests fear, anger, and sadness as mechanisms of persuasion, assessing effects on counterarguing, reading flow, and...

Objective We propose that harm reduction messages advocating moderation versus abstinence from social interaction will be seen as less threatening and increase intentions to follow COVID-19 guidelines. We also examine two important moderators: the influence of risk framing and willingness to risk infection. Method A 2×2 between-participants, rando...

Objective In narratives, characters often face threats where they either live (survivor narratives) or die (death narratives). Both outcomes have the potential to persuade, and are frequently utilised in mass communication campaigns, yet more research is needed examining the relative effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of each strategy. Design...

The cognitive mediation model (CMM) proposes indirect paths to news learning such that news surveillance increases news learning through attention to the news and elaboration about the news. But there is a need for additional research that tests key postulates of the CMM especially for media targeting underserved populations. The present study test...

Prostate cancer remains a significant health concern for U.S. adults, especially African American men, who have higher rates of diagnosis than other racial/ethnic groups. The current study evaluated five prostate cancer decision aids (PCDAs) focused on diagnosis and treatment via seven focus groups with 30 African American survivors. Consistent wit...

Objective: Past research suggests a large number of adults feel overwhelmed by the amount of cancer information - a phenomenon labeled cancer information overload (CIO). The current study examines whether CIO is discriminant from other negative message perceptions (reactance, information avoidance) and related to sun safe behaviors. Methods: U.S...