I’m a Ph.D. student in Mass Communication at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, advised by Dr. Jisu Huh and Dr. Alvin Zhou. I completed my Master’s degree at the University of Melbourne, where I was advised by Dr. Wonsun Shin.
My interdisciplinary background in software engineering (B.Eng) informs my research focus on advertising and computational social science, with a particular interest in applying computational methods to advertising research (e.g., Social Network Analysis, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision). I’m investigating topics such as consumers’ perceptions of gender and body representation in advertising, as well as how emotions influence the spread of messages. More recently, I’ve also begun exploring how large language models (LLMs) can be applied in social science research, particularly their potential to advance research methodologies.
I’ve presented my work at leading communication conferences, including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), the American Academy of Advertising (AAA), the International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA) and Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC).
I am an active member of the Minnesota Computational Advertising Laboratory (MCAL), directed by Dr. Jisu Huh and Dr. Jaideep Srivastava, and Research in Strategic Communication (RiSC) Lab, led by Dr. Claire M. Segijn.
I’m always open to collaboration — feel free to reach out via email if you’re interested in working together :)
📝 My Research (Most Recent First)
For more details, see my Curriculum Vitae.
- [10] Feeling Machines: How Emotional Expression in GenAI Recommendations Shapes Consumer Decisions
- [9] Beyond Citations: A cross-domain metric for dataset impact and shareability
- [8] Between Fuels and Dampeners: Emotional Trade-offs in Retweet Network of Controversial Advertising
- [7] Empowering or Hindering?: How Today’s Digital Media Consumers Really Feel About Data Privacy Issues and Privacy Protection Regulations
- [6] Behind the Click: Unveiling Consumer Perceptions About Data Privacy and Data-Driven Advertising Personalization
- [5] Does Body Positivity Sell?: Understanding Consumer Reactions Toward Body Positivity Campaigns on Social Media
- [4] “Equally Objectifying All Genders”: Gender and Self-Presentation Differences Among ‘Edge-Touching’ Influencers on Douyin
- [3] Empowering Ads, Empowered Responses: Unveiling the Emotional and Behavioral Impact of Femvertising in China on Social Media
- [2] Can Disconnection Make Us Discuss Politics Freely?: A Moderated-Mediation Model of Cross-Cutting Exposure on Social Media Political Expression via Politically Motivated Unfriending and Blocking Contingent Upon Fear of Social Isolation
- [1] A Louvre Emergency Escape Model: Based on Ant Colony Algorithm
🔥 News
- 2025.12: A paper accepted by AAA 2026 Conference (Austin, TX)! See you in Austin!
- 2025.11: Honored to be selected for the Dan Wackman First-Year Graduate Student Research Award !
- 2025.08: A paper accepted by ANZMAC 2025 Conference (Sydney, Australia)!
- 2025.05: Two paper accepted by AEJMC 2025 Conference (San Francisco, CA)! See you in San Francisco!
- 2025.05: Honored to be selected for the 2025 AEJMC Diversity and Inclusion Career Development/MCSD Fellowship !
- 2025.04: A paper accepted by ICORIA 2025 (Rotterdam, NL)!
- 2025.03: Honored to be appointed as the AAA Graduate Student Interest Committee !
- 2025.03: Honored to be appointed as the Social Media Manager for Journal of Advertising!
- 2025.03: A paper accepted by IAMCR 2025 Conference (Singapore)! See you in Singapore!
- 2024.11: A paper accepted by AAA 2025 Conference (Pittsburgh, PA)! See you in Pittsburgh!
- 2024.09: Started my Doctor of Philosophy - PhD at University of Minnesota!
- 2024.08: Excited to serve as the Graduate Student Representative for AEJMC’s Advertising Division!
- 2024.05: Grateful to be awarded the Top Student Paper fellowship , including a travel grant , by the Advertising Division of AEJMC!
- 2024.05: Two paper accepted by AEJMC 2024 Conference (Philadelphia, PA)!
🎖 Honors and Awards
- 2025.11 DanWackman First-Year Graduate Student Research Award, University ofMinnesota
- 2025.05 Diversity and Inclusion Career Development/MCSD Fellowship, Mass Communication & Society Division, Association for Education in Journalism andMass Communication (AEJMC)
- 2025.04 Shea Fellowship, University ofMinnesota
- 2024.08 Travel Grant, Advertising Division, Association for Education in Journalism andMass Communication (AEJMC)
- 2024.08 Top Student Paper Award, Advertising Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
- 2021.06 Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis, Southwest University (China)
- 2021.06 Outstanding Graduates, Southwest University (China)
- 2019.12 First Prize of Province Level, China Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling
- 2019.04 Honorable Mention of MCM, Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications, USA
📖 Educations
- Sep 2024 - Present, Ph.D. in Mass Communication, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Univeristy of Minnesota
- Jul 2021 - Dec 2023, M.A. in Marketing Communication, Faculty of Arts, Univeristy of Melbourne (Australia)
- Sep 2017 - Jun 2021, B.Eng in Software Engineering, College of Computer and Information Science, Southwest Univeristy (China)