Yiwei Xu
Graduate Student, Department of Communication

I work on examining and developing theory-driven communication strategies that address persistent and emergent public health challenges (e.g., racial disparities, vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, gun violence, etc), with the goal of promoting policy change and health equity. I also research collective level phenomena in health communication (e.g., collective health information seeking, community level factors that shape media agenda). I conduct experiments, survey, and content analysis by incorporating computational pipelines (e.g., web experiment, supervised machine learning, and digital trace data) to study strategic health communication.
Education
- M.S., Communication, Cornell University
- M.A., Communication, Clemson University
- B.A., Advertising, Shanghai Normal University
Interests
Media psychology; health risk communication; strategic health message design and effects; social determinants of health; health policy
Awards & Honors
- Hsien Wu and Daisy Yen Wu Scholarship, 2023, Cornell University
- The Anson E. Rowe Advanced Graduate Student Award, 2022, Cornell University Department of Communication
- CALS Alumni Association Grant Funding, 2020, Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- Cornell Fellowship recipient, 2018, Cornell University.
- Master’s Degree Candidate Research Assistant Award, 2018, Clemson University College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences.
- Outstanding Graduate Student, 2018, Clemson University Department of Communication.
- Outstanding Graduate Researcher, 2018, Clemson University Department of Communication.
- Outstanding Graduate of Shanghai, 2016, Ministry of Education of Shanghai.
- Xu, Y., & Margolin, D. (2023). Collective information seeking during a health crisis: Predictors of Google Trends during COVID-19. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2167578
- Xu, Y., Farkouh, E. K., Dunetz, C. A., Varanasi, S. L., Mathews, S., Gollust, S. E., Fowler, E. F., Moore, S., Lewis, N. A., Niederdeppe, J. (2022). Local TV news coverage of racial disparities in COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, March-June 2020. Race and Social Problems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-022-09372-5
- Xu, Y., Winett, L. B., & Niederdeppe, J. (2021). Evidence of heterogeneity in the direction and magnitude of narrative effects on transportation and counterarguing across three independent samples. International Journal of Communication. 15. 5135–5157. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/17446
- Xu, Y., Margolin, D., & Niederdeppe, J. (2021). Testing strategies to increase source credibility through strategic message design in the context of vaccination and vaccine hesitancy. Health Communication, 36(11), 1354-1367. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1751400
- Niederdeppe, J., Winett, L.B., Xu, Y., Fowler, E. F, & Gollust, S. E. (2021). Evidence-based message strategies to increase public support for state investment in early childhood education: Results from a longitudinal panel experiment. The Milbank Quarterly. 1-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12534
- Winett, L. B., Niederdeppe, J., Xu, Y., Gollust, S. E., & Fowler, E. F. (2021). When “tried and true” advocacy strategies backfire: Narrative messages can undermine state legislator support for early childcare policies. The Journal of Public Interest Communications, 5(1), 45-45. https://doi.org/10.32473/jpic.v5.i1.p45
- Ash, E., Xu, Y., Jenkins, A., & Kumanyika, C. (2019). Framing use of force: An analysis of news organizations’ social media posts about police shootings. Electronic News, 13(2), 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243119850239
- Ash, E., Cox, E., Xu, Y., & Boatwright, B. (2023, May) Promoting teen pregnancy prevention: An analysis of social media content strategy over 5 years. Paper presented at the 73rd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Toronto, ON.
- Xu, Y., Margolin, D., & Schuldt, J. P. (2022, November). The application of relational model in scientific information processing on social media. Paper presented at the 108th annual conference of the National Communication Association (NCA), New Orleans, LA.
- Xu, Y. (2022, November). Choice complicates protection: Effects of inoculation messages on audiences’ selective exposure to counterattitudinal messages and subsequent persuasive outcomes. Paper presented at the 108th annual conference of the National Communication Association (NCA), New Orleans, LA.
- Xu, Y., Farkouh, E. K., Dunetz, C. A., Varanasi, S. L., Mathews, S., Gollust, S. E., Fowler, E. F., Moore, S., Lewis, N. A., Niederdeppe, J. (2022, May). Local TV news coverage of racial disparities in COVID-19 impacts in the US during the first wave of the pandemic, March-June 2020. Paper presented at the 72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association, Paris, France.
- Xu, Y., & Margolin, D. (2022, May). Google searches for COVID-information: When, where and what. Paper presented at the 72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association, Paris, France.
- Xu, Y., Winett, L. B., & Niederdeppe, J. (2021, May). Evidence of heterogeneity in the direction and magnitude of narrative effects on transportation and counterarguing: Three replications with three different populations. Paper presented at the 71st annual conference of the International Communication Association, Denver, CO (Virtual conference).
- Xu, Y., Margolin, D., & Niederdeppe, J. (2020, May). Testing strategies to increase source credibility through strategic message design in the context of vaccination and vaccine hesitancy. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Gold Coast, Australia (Virtual conference).
- Xu, Y. (2019, August). The role of social distance in narrative persuasion for risk prevention. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Toronto, ON.
- Ash, E., Xu, Y., Jenkins, A., & Kumanyika, C. (2018, May). Framing use of force: an analysis of news organizations’ social media posts about police shootings. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Prague, Czech Republic.
- Xu, Y. (2017, August). Media framing effects of public service announcements about the HPV vaccine. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, IL.
Grants
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant in Decision, Risk & Management Science. “Communicating Controversial Risk Issues - Effects of Inoculation Messages on Selective Exposure to Counterattitudinal Messages and Subsequent Persuasive Outcomes.” $30,168 Total.
Yiwei in the news
News
Awards We are pleased to announce that Professor Katherine McComas received the Excellence in Risk Communication Research and Practice Award from the Society for Risk Analysis Risk Communication Specialty Group. The award recognizes “outstanding...
- Department of Communication
News
Events Join us for the first COMMColloquium of 2023, this Friday, February 3, at 2:00 pm. Karen Levy will be presenting. Grants Lee Humphreys, Co-PI, “The Sound of Silence: Mapping Immigrants' Preferences and Use of Public Space through Social...
- Department of Communication