Effects of Employee Communication on Affiliation and Stakeholder Behavior

Funded by: Akademische Gesellschaft für Unternehmensführung & Kommunikation
Duration: August 2023 – Juli 2024
PI: Sabine Einwiller

Programmstrukturanalyse ORF TV 2023

Funded by: ORF (Austrian Public Service Broadcaster)
Duration: January – March 2024
PI: Mira Mayrhofer
Collaboration: Florence Klauda

People's Sense of Security Within Modern Media Landscapes (SECU)

Funded by: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) (Program: KIRAS)
Duration: December 2022 – May 2024
PI: Jörg Matthes • Kevin Koban (Co-PI)
Collaboration: Ines Spielvogel

In recent years, the confrontation with immigration and violent crime as well as, most recently, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian War have shaped Austrian's sense of security and, in the process, made various concerns, fears, and related social tendencies more salient. Traditional media have always played a central role in people’s sense of security. Having said that, social media and the proliferation of smartphones have fundamentally changed the dissemination, reception, and discussion of security-related information, thus challenging established practices of efficient security communication that is supposed to be effective in both the short and long term. Research has not sufficiently accounted for these changing media landscapes, such that the influence of smartphones and social media has thus far been examined only to a limited extend. The project will obtain detailed data on the reception of safety-related topics in light of individualized media habits, which will be assessed holistically for their temporal relationship with people's sense of security in Austria. Additionally, we will examine the causal influence of social media and their opinion leaders in order to determine how public security communication within the available social media channels can (and should) look like.

Ethical Challenges in Communication Practice: Blurring boundaries between Journalism, Advertising, and Public Relations

Funded by: Scientifc Senate of the Public Relations Association Austria (PRVA)
Duration: June 2021 – March 2023
PI: Sabine Einwiller
Collaboration: Uta Russmann (Vienna University of Applied Sciences) • Jens Seiffert Brockmann (WU Wien)

Research and practice show that the boundaries between PR, advertising and journalism are blurring, leading to a number of ethical challenges. The project investigates how PR and media practitioners perceive the blurring boundaries and what ethical challenges and conflicts of interest arise as a result. Based on the findings from 45 interviews, a training program will be developed to sensitize PR practitioners to the ethical challenges and prepare them to deal with them.

Knowledge Resistance: Causes, Consequences, and Cures

Funded by: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ)
Duration: 2019 – 2025
Co-PI: Hajo Boomgaarden

The main objective of this interdisciplinary program is to investigate the nature and causes of knowledge resistance. Knowledge resistance is the failure to accept available knowledge. A central hypothesis is that knowledge resistance is the result of a complex interaction between emotions, cognition, social interaction and the flow of information. This means that a proper investigation of the phenomenon requires a genuinely interdisciplinary approach.

Hajo Boomgaarden acts as lead researcher in the work package "The role of media, media use, and media trust", together with Jesper Strömbäck (PI), Yariv Tsfati and Rens Vliegenthart.

Measuring the Loss of Image due to Time Delays

Funded by: Wiener Linien (Viennese Public Transport Operator)
Duration: April – December 2021
PI: Jörg Matthes
Collaboration: Alice Binder (Co-PI) • Helena Knupfer
Status: Completed

Image Study of the University of Vienna

Funded by: University of Vienna
Duration: 2020 – 2021
PI: Jörg Matthes
Collaboration: Alice Binder • Selina Noetzel
Status: Completed

Effects of Food Placements in Narrative Children's Media on Children's Healthy Eating Behavior Long Term Effects, Activation and Attention Allocation, as well as Effective Presentations

Funded by: Anniversary Fund of the Austrian Central Bank (OeNB)
Duration: July 2018 – December 2020
PI: Jörg Matthes
Collaboration: Ines Spielvogel • Brigitte Naderer • Alice Binder • Michaela Forrai
Status: Completed

As of right now, nearly every fifth child in Austria is categorized as overweight or obese and obesity is a main contributor to long-term health issues. Content analyses of narrative children's media offerings found that the majority of food representations on television comprises of unhealthy products. And these representations are effective. Plenty of studies have found effects of media use and unhealthy eating behaviour and even specific snack choices. However, whether the representation of healthy products can have similar effects has not been sufficiently studied. Thus, the positive potential of television as a communicator for healthy eating behaviour for children is an important research gap. The project aims at uncovering the positive influence that media content targeted at children could have on their food preferences.

Native Advertising auf Onlineportalen österreichischer Medien: Vorkommen, Wahrnehmung und Wirkung

Duration: May 2018 – May 2019
PI: Sabine Einwiller
Status: Completed

Themenmanagement: Management von Kommunikationsinhalten und Themen

Laufzeit: February 2018 – January 2019
PI: Sabine Einwiller
Status: Completed

Organizational Efforts to Prevent Harmful Online Communication – A Cross-National Analysis of Online Platform Providers' Policies

Funded by: Toyota Foundation
Duration: May 2017 – May 2018
PI: Sabine Einwiller
Status: Completed

Evaluation of the Campaign "Ausbildung bis 18"

Funded by: Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Austria
Duration: March 2017 – April 2018
PI: Jörg Matthes
Collaboration: Alice Binder
Status: Completed

This project used qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze campaign attitudes and knowledge of adolescents and their parents as well as key stakeholders.

Image Study of the University of Vienna

Funded by: University of Vienna
Duration: 2016 – 2018
PI: Jörg Matthes
Collaboration: Mira Mayrhofer • Alice Binder
Status: Completed

Food Product Placements in Children's Movies: Content, Mechanisms and Protective Measures

Funded by: Anniversary Fund of the Austrian Central Bank (OeNB)
Duration: April 2015 – March 2017
PI: Jörg Matthes
Collaboration: Brigitte Naderer • Alice Binder • Ines Spielvogel • Agnes Obereder • Mira Mayrhofer
Status: Completed

The aim of this project was to investigate the content and effects of food placements in children's movies and to test protective measures against persuasive mechanisms. More specifically, the project provided insights into the Austrian situation concerning product placements in children's movies and investigated how children can be protected from unwanted advertising effects like the socialization of unhealthy eating behavior.

Image Study of the University of Vienna

Funded by: University of Vienna
Duration: 2012 – 2013
PI: Klaus Schönbach
Collaboration: Kati Förster • Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw
Status: Completed