I have had two primary areas of academic research focus since 1989: New Communication Technology and International Communication.
New Communication Technology
This research program focused on the use and impact of new communication technologies among consumers. This program has focused on consumer use of direct broadcast satellites, videotext (the computer-mediated information systems that predated the World Wide Web (WWW)), email, the Internet and social media.
International Communication
This research program has been focused on conceptualizing, measuring and visualizing the knowledge structures involved in the reception and processing of international communication messages. Initially, the international communication messages that I researched were primarily in the form of TV content, but my interest has recently been expanded to international communication messages as present in social media exchanges. With respect to influence, I have been particularly interested in how consumption of international communication messages affects an individual’s image of other countries, and an individual’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviors toward groups of individuals living outside this individual’s own country.