Jingwen Zhang, Ph.D.

Jingwen Zhang

Director, Principal Investigator

362 Kerr Hall
Jingwen Zhang is an Associate Professor of the Department of Communication and an Affiliate Faculty of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California Davis. She received her PhD in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on understanding, designing, and testing emerging persuasive technologies in shaping public attitudes and behaviors. She has conducted many clinical trials that demonstrated the efficacy and mechanisms of social media, online social networks, and mobile applications in changing health attitudes and behaviors. During the past five years, she has focused on understanding and developing conversational AI or chatbot in persuasion and health promotion. She received the Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award in 2021. Dr. Zhang’s research have been published in a wide range of top journals, including Nature Communications, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Health Communication, American Journal of Public Health, Preventive Medicine, Annual Review of Sociology, etc.

 

Education and Degree(s)
  • Ph.D., Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 2016
  • M.A., Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 2013
  • M.A., English, Clemson University, 2011
  • B.A., Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University, 2009
Honors and Awards
  • Everett M. Rogers Award, Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section, American Public Health Association, 2023
  • Top paper award, “Ritualistic dynamics of task and social-emotional interactions predict interpersonal influence outcomes in compliance-gaining and advice-giving conversations,” International Communication Association Conference, Paris, France, 2022
  • Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award, American Public Health Association, 2021
  • Top paper award, “Linguistic accommodation enhances compliance to donate: the role of interpersonal processes in mediated conversations,” International Communication Association Conference, Virtual, 2020
  • Top paper award, “Facts or stories? How to use social media for cervical cancer prevention,” International Communication Association Conference, Washington, D.C., 2019
  • Top student paper award, “Efficacy of mobile-based online social network intervention to increase physical activity among young African American women,” National Communication Association 2016 Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2016
  • President Gutmann Leadership Award, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2015
  • Russell Ackoff Doctoral Student Fellowship Award, Wharton Risk Management and Decision, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2015
  • Top student paper and top three paper awards, “The social construction of HIV/AIDS in the United States and China: a comparative analysis of two online discussion forums,” National Communication Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2011
Publications
  • Xue, H., Zhang, J., Shen, C., & Wojcieszak, M. (2024). The majority of fact-checking labels in the United States are intense and this decreases engagement intention. Human Communication Research, hqae007. doi:10.1093/hcr/hqae007
  • Melnikow, J., Padovani, A., Zhang, J., Miller, M., Gosdin, M., Loureiro, S., & Daniels, B. (2024). Patient concerns and physician strategies for addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine, 42(14), 3300-3306. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.04.025
  • Liang, K. H., Shi, W., Oh, Y. J., Wang, H. C., Zhang, J., & Yu, Z. (2024). Dialoging resonance in human-chatbot conversation: how users perceive and reciprocate recommendation chatbot’s self-disclosure strategy. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CSCW1), 1-28. doi:10.1145/3653691
  • Dang, J. H., Gori, A., Rios, L., Rolon, A. M., Zhang, J., & Chen Jr, M. S. (2024). “You don’t know if it’s the truth or a lie”: exploring human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine hesitancy among communities with low HPV vaccine uptake in Northern California. Vaccines, 12(4), 372. doi:10.3390/vaccines12040372
  • Xue, H., Liao, W., & Zhang, J. (2024). Interaction dynamics of social support expressions predict future support-seeking behaviors in online support groups. Computers in Human Behavior, 156, 108224. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2024.108224
  • Centola, D., Becker, J., Zhang, J., Aysola, J., Guilbeault, D., & Khoong, E. (2023). Experimental evidence for structured information-sharing networks reducing medical errors. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120 (31), e2108290120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2108290120
  • Malloch, Y. Z., Zhang, J., & Qian, S. (2023). Effects of social comparison direction, comparison distance, and message framing on health behavioral intention in online support groups. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 17(3), Article 10. doi:10.5817/CP2023-3-10
  • Liao, W., Oh, Y. J., Feng, B., & Zhang, J. (2023). Understanding the influence discrepancy between human and artificial agent in advice interactions: the role of stereotypical perception of agency. Communication Research. doi:10.1177/00936502221138427
  • Liao, W., Oh, Y. J., Zhang, J., & Feng, B. (2023). Conversational dynamics of joint attention and shared emotion predict outcomes in interpersonal influence situations: an interaction ritual perspective. Journal of Communication. doi: 10.1093/joc/jqad003
  • Chen, A., Chen, K., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2023). When national identity meets conspiracies: the contagion of national identity language in public engagement and discourse about COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(1), zmac034. doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmac034
  • Qian, S., Shen, C., & Zhang, J. (2023). Fighting cheapfakes: using a digital media literacy intervention to motivate reverse search of out-of-context visual misinformation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(1), zmac024. doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmac024
  • Wu, S., Zhang, J., & Du, L. (2022). “I do not trust health information shared by my parents”: credibility judgment of health (mis)information on social media in China. Health Communication, 39(1), 96-106. doi:10.1080/10410236.2022.2159143
  • Chen, A., Zhang, J., Liao, W., Luo, C., Shen, C., & Feng, B. (2022). Multiplicity and dynamics of social representations of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese social media from 2019 to 2020. Information Processing & Management, 59(4), 102990. doi:10.1016/j.ipm.2022.102990
  • Chawla, K., Shi, W., Zhang, J., Lucas, G., Yu, Z., & Gratch, J. (2022). Social influence dialogue systems: a scoping survey of the efforts towards influence capabilities of dialogue systems. arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.05664.
  • Kong, D., Chen, A., Zhang, J., Xiang, X., Lou, W. V., Kwok, T., & Wu, B. (2022). Public discourse and sentiment toward dementia on Chinese social media: machine learning analysis of Weibo posts. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(9), e39805. doi:10.2196/39805
  • Xue, H., Zhang, J., Sagae, K., Nishimine, B., & Fukuoka, Y. (2022). Analyzing public conversations of heart disease and heart health on Facebook from 2016 to 2021: A retrospective observational study applying Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling. JMIR Cardio. doi:10.2196/40764
  • Zimbres, T. M., Bell, R. A., Miller, L. M. S., & Zhang, J. (2022). Contradictory and complex health messages: an experimental test of different sources of uncertainty. Communication Research Reports, 1-13.
  • Calabrese, C., Zhang, J., & Yu, X. (2022). Perceptions of PrEP on Twitter: A theoretically guided content analysis on the behavioral determinants of PrEP uptake. Health & New Media Research, 6(1), 65-102.
  • Zhang, J., Featherstone, J. D., Calabrese, C., & Wojcieszak, M. (2021). Effects of fact-checking social media vaccine misinformation on attitudes toward vaccines. Preventive Medicine, 145, 106408. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106408
  • Centola, D., Guilbeault, D., Sarkar, U., Khoong, E., & Zhang, J. (2021). The reduction of race and gender bias in clinical treatment recommendations using clinician peer networks in an experimental setting. Nature Communications, 12(2):6585. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26905-5
  • Zhang, J., Xue, H., Calabrese, C., Chen, H., & Dang, J. (2021). Understanding HPV vaccine promotions and hesitancy in Northern California through examining public Facebook pages and groups. Frontiers in Digital Health. doi:10.3389/fdgth.2021.683090
  • Oh, Y. J., Zhang, J., Fang, M. L., & Fukuoka, Y. (2021). A systematic review of artificial intelligence chatbots for promoting physical activity, healthy diet, and weight loss. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 18(1), 1-25. doi: 10.1186/s12966-021-01224-6
  • Zimbres, T., Bell, R., Miller, L., & Zhang, J. (2021). When media health stories conflict: test of the contradictory health information processing (CHIP) model. Journal of Health Communication, 1-13. doi:10.1080/10810730.2021.1950239
  • Jemmott III, J. B., Jemmott, L. S., Zhang, J., Icard, L. D., Kelly, T. A., Frank, I., & Bellamy, S. L. (2021). Effects of a health promotion intervention on physical activity in African American men living with HIV: randomized controlled trial. AIDS Patient Care and STDs. doi: 10.1089/apc.2021.0039
  • Liao, W., Zhang, J., Oh, Y.J., Palomares, N. (2021). Linguistic accommodation enhances compliance to charity donate: the role of interpersonal communication processes in mediated compliance-gaining conversations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,173-191. doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmab001
  • Kim, S., Jemmott, J. B., Icard, L. D., Zhang, J., & Jemmott, L. S. (2021). South African fathers' involvement and their adolescents’ sexual risk behavior and alcohol consumption. AIDS and Behavior, 25, 2793-2800. doi: 10.1007/s10461-021-03323-8
  • Liang, K. H., Lange, P., Oh, Y. J., Zhang, J., Fukuoka, Y., & Yu, Z. (2021). Evaluation of in-person counseling strategies to develop physical activity chatbot for women. In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual SIGdial Meeting on Discourse and Dialogue, 32-44. Available: https://sigdial.org/sites/default/files/workshops/conference22/Proceedings/pdf/2021.sigdial-1.5.pdf
  • Cederbaum, J. A., Kim, S., Zhang, J., Jemmott, J. B., & Jemmott, L. S. (2021). The impact of a theory-based, church-based behavioral intervention to increase parent-child sexual risk communication among inner-city African Americans. Health Education Research, 36(2), 224-238. doi:10.1093/her/cyab009
  • Zhang, J., Oh, Y. J., Lange, P., Yu, Z., & Fukuoka, Y. (2020). Artificial intelligence chatbot behavior change model for designing artificial intelligence chatbots to promote physical activity and a healthy diet. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e22845. doi: 10.2196/22845
  • Featherstone, J. D., & Zhang, J. (2020). Feeling angry: the effects of vaccine misinformation and refutational messages on negative emotions and vaccination attitude. Journal of Health Communication, 25(9), 692-702. doi:10.1080/10810730.2020.1838671
  • Chen, K., Chen, A., Zhang, J., Meng, J., & Shen, C. (2020). Conspiracy and debunking narratives about COVID-19 origination on Chinese social media: How it started and who is to blame. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review, 1(8), 1-30. doi:10.37016/mr-2020-50
  • Shen, C., Chen, A., Luo, C., Zhang, J., Feng, B., & Liao, W. (2020). Using reports of symptoms and diagnoses on social media to predict COVID-19 case counts in mainland China: observational infoveillance study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(5), e19421. doi:10.2196/19421
  • Pan, S., Zhang, D., Zhang, J. (2020). Caught in the crossfire: how contradictory information and norms on social media influence young women’s intentions to receive HPV vaccination in the United States and China. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 548365. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.548365
  • Icard, L.D., Zhang, J., Jemmott III, J. B., Sandfort, T., Rutledge, S.E., Greunen Van, D., & Martinez, O. (2020). The effects of three types of sexual orientation victimization on HIV sexual risk behavior among Black South African men who have sex with men (MSM). Journal of Homosexuality, 67(4), 513-527. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2018.1547561
  • Dehlendorf, C., Fox, E., Sharma, A.E., Zhang, J., Yang, S., & Centola, D. (2020). Birth Control Connect: a randomized trial of an online group to disseminate contraceptive information. Contraception, 101(6), 376-383. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2020.01.014
  • Shi, W., Wang, X., Oh, Y., Zhang, J., Sahay, S., & Yu, Z. (2020). Effects of persuasive dialogues: testing bot identity and strategies of inquiry. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '20), Honolulu, HI, USA. ACM. Available: https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3313831.3376843
  • Zhang, J., & Centola, D. (2019). Social networks and health: new developments in diffusion, online and offline. Annual Review of Sociology, 45, 91-109. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041421
  • Zhang, J., Le, G., Larochelle, D., Pasick, R., Sawaya, G., Sarkar, U., & Centola, D. (2019). Facts or stories? How to use social media for cervical cancer prevention: a multi-method study of the effects of sender type and content type on increased message sharing. Preventive Medicine, 126, 105751. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105751
  • Zhang, J., & Jemmott III, J.B. (2019). Mobile app-based small group physical activity intervention for young African American women: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 20(6), 863-872. doi: 10.1007/s11121-019-01006-4
  • Malloch, Y. Z., & Zhang, J. (2019). Seeing others receive support online: effects of self-disclosure and similarity on perceived similarity and health behavior intention. Journal of Health Communication, 24(3), 217-225. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2019.1595226
  • Calabrese, C., & Zhang, J. (2019). Boomerang effects of online virality metrics on normative perceptions and behavioral intention. Telematics and Informatics, 45, 101279. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2019.101279
  • Wang, X., Shi, W., Kim, R., Oh, Y. J., Yang, S., Zhang, J., & Yu, Zhou. (2019). Persuasion for good: towards a personalized persuasive dialogue system for social good. In Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL 2019), 5635–5649, Florence, Italy. Available: https://www.aclweb.org/anthology/P19-1566.pdf
  • Jemmott III, J.B., Zhang, J., Jemmott, L., Icard, L.D., Ngwane, Z., Makiwane, M., & O’Leary, A. (2019). Health-promotion intervention increases physical activity and healthful diet among South African adolescents over 54 months: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(1), 139-146. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.01.027
  • Chee, W., Ji, X., Kim, S., Park, S., Zhang, J., Chee, E., Tsai, H-M., & Im, E. O. (2019). Recruitment and retention of Asian Americans in web-based physical activity promotion programs: a discussion paper. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 37(9), 455-462. doi: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000541
  • Hilbert, M., Blumenstock, J., Contractor, N., Diesner, J., Frey, S., Gonzalez-Bailon, S., Lamberson, P.J., Pan, J., Peng, T., Shen, C., Smaldino, P., Van Atteveldt, W., Waldherr, A., Zhang, J., & Zhu, J. (2019). Computational communication science: a methodological catalyzer for a maturing discipline. International Journal of Communication, 13, 3912-3934. Available: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/10675
  • Zhang, J., O’Leary, A., Jemmott III, J. B., Icard, L.D., & Rutledge, S.E. (2019). Syndemic conditions predict lower levels of physical activity among African American men who have sex with men: a prospective survey study. Plos One, 0213439. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213439
  • Jemmott III, J.B., Zhang, J., Croom, M., Icard, L.D., Rutledge, S.E., & O’Leary, A. (2019). Barriers and facilitators to engaging African American men who have sex with men in the HIV Care continuum: a theory-based qualitative study. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 30(3), 352-361. doi: 10.1097/JNC.0000000000000087
  • Lyson, H., Le, G., Zhang, J., Rivadeneira, N., Lyles, C., Radcliffe, K., Pasick, R.J., Sawaya, G., Sarkar, U., & Centola, D. (2019). Social media as a tool to promote health awareness: results from an online cervical cancer prevention study. Journal of Cancer Education, 34, 819-822. doi: 10.1007/s13187-018-1379-8
  • Zhang, J., Cederbaum, J., Jemmott III, J.B., & Jemmott, L. (2018). Theory-based behavioral intervention increases mother-son communication about sexual risk reduction among inner-city African Americans. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(4), 497-502. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.04.017
  • Zhang, J., Jemmott III, J.B., Icard, L.D., Heeren, G.A., Ngwane, Z., Makiwane, M., & O’Leary, A. (2018). Predictors and psychological pathways for binge drinking among South African men. Psychology and Health, 33(6), 810-826. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2018.1429613
  • Zhang, J., Calabrese, C., Ding, J., Liu, M., & Zhang, B. (2018). Advantages and challenges in using mobile apps for field experiments: A systematic review and a case study. Mobile Media & Communication, 6(2), 179-196. doi: 10.1177/2050157917725550
  • Zhang, J., Jemmott III, J.B., Jemmott, L. O’Leary, L., Icard. L.D., Stevens, R., Hsu, J., & Rutledge, S.E. (2017). Efficacy and mediation of a theory based physical activity intervention for African American men who have sex with men: A randomized controlled trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 51, 106-116. doi: 10.1007/s12160-016-9832-6
  • Zhang, J., Jemmott III, J.B., & Heeren, A. (2017). Sub-Saharan African university students’ beliefs on abstinence, condom use, and limiting the number of partners. Behavioral Medicine, 43(1), 9-20. doi: 10.1080/08964289.2015.1028321
  • Zhang, J., Brackbill, D., Yang, S., Becker, J., Herbert, N., & Centola, D. (2016). Support or competition? How online social networks increase physical activity: a randomized controlled trial. Preventive Medicine Reports, 4, 453-458. doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.08.008
  • Zhang, J., Nurik, C., & Jemmott III, J.B. (2016). Boundaries of sexual communication: a mixed-method study exploring Chinese young adults’ engagement with online sexual health information. Sexual Health, 13(3), 281- 288. doi:10.1071/SH16009
  • Chee, W., Kim, S., Chu, T., Tsai, H., Ji, X., Zhang, J., Chee, E., & Im, E. O. (2016). Practical issues in developing a culturally tailored physical activity promotion program for Chinese and Korean American midlife women: A pilot study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(11): e303. doi:10.2196/jmir.6454
  • Im, E. O., Ji, X., Zhang, J., Kim, S., Lee, Y., Chee, E., Chee, W., Tsai, H., Nishigaki, M., Yeo, S., Schapira, M., & Mao, J. (2016). Issues in developing and evaluating a culturally tailored internet cancer support group. Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 34(10), 462-469. doi:10.1097/CIN.0000000000000261
  • Im, E. O., Lee, Y., Ji, X., Zhang, J., Kim, S., Chee, E., Chee, W., Tsai, H., Nishigaki, M., Yeo, S., Shapira, M., & Mao, J. (2016). Internet recruitment of Asian American breast cancer survivors. Advances in Nursing Science, 39(3), E17-E27. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0000000000000131
  • Zhang, J., Brackbill, D., Yang, S., & Centola, D. (2015). Efficacy and causal mechanism of an online social media intervention to increase physical activity: results of a randomized controlled trial. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 651–657. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.08.005
  • Zhang, J., Brackbill, D., Yang, S., & Centola, D. (2015). Identifying the effects of social media on health behavior: data from a large-scale online experiment. Data in Brief, 5, 453-457. doi:10.1016/j.dib.2015.09.049
  • Zhang, J., Jemmott III, J.B., & Jemmott, L. (2015). Mediation and moderation of an efficacious theory-based abstinence-only intervention for African American adolescents. Health Psychology, 34(12), 1175-1184. doi: 10.1037/hea0000244
  • Zhang, J., & Jemmott III, J.B. (2015). Unintentional exposure to Internet sexual content and sexual behavioral intention among college students in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 27(5), 561-571. doi: 10.1177/1010539514562446
  • Zhang, J., & Ding, H. (2014). Constructing HIV/AIDS on the Internet: a comparative rhetorical analysis of online narratives in the United States and in China. International Journal of Communication, 8, 1415–1436. Available: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2509
  • Sorenson, S., Shi, R., Zhang, J., & Xue, J. (2014). Self-presentation on the web: agencies serving abused and assaulted women. American Journal of Public Health, 104(4), 702-707. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301629
  • Jemmott III, J., Jemmott, L., Ngwane, Z., Zhang, J., Heeren, A., Icard, L.D., O'Leary, A., Mtose, X., Teitelman, A., & Carty, C. (2014). Theory-based behavioral intervention increases self-reported physical activity in South African men: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Preventive Medicine, 64, 114-120. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.04.012
  • Zhang, J., Souza, P. P., & Obregon, R. (2014). Concept note: Guidance on applying MoRES for sustainable C4D interventions. C4D Section, Programme Division, UNICEF, New York, NY.
  • Zhang, J. (2013). From adoption to retransmission: Tradition and development of diffusion research in the era of online social media [in Chinese]. Journalism Evolution, 1(2), 25-33.
  • Zhang, J., Souza, P. P., McDonald, K., & Obregon, R. (2013). The rationale and recommendation for C4D indicators in National Surveys. C4D Section, Programme Division, UNICEF, New York, NY.
  • Ding, H., & Zhang, J. (2010). Social media and participatory risk communication during the H1N1 flu epidemic: A comparative study of the United States and China. China Media Research, 6(4), 80-91.
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