Spotlights
Advertising & Integrated Communication
The research spotlight “Advertising & Integrated Communication” deals with current developments in the area of advertising and integrated communication. Given the plethora of different media and the constantly changing media landscape, integrated communication, aimed at creating a consistent image in the minds of consumers, is vital. Our research focuses on all strategic communication processes that aim to increase awareness and knowledge of consumers, organizations and society as a whole.
Digital Media, Health & Well-Being
Research on the topic of “Digital Media, Health & Well-Being” explores the impact of different forms of digital media usage on both individual and collective physical and mental health. This includes investigating the role of social media, smartphone apps, gaming, and other digital technologies on health outcomes such as body image, self-esteem & life-satisfaction, eating behaviors/intentions, and exercising. In addition, our research explores the potential benefits and drawbacks of using digital media for health communication campaigns, health education, promotion, and healthcare delivery. Organizational health and health promotion in the workplace present an additional focus.
Media, Literacy & Critique
Media literacy is the prerequisite for an active, competent and responsible use of media. We research the different forms of media literacy, especially digital literacy and its forms of application. We see critique as a central element of media literacy and investigate critical approaches to media production, media use, parental mediation, and media education. What forms of critique does literacy lead to? How can critical theory (with big and small c) be employed to understand contemporary phenomena? What kind of literacy is needed in a (post)digital culture and society? What do literacy and critique mean in the light of artificial intelligence? What forms of education and guidance are needed to empower media users in today’s media environments?
Media Economics & Management
Research on Media Economics & Management focuses on media markets, industries, and companies by paying particular attention to the media´s area of tension for being both an economic and cultural good. On the one hand, economic and management-related aspects of media (companies) and their activities, i.e., business models, strategies, financing, and marketing, are investigated. On the other hand, research deals with how external phenomena (e.g., digitization, convergence, crises, changes in user behavior) affect media markets and their main players. Current research topics include COVID-19’s impact on the media industry, media and change management, media credibility and trust, and goal-setting approach for public service media management.
Media, Everyday Life & Popular Culture
Popular media are embedded in everyday life. We research the content, reception, and appropriation of media in different cultural and social contexts. We are interested in experiences and practices with media that constitute the contemporary popular culture – may it be fan fiction or online videos, music and film streaming or messaging and gaming to name a few. How are questions of identity negotiated in everyday media use? To what extent are questions of power, social inequality and cultural difference part of popular media culture? What does a mediatization of communications in everyday life and popular culture mean?
Media, Publics & Democracy
Media are crucial for the circulation of information in societies and creating a public sphere in modern democracies. Media are fundamentally changing the communicative relations of our world. With the advent of digital in particular social media the question of their contribution to the transformation of the public sphere takes on a new quality. It is necessary to ask how the logic of public communication is changing because of datafication, algorithmisation, and plattformisation. What do these changes mean for audiences, users, and publics? What does it mean for the quality of public discourse, participation, and integration in modern societies?
Screen Media & Creative Industries
Living in a world of screens with different kinds of audio-visual stories and aesthetics demands not only practical but also intellectual skills to deal with. We investigate a wide variety of screen media (e.g. film, television, online videos, and video games) and analyse processes of production, circulation and consumption. Visual content production as media work and cultural labour more general are central to the creative industries. Creative industries are seen as pioneers of the digital age and new kinds of work organization and labour. We look at the political, social and economic conditions of the creative industries as well as the different media practices and communications involved.
Media Ethics & Responsibility
What media-ethical responsibility do individuals bear if they produce, receive or share media content? What responsibilities must platform operators assume, and what accountability must politicians take as legislators? Where are ethically sensitive boundaries touched or even crossed? How should we deal with targeted disinformation (fake news), agenda cutting and censorship, how can we identify trolls? In the Research Spotlight Media Ethics & Responsibility, critical questions of ethics are discussed, and strategies for a productive approach are outlined. Questions of media ethics are addressed both theoretically and empirically. One objective is to build bridges between theory and media practice and to understand ethics as both a theoretical problem and a practical task.
Sustainability & Communication
Research on Sustainability & Communication examines societal communication processes related to sustainability at a macro, meso, and micro level. This includes mediated public communication, organizational communication, intra- and interpersonal communication. The focus lies on communication processes aiming at strengthening awareness of sustainability among different stakeholders to anchor the principle of sustainability in society. Furthermore, research focuses on understanding what impact who is communicating and how sustainability-related messages are communicated have on recipients, with a critical view on greenwashing. Current research topics include an analysis of communication processes and strategies of pro-social influencers, social enterprises, media companies, different stakeholder groups, and the role of (mediated) communication on consumption practices and attitudes.
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