Associate Professor
Affiliations
- Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
- Institute of Communications Research
- Illinois Informatics
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB)
Education
- PhD, University South Carolina (Mass Communications/Public Health)
- MA, Sogang University (Mass Communications)
- BA, Ewha Womans University (Social Welfare/Mass Communications)
Course Specialties
- AI & Digital Health
- Entertainment Branding: Branding K-pop
- Public Relations Strategies
- Persuasion and Consumer Response
- Social Media and Personal Branding
- Graduate Seminar I
- Graduate Seminar II
Background
Dr. Oh is an interdisciplinary researcher, teacher, and consultant for societal- and individual-levels of wellbeing via innovative communications and media strategies. Her research investigates the realms of emerging media effects and scrutinizes the dissemination of health and risk misinformation. She explores how digital technologies can be leveraged for promote health prevention and the public good. Her research addresses three main themes: 1) the role of media and emerging communication technologies in shaping the public’s understanding of urgent public health and social issues, and influencing behaviors at both individual and policy levels; 2) strategies to mitigate the harmful consequences of misinformation; and 3) how brands in both the private and public sectors can enhance their communication efforts to promote public good through strategic approaches that emphasize transparency, trust, and emotional engagement.
Before embarking on her academic career, Dr. Oh lent her expertise to Samsung iMarketKorea, a leading B2B marketplace in the early to mid-2000s, excelling for five years as a Strategic Planning and Communication Manager. Dr. Oh served as the Faculty Chair of the Public Relations Minor Program and as Faculty Advisor for the Korean Student Association (KSA) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Awards
2025: Inaugural Teri Thompson Outstanding Article Award for best article published in Health Communication since the journal’s inception. Taylor & Francis Group. National Communication Association, Denver, United States.
2024: JWY Research Award, Department of Advertising, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States.
2021: Best Research Paper, 2nd place, Global Colloquium, Korea Advertising Society (KAS), Korea.
2016: Rainbow Top Research Paper Award, Korea Health Communication Association.
2015: Red Raider Public Relations Research Award, International Public Relations Research Conference.
2014: Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award, University of South Carolina.
2011: Third-Place Award, Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Division, 94th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Research and Creative Endeavor
Dr. Oh’s work inherently possesses an interdisciplinary nature, combining insights from diverse fields including but not limited to communication, media effects, public relations, public health, psychology, sociology, and computational analysis. This approach helps a comprehensive view of digital media effects and misinformation. Dr. Oh serves on the editorial board of Health Communication and The Korean Journal of Advertising and Public Relations. Her research has been published in esteemed journals such as Health Communication, Risk Analysis, Mass Communication & Society, International Journal of Communication, and Public Understanding of Science, among other prestigious journals in her research field. Additionally, she acted as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Select Publications
#Chen, J., #Gumusel, E., #Sutton, J., Zhou, K. Z., & S.-H. Oh. (Accepted). Regulating deceptive design: A comparative analysis of U.S. and EU laws on dark patterns. The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Maslowska, E., #Guo, Z., Oh, S.-H., & Smit, E. S. (2025). Exploring Public Health Agencies’ Communication on Social Media in the Early Stages of the Covid-19 Pandemic An International Perspective, Journal of Health Communication 6(1), 1-26.
Kim, SJ., & Oh, S.-H. (2024). The challenges of engaging African American communities during a public health crisis: The role of government information, COVID-19 discourse, and emotional content on social media. Journal of Strategic Communication, 1-17.
Kim, S.-H., Oh, S.-H., Zain, A., Heo, Y, & Jun, J. (2023). Transition from idealized science to culture of skepticism in South Korea: Micro-level evidence for the two-culture model of public understanding of science. International Journal of Public Opinion Research.
Yoo, WH., Hong, YS., & Oh, S.-H. (2023). Communication inequalities in the COVID-19 pandemic: socioeconomic differences and preventive behaviors in the United States and South Korea. BMC Public Health 23 (1), 1290.
Yoo, WH.,&Oh, S.-H. (2023).The Effects of Social Determinants of Health on COVID-19-Preventive Behavioral Intention in South Korea and the United States: Mediating Role of Health Communication. Korean Advertising Studies.
Kim, L#., & Oh, S.-H+ (2023). Predicting Telephone Anxiety: Use of Digital Communication Technologies, Language and Cultural Barriers, and Phone Avoidance. Communication Research Reports. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2023.2221845
Yoo, WH., Oh, S.-H., & Kim, T. (2023). How Social Media Exposure Influences Preventive Behavioral Intention during the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea: A Communication Mediation Model Approach. Journal of Creative Communications. 18 (2), 166-182.
Yoo, WH., Oh, S.-H., & Chio, D-H. (2023). Exposure to COVID-19 Misinformation across Instant Messaging Apps: Moderating Roles of News Media and Interpersonal Communication. International Journal of Communication, 17, 712-734.
Oh, S.-H+., Lee, Cj., & Park, SH#. (2022). Trust matters: The effect of social media use on public health policy support through (mis)beliefs in the context of HPV vaccination. Health Communication. Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2096985
Oh, S.-H+., Lee, S-Y#., & Han, CH#. (2021). The effects of social media use on preventive behaviors during infectious disease outbreaks: The mediating role of self-relevant emotions and public risk perception. Health Communication, 36(8), 972-981.
Ham C-D., Chung, UC#., Kim, WJ#., Lee, SY#., & Oh, S.-H. (2021). Greener than others? Exploring generational differences in green perceptions and purchase intentions of the US consumer: Consumer socialization and social intelligence perspectives. International Journal of Market Research, 64(3), 376-396.
Lim, HJ, Oh, S.-H., Kim Y., & Kim, J.-N. (2019). Activists and their communicative behaviors for effective crisis communication in the age of social media. Asian Journal of Public Relation, 3(1), 1-14.
# undergraduate student, graduate student or post-doctoral student
+ corresponding author
