sell introducing communication research

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Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry Fifth Edition

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• ISBN-10 1071886630
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• Publication date May 14, 2024
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About the author.

Donald Treadwell earned his master’s degree in communication from Cornell University and his

PhD in communication and rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He developed and taught communication research classes in classroom and online settings

and also taught courses in organizational communication, public relations, and public relations

writing. He is the coauthor of Public Relations Writing: Principles in Practice (2nd ed., Sage,

He has published and presented research on organizational image, consumer response to

college names, health professionals’ images of AIDS, faculty perceptions of the communication

discipline, and employers’ expectations of newly hired communication graduates. His research

appears in Communication Monographs, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Public

Relations Review, Journal of Human Subjectivity, and Criminal Justice Ethics.

He is professor emeritus, Westfield State University, and has international consulting experience

in agricultural extension and health communication.

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ SAGE Publications, Inc; Fifth edition (May 14, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
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• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1071886630
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1071886632
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• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.78 x 10 inches

About the author

Donald treadwell.

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Introducing communication research : paths of inquiry

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1.1: What is Communication Research?

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• Lindsey Jo Hand, Erin Ryan, and Karen Sichler
• Kennesaw State University via GALILEO Open Learning Materials

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When we consider rhetoric, the study of the art of persuasive speaking, the history of communication research can be traced back to the days of Aristotle. You will learn more about rhetoric in your public speaking and communication theory courses, so we won’t take a deep dive into it here, but the larger point is that humans have been interested in studying communication since 300 B.C. Modern communication research and efforts to define and “model” the process of communication, however, is typically traced back to the early 20th century.

Walter Lippmann’s (1922) book Public Opinion is a seminal piece in the early study of communication. Lippmann’s (1922) focus on communication and democracy might sound familiar to you; his objective was to highlight problems facing democracy by discussing how public opinion consists of “pictures inside people’s heads [that] do not automatically correspond with the world outside” (p. 19). He argued that people’s access to facts are often limited, thus public opinions are often misleading and inaccurate, but yet we still tend to collectively act upon them. John Dewey’s (1927) book The Public and its Problems took a similar view of the communication process, but he had a more optimistic view, “When communication occurs, all natural events are subject to reconsideration and revision; they are re-adapted to meet the requirements of conversation, whether it be public discourse or that preliminary discourse termed thinking” (p. 132). Both Lippmann and Dewey set the stage for future study of communication by highlighting its importance in social life, democracy, and community.

Upon the founding of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 1958, publisher and ambassador Walter Annenberg wrote:

"Every human advancement or reversal can be understood through communication. The right to free communication carries with it responsibility to respect the dignity of others – and this must be recognized as irreversible. Educating students to effectively communicate this message and to be of service to all people is the enduring mission of this school."

The scholars who helped establish the Annenberg School set the stage for the future of teaching and researching communication. Under George Gerbner, the second dean of the school from 1964 until 1989, the school moved communication research beyond either a strict medium (radio, television, speech) or professional training basis to a more theoretical understanding of communication. The mission of the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania is to produce cutting-edge research, sharing the work to help expand the public’s and policy makers’ understanding of communication, educate graduate and undergraduate students to move forward the discipline as well as encourage students to be better consumers of communication.

Fields of Communication

For a comprehensive overview of the fields of communication (and career options for each category) visit https://www.communications-major.com/ . Reading through this list will help you understand the skills required in the communication professions, and you can discover which types of jobs appeal to you the most. Many of these fields overlap. Regardless of what career path you choose, you will need to be a skilled writer and speaker, understand digital technology, and develop the ability to analyze information and think critically. When you determine which path is a good fit for you, choose from one of the four majors in the School of Communication and Media:

Journalism and Emerging Media

( http://chss.kennesaw.edu/socm/programs/bsjem.php )

Whether you are navigating the media-rich culture as a critical thinker, learning to write and produce news and feature stories as a journalist, or are gaining hands-on experience in digital video and audio as a social media expert, Kennesaw State's Journalism and Emerging Media program offers endless possibilities.

Learn the latest industry trends from faculty members who are award-winning professionals, including reporters, editors and international correspondents at the Associated Press, the Atlanta JournalConstitution , CNN, NPR, commercial radio stations and various newspapers. The Journalism and Emerging Media major offers a professionally-focused, marketplace-relevant, and theoretically-rigorous program. It includes courses in news writing, media law, digital media production, sports reporting, investigative reporting, and community-based capstone experience. It encourages students to enroll in a forcredit internship.

Media and Entertainment

( http://chss.kennesaw.edu/socm/programs/bsmes.php )

The Media and Entertainment major invites students to explore the critical ways in which communication and converged media connect with and affect our lives, society, and culture. The program focuses on the forms and effects of media, including radio, film, television, print, and electronic media, and requires that students demonstrate basic digital media production skills. Our students are critically engaged with creative analysis, production, and research into traditional and emerging forms of media. The curriculum emphasizes media history, media institutions, theory and research, production, ethics, policy, management, and technology and their effects on contemporary life.

The program offers both theoretical and applied approaches to the study and production of media. We define “entertainment” as “any media or communication function that is used for entertainment purposes” when considering areas of study. Thus, the field of media and entertainment is very broad and includes everything from film, television, and radio pre-production, production, and post-production; to corporate, government, and non-profit communications and digital media production; to jobs in theater, music, museums, theme parks, sports, travel and tourism, and gaming.

Organizational and Professional Communication

( http://chss.kennesaw.edu/socm/programs/bsopc.php )

Organizational and Professional Communication professionals study the role of communication in increasing corporate productivity and employee satisfaction. KSU is the only Georgia institution offering an undergraduate concentration in Organizational and Professional Communication. Organizational and Professional Communication students learn the skills they need to develop employee training programs, training manuals, and employee handbooks. Students also conduct communication audits at area companies to measure employee satisfaction with company communication practices. Students often intern in corporate human resources or training and development departments.

Public Relations

( http://chss.kennesaw.edu/socm/programs/bspr.php )

The Public Relations major at Kennesaw State University offers a professionally-focused, marketplace-relevant, and theoretically-rigorous academic program for aspiring public relations communicators throughout Metro Atlanta and Northwest Georgia. Kennesaw State is one of only three universities in the state of Georgia to offer a specific major in the ever-evolving discipline of Public Relations. The major offers students a public relations education that includes public relations principles, case study analysis, public relations writing, crisis communication, graphic design for organizational publications, persuasion methods and strategies, and use of social media and other multimedia communication strategies in public relations. Internships and study tours to New York and Atlanta public relations agencies supplement the traditional classroom and online learning settings.

For a list of potential communication-based employers in the state of Georgia, check out this page: https://www.communications-major.com/georgia/

Professional Organizations

In the field of communication research, there are several regional, national, and international professional organizations for educators, students, and communication practitioners. Each organization has a code of ethics, or best practices, for the profession and for training and developing the next generation of researchers and professors. These nonprofit organizations hold conventions/ conferences where communication students and scholars come together to present research, have roundtable discussions, and discuss recent innovations in the field. Typically, these organizations have divisions and interest groups devoted to the various categories of scholarship that fall under the “communication” umbrella. Examples include divisions devoted specifically to journalism, public relations, mass communication and society, communication theory, advertising, health communication, technology, cultural and critical studies, history, law and policy, ethics, gender/women’s studies, entertainment studies, children and media, and communication education.

For a typical yearly conference, the organization puts out a “call for papers” online 3-6 months before the conference, and scholars upload their original research to the website into the division that best fits their research topic. Each paper is then reviewed by peers in that field (typically two or three reviewers) who score the paper on dimensions such as quality of writing, importance of the topic, soundness of methodology, and impact of findings. Papers that gain high scores are then slated for presentation at the conference. Some presentations are done on posters whereas others are orally presented to small groups, typically using a visual aid such as PowerPoint. Presenting at an academic conference is a great way to get feedback from peers in your field before attempting to publish your work in an academic journal. And aside from presenting or attending research sessions, conferences offer an opportunity to connect and network with fellow scholars in your field. Conferences also typically have a “job fair” where representatives from various universities interview prospective new professors for academic positions.

There are several well-known and well-respected professional communication organizations in the United States. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is one of the largest organizations, holding small regional conferences and one large conference each year. AEJMC has 18 divisions, 10 interest groups, and two commissions (or areas of broad concern that cut across divisional lines): Commission on the Status of Minorities and Commission on the Status of Women. Most divisions and interest groups have their own academic journal (i.e., Journal of Advertising Education , Electronic News , International Communication Research Journal , Mass Communication & Society , etc.,) and AEJMC publishes three scholarly journals: Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly , Journal & Mass Communication Educator , and Journalism & Communication Monographs . More information about AEJMC can be found at www.aejmc.org.

The National Communication Association (NCA) is another large organization, and its annual convention attracts roughly 5,000 attendees. NCA has 48 divisions and six caucuses (Asian/Pacific American; Black; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns; Disability; La Raza; and Women’s Caucus). In addition to journalism and mass communication, NCA features research divisions in activism and social justice, argumentation and forensics, ethnography, family communication, group communication, interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, organizational communication, peace and conflict communication, public address, spiritual communication, and training and development. NCA publishes 11 academic journals: Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies , Communication Education , Communication Monographs , Communication Teacher , Critical Studies in Media Communication , First Amendment Studies , Journal of Applied Communication Research ,Journal of International and Intercultural Communication ,Quarterly Journal of Speech, The Review of Communication ,and Text and Performance Quarterly . More information about NCA can be found at www.natcom.org.

The largest international organization in our field is the International Communication Association (ICA). ICA boasts more than 4,500 members from 80 countries and is officially associated with the United Nations as a non-governmental NGO. They host an annual conference, switching between a US destination and an international destination each year. ICA has 23 divisions and nine interest groups, including divisions in Children, Adolescents and Media; Environmental Communication; Feminist Scholarship; Game Studies; Global Communication and Social Change; Philosophy, Theory and Critique; and Popular Communication in addition to divisions devoted to journalism, PR, and mass communication. ICA publishes six major peer reviewed journals: Journal of Communication, Communication Theory; Human Communication Research; Communication, Culture & Critique; Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication; and The Annals of the International Communication Association (formerly Communication Yearbook). There are also two affiliate journals: Communication & Society (a leading Chinese-language journal in journalism and communication) and Studies in Communication & Media (an open-access journal published by the German Communication Association). More information about ICA can be found at www.icahdq.org.

In addition to national and international professional organizations, there are several regional organizations that hold conferences. In our geographical area, we have the Georgia Communication Association (affiliated with NCA; www.gacomm.org), the Southern States Communication Association which publishes the Southern Communication Journal (also affiliated with NCA; www.ssca.net), and the Eastern Communication Association (ECA) which hosts conferences along the east coast of the US, and publishes Communication Research Reports, Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, and Communication Quarterly (www.ecasite.org). There are also regional meetings of the larger organizations, such as the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium, which is held at a different university in the Southeast each March.

There are also professional organizations associated with specific fields within the communication discipline. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA; http://prsa.org ) is the largest communication-based professional organization in the US, boasting more than 30,000 members, and has a mission to “make communications professionals smarter, better prepared and more connected through all stages of their career.” They also support the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA; http://prssa.prsa.org ) with university chapters across the US. Kennesaw State’s School of Communication & Media has a PRSSA chapter, so if you’re a PR-Interest student you should check it out: http://www.ksuprssa.org .

Journalists have a professional organization as well: The Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ; www.spj.org). SPJ is the most broad-based journalism organization in the US, dedicated to “encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.” SPJ was founded in 1909 and currently has roughly 7,500 members. The state of Georgia has an SPJ chapter ( https://spjgeorgia.com/ ) and Kennesaw State has a very active student chapter. You can check them out via their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KennesawStateSpj.Interested in journalism and mass communication history? The American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA; https:// ajha.wildapricot.org/) holds a national conference and a Southeast symposium every year and publishes the academic journal American Journalism.

Are you a media production enthusiast? The Broadcast Education Association (BEA; www.beaweb.org) is a great resource. BEA is an international academic media professional organization focused on excellence in media production and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals in the industry. The organization holds a massive annual convention in Las Vegas in April, with over 250 sessions on teaching media courses, collaborative networking events, hands-on technology workshops, and research and creative scholarship, in addition to the Festival of Media Arts. The BEA convention is co-located with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, where attendees can learn about (and try!) all of the new media production technology. BEA also publishes the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Radio & Audio Media, Journal of Media Education, and the Electronic Media Research book series.

For scholars interested in film and media studies, The Society for Cinema & Media Studies (SCMS; https://www.cmstudies.org/ ) is dedicated to the scholarly study of film, television, video, and new media. They hold an annual conference where students and teachers of film and media studies present research and attend networking events. SCMS also publishes the peer-reviewed academic publication Cinema Journal, focusing on digital media, sound studies, visual culture, video game studies, fan studies, and avant-garde/experimental film and media practices.

Or perhaps you’re interested in health communication? The American Public Health Association has a Health Communication working group ( https://www.apha.org/apha-communities/ member-sections/public-health-education-and-health-promotion/who-we-are/hcwg) and the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) partners with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to host a national conference on health communication, media, and marketing ( https://www.cdc.gov/nchcmm/index.html ).

Are you an organizational and professional communication scholar? Try the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM; www.shrm.org). They host an annual conference with nearly 200 sessions in six categories: business & HR strategy, HR compliance, global HR, professional development, talent management, and total rewards. They also host conferences on diversity & inclusion, employment law & legislation, leadership development, and recruitment & talent management. There is a local Atlanta chapter here: https://www.shrmatlanta.org/ default.aspx. Another great resource is the Association for Talent Development (formerly “training & development) or ATD (www.td.org). They host conferences in the US and abroad as well as training workshops called “LearnNow” on topics such as game design for instruction, employee engagement, and getting started with augmented reality and virtual reality.

Dewey, J. (1927). The public and its problems. New York: Holt.

Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion . New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.

"In much of society, research means to investigate something you do not know or understand. ” -Neil Armstrong

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• Published: 08 May 2024

Exploring the dynamics of consumer engagement in social media influencer marketing: from the self-determination theory perspective

• Chenyu Gu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6059-0573 1 &
• Qiuting Duan 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  587 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Influencer advertising has emerged as an integral part of social media marketing. Within this realm, consumer engagement is a critical indicator for gauging the impact of influencer advertisements, as it encompasses the proactive involvement of consumers in spreading advertisements and creating value. Therefore, investigating the mechanisms behind consumer engagement holds significant relevance for formulating effective influencer advertising strategies. The current study, grounded in self-determination theory and employing a stimulus-organism-response framework, constructs a general model to assess the impact of influencer factors, advertisement information, and social factors on consumer engagement. Analyzing data from 522 samples using structural equation modeling, the findings reveal: (1) Social media influencers are effective at generating initial online traffic but have limited influence on deeper levels of consumer engagement, cautioning advertisers against overestimating their impact; (2) The essence of higher-level engagement lies in the ad information factor, affirming that in the new media era, content remains ‘king’; (3) Interpersonal factors should also be given importance, as influencing the surrounding social groups of consumers is one of the effective ways to enhance the impact of advertising. Theoretically, current research broadens the scope of both social media and advertising effectiveness studies, forming a bridge between influencer marketing and consumer engagement. Practically, the findings offer macro-level strategic insights for influencer marketing.

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Introduction.

Recent studies have highlighted an escalating aversion among audiences towards traditional online ads, leading to a diminishing effectiveness of traditional online advertising methods (Lou et al., 2019 ). In an effort to overcome these challenges, an increasing number of brands are turning to influencers as their spokespersons for advertising. Utilizing influencers not only capitalizes on their significant influence over their fan base but also allows for the dissemination of advertising messages in a more native and organic manner. Consequently, influencer-endorsed advertising has become a pivotal component and a growing trend in social media advertising (Gräve & Bartsch, 2022 ). Although the topic of influencer-endorsed advertising has garnered increasing attention from scholars, the field is still in its infancy, offering ample opportunities for in-depth research and exploration (Barta et al., 2023 ).

Presently, social media influencers—individuals with substantial follower bases—have emerged as the new vanguard in advertising (Hudders & Lou, 2023 ). Their tweets and videos possess the remarkable potential to sway the purchasing decisions of thousands if not millions. This influence largely hinges on consumer engagement behaviors, implying that the impact of advertising can proliferate throughout a consumer’s entire social network (Abbasi et al., 2023 ). Consequently, exploring ways to enhance consumer engagement is of paramount theoretical and practical significance for advertising effectiveness research (Xiao et al., 2023 ). This necessitates researchers to delve deeper into the exploration of the stimulating factors and psychological mechanisms influencing consumer engagement behaviors (Vander Schee et al., 2020 ), which is the gap this study seeks to address.

The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework has been extensively applied in the study of consumer engagement behaviors (Tak & Gupta, 2021 ) and has been shown to integrate effectively with self-determination theory (Yang et al., 2019 ). Therefore, employing the S-O-R framework to investigate consumer engagement behaviors in the context of influencer advertising is considered a rational approach. The current study embarks on an in-depth analysis of the transformation process from three distinct dimensions. In the Stimulus (S) phase, we focus on how influencer factors, advertising message factors, and social influence factors act as external stimuli. This phase scrutinizes the external environment’s role in triggering consumer reactions. During the Organism (O) phase, the research explores the intrinsic psychological motivations affecting individual behavior as posited in self-determination theory. This includes the willingness for self-disclosure, the desire for innovation, and trust in advertising messages. The investigation in this phase aims to understand how these internal motivations shape consumer attitudes and perceptions in the context of influencer marketing. Finally, in the Response (R) phase, the study examines how these psychological factors influence consumer engagement behavior. This part of the research seeks to understand the transition from internal psychological states to actual consumer behavior, particularly how these states drive the consumers’ deep integration and interaction with the influencer content.

Despite the inherent limitations of cross-sectional analysis in capturing the full temporal dynamics of consumer engagement, this study seeks to unveil the dynamic interplay between consumers’ psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—and their varying engagement levels in social media influencer marketing, grounded in self-determination theory. Through this lens, by analyzing factors related to influencers, content, and social context, we aim to infer potential dynamic shifts in engagement behaviors as psychological needs evolve. This approach allows us to offer a snapshot of the complex, multi-dimensional nature of consumer engagement dynamics, providing valuable insights for both theoretical exploration and practical application in the constantly evolving domain of social media marketing. Moreover, the current study underscores the significance of adapting to the dynamic digital environment and highlights the evolving nature of consumer engagement in the realm of digital marketing.

Literature review

Stimulus-organism-response (s-o-r) model.

The Stimulus-Response (S-R) model, originating from behaviorist psychology and introduced by psychologist Watson ( 1917 ), posits that individual behaviors are directly induced by external environmental stimuli. However, this model overlooks internal personal factors, complicating the explanation of psychological states. Mehrabian and Russell ( 1974 ) expanded this by incorporating the individual’s cognitive component (organism) into the model, creating the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. This model has become a crucial theoretical framework in consumer psychology as it interprets internal psychological cognitions as mediators between stimuli and responses. Integrating with psychological theories, the S-O-R model effectively analyzes and explains the significant impact of internal psychological factors on behavior (Koay et al., 2020 ; Zhang et al., 2021 ), and is extensively applied in investigating user behavior on social media platforms (Hewei & Youngsook, 2022 ). This study combines the S-O-R framework with self-determination theory to examine consumer engagement behaviors in the context of social media influencer advertising, a logic also supported by some studies (Yang et al., 2021 ).

Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory, proposed by Richard and Edward (2000), is a theoretical framework exploring human behavioral motivation and personality. The theory emphasizes motivational processes, positing that individual behaviors are developed based on factors satisfying their psychological needs. It suggests that individual behavioral tendencies are influenced by the needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Furthermore, self-determination theory, along with organic integration theory, indicates that individual behavioral tendencies are also affected by internal psychological motivations and external situational factors.

Self-determination theory has been validated by scholars in the study of online user behaviors. For example, Sweet applied the theory to the investigation of community building in online networks, analyzing knowledge-sharing behaviors among online community members (Sweet et al., 2020 ). Further literature review reveals the applicability of self-determination theory to consumer engagement behaviors, particularly in the context of influencer marketing advertisements. Firstly, self-determination theory is widely applied in studying the psychological motivations behind online behaviors, suggesting that the internal and external motivations outlined within the theory might also apply to exploring consumer behaviors in influencer marketing scenarios (Itani et al., 2022 ). Secondly, although research on consumer engagement in the social media influencer advertising context is still in its early stages, some studies have utilized SDT to explore behaviors such as information sharing and electronic word-of-mouth dissemination (Astuti & Hariyawan, 2021 ). These behaviors, which are part of the content contribution and creation dimensions of consumer engagement, may share similarities in the underlying psychological motivational mechanisms. Thus, this study will build upon these foundations to construct the Organism (O) component of the S-O-R model, integrating insights from SDT to further understand consumer engagement in influencer marketing.

Consumer engagement

Although scholars generally agree at a macro level to define consumer engagement as the creation of additional value by consumers or customers beyond purchasing products, the specific categorization of consumer engagement varies in different studies. For instance, Simon and Tossan interpret consumer engagement as a psychological willingness to interact with influencers (Simon & Tossan, 2018 ). However, such a broad definition lacks precision in describing various levels of engagement. Other scholars directly use tangible metrics on social media platforms, such as likes, saves, comments, and shares, to represent consumer engagement (Lee et al., 2018 ). While this quantitative approach is not flawed and can be highly effective in practical applications, it overlooks the content aspect of engagement, contradicting the “content is king” principle of advertising and marketing. We advocate for combining consumer engagement with the content aspect, as content engagement not only generates more traces of consumer online behavior (Oestreicher-Singer & Zalmanson, 2013 ) but, more importantly, content contribution and creation are central to social media advertising and marketing, going beyond mere content consumption (Qiu & Kumar, 2017 ). Meanwhile, we also need to emphasize that engagement is not a fixed state but a fluctuating process influenced by ongoing interactions between consumers and influencers, mediated by the evolving nature of social media platforms and the shifting sands of consumer preferences (Pradhan et al., 2023 ). Consumer engagement in digital environments undergoes continuous change, reflecting a journey rather than a destination (Viswanathan et al., 2017 ).

The current study adopts a widely accepted definition of consumer engagement from existing research, offering operational feasibility and aligning well with the research objectives of this paper. Consumer engagement behaviors in the context of this study encompass three dimensions: content consumption, content contribution, and content creation (Muntinga et al., 2011 ). These dimensions reflect a spectrum of digital engagement behaviors ranging from low to high levels (Schivinski et al., 2016 ). Specifically, content consumption on social media platforms represents a lower level of engagement, where consumers merely click and read the information but do not actively contribute or create user-generated content. Some studies consider this level of engagement as less significant for in-depth exploration because content consumption, compared to other forms, generates fewer visible traces of consumer behavior (Brodie et al., 2013 ). Even in a study by Qiu and Kumar, it was noted that the conversion rate of content consumption is low, contributing minimally to the success of social media marketing (Qiu & Kumar, 2017 ).

On the other hand, content contribution, especially content creation, is central to social media marketing. When consumers comment on influencer content or share information with their network nodes, it is termed content contribution, representing a medium level of online consumer engagement (Piehler et al., 2019 ). Furthermore, when consumers actively upload and post brand-related content on social media, this higher level of behavior is referred to as content creation. Content creation represents the highest level of consumer engagement (Cheung et al., 2021 ). Although medium and high levels of consumer engagement are more valuable for social media advertising and marketing, this exploratory study still retains the content consumption dimension of consumer engagement behaviors.

Theoretical framework

Internal organism factors: self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust.

In existing research based on self-determination theory that focuses on online behavior, competence, relatedness, and autonomy are commonly considered as internal factors influencing users’ online behaviors. However, this approach sometimes strays from the context of online consumption. Therefore, in studies related to online consumption, scholars often use self-disclosure willingness as an overt representation of autonomy, innovativeness as a representation of competence, and trust as a representation of relatedness (Mahmood et al., 2019 ).

The use of these overt variables can be logically explained as follows: According to self-determination theory, individuals with a higher level of self-determination are more likely to adopt compensatory mechanisms to facilitate behavior compared to those with lower self-determination (Wehmeyer, 1999 ). Self-disclosure, a voluntary act of sharing personal information with others, is considered a key behavior in the development of interpersonal relationships. In social environments, self-disclosure can effectively alleviate stress and build social connections, while also seeking societal validation of personal ideas (Altman & Taylor, 1973 ). Social networks, as para-social entities, possess the interactive attributes of real societies and are likely to exhibit similar mechanisms. In consumer contexts, personal disclosures can include voluntary sharing of product interests, consumption experiences, and future purchase intentions (Robertshaw & Marr, 2006 ). While material incentives can prompt personal information disclosure, many consumers disclose personal information online voluntarily, which can be traced back to an intrinsic need for autonomy (Stutzman et al., 2011 ). Thus, in this study, we consider the self-disclosure willingness as a representation of high autonomy.

Innovativeness refers to an individual’s internal level of seeking novelty and represents their personality and tendency for novelty (Okazaki, 2009 ). Often used in consumer research, innovative consumers are inclined to try new technologies and possess an intrinsic motivation to use new products. Previous studies have shown that consumers with high innovativeness are more likely to search for information on new products and share their experiences and expertise with others, reflecting a recognition of their own competence (Kaushik & Rahman, 2014 ). Therefore, in consumer contexts, innovativeness is often regarded as the competence dimension within the intrinsic factors of self-determination (Wang et al., 2016 ), with external motivations like information novelty enhancing this intrinsic motivation (Lee et al., 2015 ).

Trust refers to an individual’s willingness to rely on the opinions of others they believe in. From a social psychological perspective, trust indicates the willingness to assume the risk of being harmed by another party (McAllister, 1995 ). Widely applied in social media contexts for relational marketing, information trust has been proven to positively influence the exchange and dissemination of consumer information, representing a close and advanced relationship between consumers and businesses, brands, or advertising endorsers (Steinhoff et al., 2019 ). Consumers who trust brands or social media influencers are more willing to share information without fear of exploitation (Pop et al., 2022 ), making trust a commonly used representation of the relatedness dimension in self-determination within consumer contexts.

Construction of the path from organism to response: self-determination internal factors and consumer engagement behavior

Following the logic outlined above, the current study represents the internal factors of self-determination theory through three variables: self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust. Next, the study explores the association between these self-determination internal factors and consumer engagement behavior, thereby constructing the link between Organism (O) and Response (R).

Self-disclosure willingness and consumer engagement behavior

In the realm of social sciences, the concept of self-disclosure willingness has been thoroughly examined from diverse disciplinary perspectives, encompassing communication studies, sociology, and psychology. Viewing from the lens of social interaction dynamics, self-disclosure is acknowledged as a fundamental precondition for the initiation and development of online social relationships and interactive engagements (Luo & Hancock, 2020 ). It constitutes an indispensable component within the spectrum of interactive behaviors and the evolution of interpersonal connections. Voluntary self-disclosure is characterized by individuals divulging information about themselves, which typically remains unknown to others and is inaccessible through alternative sources. This concept aligns with the tenets of uncertainty reduction theory, which argues that during interpersonal engagements, individuals seek information about their counterparts as a means to mitigate uncertainties inherent in social interactions (Lee et al., 2008 ). Self-disclosure allows others to gain more personal information, thereby helping to reduce the uncertainty in interpersonal relationships. Such disclosure is voluntary rather than coerced, and this sharing of information can facilitate the development of relationships between individuals (Towner et al., 2022 ). Furthermore, individuals who actively engage in social media interactions (such as liking, sharing, and commenting on others’ content) often exhibit higher levels of self-disclosure (Chu et al., 2023 ); additional research indicates a positive correlation between self-disclosure and online engagement behaviors (Lee et al., 2023 ). Taking the context of the current study, the autonomous self-disclosure willingness can incline social media users to read advertising content more attentively and share information with others, and even create evaluative content. Therefore, this paper proposes the following research hypothesis:

H1a: The self-disclosure willingness is positively correlated with content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H1b: The self-disclosure willingness is positively correlated with content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H1c: The self-disclosure willingness is positively correlated with content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Innovativeness and consumer engagement behavior

Innovativeness represents an individual’s propensity to favor new technologies and the motivation to use new products, associated with the cognitive perception of one’s self-competence. Individuals with a need for self-competence recognition often exhibit higher innovativeness (Kelley & Alden, 2016 ). Existing research indicates that users with higher levels of innovativeness are more inclined to accept new product information and share their experiences and discoveries with others in their social networks (Yusuf & Busalim, 2018 ). Similarly, in the context of this study, individuals, as followers of influencers, signify an endorsement of the influencer. Driven by innovativeness, they may be more eager to actively receive information from influencers. If they find the information valuable, they are likely to share it and even engage in active content re-creation to meet their expectations of self-image. Therefore, this paper proposes the following research hypotheses:

H2a: The innovativeness of social media users is positively correlated with content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H2b: The innovativeness of social media users is positively correlated with content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H2c: The innovativeness of social media users is positively correlated with content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Information trust and consumer engagement

Trust refers to an individual’s willingness to rely on the statements and opinions of a target object (Moorman et al., 1993 ). Extensive research indicates that trust positively impacts information dissemination and content sharing in interpersonal communication environments (Majerczak & Strzelecki, 2022 ); when trust is established, individuals are more willing to share their resources and less suspicious of being exploited. Trust has also been shown to influence consumers’ participation in community building and content sharing on social media, demonstrating cross-cultural universality (Anaya-Sánchez et al., 2020 ).

Trust in influencer advertising information is also a key predictor of consumers’ information exchange online. With many social media users now operating under real-name policies, there is an increased inclination to trust information shared on social media over that posted by corporate accounts or anonymously. Additionally, as users’ social networks partially overlap with their real-life interpersonal networks, extensive research shows that more consumers increasingly rely on information posted and shared on social networks when making purchase decisions (Wang et al., 2016 ). This aligns with the effectiveness goals of influencer marketing advertisements and the characteristics of consumer engagement. Trust in the content posted by influencers is considered a manifestation of a strong relationship between fans and influencers, central to relationship marketing (Kim & Kim, 2021 ). Based on trust in the influencer, which then extends to trust in their content, people are more inclined to browse information posted by influencers, share this information with others, and even create their own content without fear of exploitation or negative consequences. Therefore, this paper proposes the following research hypotheses:

H3a: Information trust is positively correlated with content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H3b: Information trust is positively correlated with content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H3c: Information trust is positively correlated with content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Construction of the path from stimulus to organism: influencer factors, advertising information factors, social factors, and self-determination internal factors

Having established the logical connection from Organism (O) to Response (R), we further construct the influence path from Stimulus (S) to Organism (O). Revisiting the definition of influencer advertising in social media, companies, and brands leverage influencers on social media platforms to disseminate advertising content, utilizing the influencers’ relationships and influence over consumers for marketing purposes. In addition to consumer’s internal factors, elements such as companies, brands, influencers, and the advertisements themselves also impact consumer behavior. Although factors like the brand image perception of companies may influence consumer behavior, considering that in influencer marketing, companies and brands do not directly interact with consumers, this study prioritizes the dimensions of influencers and advertisements. Furthermore, the impact of social factors on individual cognition and behavior is significant, thus, the current study integrates influencers, advertisements, and social dimensions as the Stimulus (S) component.

Influencer factors: parasocial identification

Self-determination theory posits that relationships are one of the key motivators influencing individual behavior. In the context of social media research, users anticipate establishing a parasocial relationship with influencers, resembling real-life relationships. Hence, we consider the parasocial identification arising from users’ parasocial interactions with influencers as the relational motivator. Parasocial interaction refers to the one-sided personal relationship that individuals develop with media characters (Donald & Richard, 1956 ). During this process, individuals believe that the media character is directly communicating with them, creating a sense of positive intimacy (Giles, 2002 ). Over time, through repeated unilateral interactions with media characters, individuals develop a parasocial relationship, leading to parasocial identification. However, parasocial identification should not be directly equated with the concept of social identification in social identity theory. Social identification occurs when individuals psychologically de-individualize themselves, perceiving the characteristics of their social group as their own, upon identifying themselves as part of that group. In contrast, parasocial identification refers to the one-sided interactional identification with media characters (such as celebrities or influencers) over time (Chen et al., 2021 ). Particularly when individuals’ needs for interpersonal interaction are not met in their daily lives, they turn to parasocial interactions to fulfill these needs (Shan et al., 2020 ). Especially on social media, which is characterized by its high visibility and interactivity, users can easily develop a strong parasocial identification with the influencers they follow (Wei et al., 2022 ).

Parasocial identification and self-disclosure willingness

Theories like uncertainty reduction, personal construct, and social exchange are often applied to explain the emergence of parasocial identification. Social media, with its convenient and interactive modes of information dissemination, enables consumers to easily follow influencers on media platforms. They can perceive the personality of influencers through their online content, viewing them as familiar individuals or even friends. Once parasocial identification develops, this pleasurable experience can significantly influence consumers’ cognitions and thus their behavioral responses. Research has explored the impact of parasocial identification on consumer behavior. For instance, Bond et al. found that on Twitter, the intensity of users’ parasocial identification with influencers positively correlates with their continuous monitoring of these influencers’ activities (Bond, 2016 ). Analogous to real life, where we tend to pay more attention to our friends in our social networks, a similar phenomenon occurs in the relationship between consumers and brands. This type of parasocial identification not only makes consumers willing to follow brand pages but also more inclined to voluntarily provide personal information (Chen et al., 2021 ). Based on this logic, we speculate that a similar relationship may exist between social media influencers and their fans. Fans develop parasocial identification with influencers through social media interactions, making them more willing to disclose their information, opinions, and views in the comment sections of the influencers they follow, engaging in more frequent social interactions (Chung & Cho, 2017 ), even if the content at times may be brand or company-embedded marketing advertisements. In other words, in the presence of influencers with whom they have established parasocial relationships, they are more inclined to disclose personal information, thereby promoting consumer engagement behavior. Therefore, we propose the following research hypotheses:

H4: Parasocial identification is positively correlated with consumer self-disclosure willingness.

H4a: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of parasocial identification on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H4b: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of parasocial identification on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H4c: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of parasocial identification on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Parasocial identification and information trust

Information Trust refers to consumers’ willingness to trust the information contained in advertisements and to place themselves at risk. These risks include purchasing products inconsistent with the advertised information and the negative social consequences of erroneously spreading this information to others, leading to unpleasant consumption experiences (Minton, 2015 ). In advertising marketing, gaining consumers’ trust in advertising information is crucial. In the context of influencer marketing on social media, companies, and brands leverage the social connection between influencers and their fans. According to cognitive empathy theory, consumers project their trust in influencers onto the products endorsed, explaining the phenomenon of ‘loving the house for the crow on its roof.’ Research indicates that parasocial identification with influencers is a necessary condition for trust development. Consumers engage in parasocial interactions with influencers on social media, leading to parasocial identification (Jin et al., 2021 ). Consumers tend to reduce their cognitive load and simplify their decision-making processes, thus naturally adopting a positive attitude and trust towards advertising information disseminated by influencers with whom they have established parasocial identification. This forms the core logic behind the success of influencer marketing advertisements (Breves et al., 2021 ); furthermore, as mentioned earlier, because consumers trust these advertisements, they are also willing to share this information with friends and family and even engage in content re-creation. Therefore, we propose the following research hypotheses:

H5: Parasocial identification is positively correlated with information trust.

H5a: Information trust mediates the impact of parasocial identification on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H5b: Information trust mediates the impact of parasocial identification on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H5c: Information trust mediates the impact of parasocial identification on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Influencer factors: source credibility

Source credibility refers to the degree of trust consumers place in the influencer as a source, based on the influencer’s reliability and expertise. Numerous studies have validated the effectiveness of the endorsement effect in advertising (Schouten et al., 2021 ). The Source Credibility Model, proposed by the renowned American communication scholar Hovland and the “Yale School,” posits that in the process of information dissemination, the credibility of the source can influence the audience’s decision to accept the information. The credibility of the information is determined by two aspects of the source: reliability and expertise. Reliability refers to the audience’s trust in the “communicator’s objective and honest approach to providing information,” while expertise refers to the audience’s trust in the “communicator being perceived as an effective source of information” (Hovland et al., 1953 ). Hovland’s definitions reveal that the interpretation of source credibility is not about the inherent traits of the source itself but rather the audience’s perception of the source (Jang et al., 2021 ). This differs from trust and serves as a precursor to the development of trust. Specifically, reliability and expertise are based on the audience’s perception; thus, this aligns closely with the audience’s perception of influencers (Kim & Kim, 2021 ). This credibility is a cognitive statement about the source of information.

Source credibility and self-disclosure willingness

Some studies have confirmed the positive impact of an influencer’s self-disclosure on their credibility as a source (Leite & Baptista, 2022 ). However, few have explored the impact of an influencer’s credibility, as a source, on consumers’ self-disclosure willingness. Undoubtedly, an impact exists; self-disclosure is considered a method to attempt to increase intimacy with others (Leite et al., 2022 ). According to social exchange theory, people promote relationships through the exchange of information in interpersonal communication to gain benefits (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005 ). Credibility, deriving from an influencer’s expertise and reliability, means that a highly credible influencer may provide more valuable information to consumers. Therefore, based on the social exchange theory’s logic of reciprocal benefits, consumers might be more willing to disclose their information to trustworthy influencers, potentially even expanding social interactions through further consumer engagement behaviors. Thus, we propose the following research hypotheses:

H6: Source credibility is positively correlated with self-disclosure willingness.

H6a: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of Source credibility on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H6b: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of Source credibility on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H6c: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of Source credibility on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Source credibility and information trust

Based on the Source Credibility Model, the credibility of an endorser as an information source can significantly influence consumers’ acceptance of the information (Shan et al., 2020 ). Existing research has demonstrated the positive impact of source credibility on consumers. Djafarova, in a study based on Instagram, noted through in-depth interviews with 18 users that an influencer’s credibility significantly affects respondents’ trust in the information they post. This credibility is composed of expertise and relevance to consumers, and influencers on social media are considered more trustworthy than traditional celebrities (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017 ). Subsequently, Bao and colleagues validated in the Chinese consumer context, based on the ELM model and commitment-trust theory, that the credibility of brand pages on Weibo effectively fosters consumer trust in the brand, encouraging participation in marketing activities (Bao & Wang, 2021 ). Moreover, Hsieh et al. found that in e-commerce contexts, the credibility of the source is a significant factor influencing consumers’ trust in advertising information (Hsieh & Li, 2020 ). In summary, existing research has proven that the credibility of the source can promote consumer trust. Influencer credibility is a significant antecedent affecting consumers’ trust in the advertised content they publish. In brand communities, trust can foster consumer engagement behaviors (Habibi et al., 2014 ). Specifically, consumers are more likely to trust the advertising content published by influencers with higher credibility (more expertise and reliability), and as previously mentioned, consumer engagement behavior is more likely to occur. Based on this, the study proposes the following research hypotheses:

H7: Source credibility is positively correlated with information trust.

H7a: Information trust mediates the impact of source credibility on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H7b: Information trust mediates the impact of source credibility on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H7c: Information trust mediates the impact of source credibility on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Advertising information factors: informative value

Advertising value refers to “the relative utility value of advertising information to consumers and is a subjective evaluation by consumers.” In his research, Ducoffe pointed out that in the context of online advertising, the informative value of advertising is a significant component of advertising value (Ducoffe, 1995 ). Subsequent studies have proven that consumers’ perception of advertising value can effectively promote their behavioral response to advertisements (Van-Tien Dao et al., 2014 ). Informative value of advertising refers to “the information about products needed by consumers provided by the advertisement and its ability to enhance consumer purchase satisfaction.” From the perspective of information dissemination, valuable advertising information should help consumers make better purchasing decisions and reduce the effort spent searching for product information. The informational aspect of advertising has been proven to effectively influence consumers’ cognition and, in turn, their behavior (Haida & Rahim, 2015 ).

Informative value and innovativeness

As previously discussed, consumers’ innovativeness refers to their psychological trait of favoring new things. Studies have shown that consumers with high innovativeness prefer novel and valuable product information, as it satisfies their need for newness and information about new products, making it an important factor in social media advertising engagement (Shi, 2018 ). This paper also hypothesizes that advertisements with high informative value can activate consumers’ innovativeness, as the novelty of information is one of the measures of informative value (León et al., 2009 ). Acquiring valuable information can make individuals feel good about themselves and fulfill their perception of a “novel image.” According to social exchange theory, consumers can gain social capital in interpersonal interactions (such as social recognition) by sharing information about these new products they perceive as valuable. Therefore, the current study proposes the following research hypothesis:

H8: Informative value is positively correlated with innovativeness.

H8a: Innovativeness mediates the impact of informative value on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H8b: Innovativeness mediates the impact of informative value on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H8c: Innovativeness mediates the impact of informative value on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Informative value and information trust

Trust is a multi-layered concept explored across various disciplines, including communication, marketing, sociology, and psychology. For the purposes of this paper, a deep analysis of different levels of trust is not undertaken. Here, trust specifically refers to the trust in influencer advertising information within the context of social media marketing, denoting consumers’ belief in and reliance on the advertising information endorsed by influencers. Racherla et al. investigated the factors influencing consumers’ trust in online reviews, suggesting that information quality and value contribute to increasing trust (Racherla et al., 2012 ). Similarly, Luo and Yuan, in a study based on social media marketing, also confirmed that the value of advertising information posted on brand pages can foster consumer trust in the content (Lou & Yuan, 2019 ). Therefore, by analogy, this paper posits that the informative value of influencer-endorsed advertising can also promote consumer trust in that advertising information. The relationship between trust in advertising information and consumer engagement behavior has been discussed earlier. Thus, the current study proposes the following research hypotheses:

H9: Informative value is positively correlated with information trust.

H9a: Information trust mediates the impact of informative value on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H9b: Information trust mediates the impact of informative value on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H9c: Information trust mediates the impact of informative value on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Advertising information factors: ad targeting accuracy

Ad targeting accuracy refers to the degree of match between the substantive information contained in advertising content and consumer needs. Advertisements containing precise information often yield good advertising outcomes. In marketing practice, advertisers frequently use information technology to analyze the characteristics of different consumer groups in the target market and then target their advertisements accordingly to achieve precise dissemination and, consequently, effective advertising results. The utility of ad targeting accuracy has been confirmed by many studies. For instance, in the research by Qiu and Chen, using a modified UTAUT model, it was demonstrated that the accuracy of advertising effectively promotes consumer acceptance of advertisements in WeChat Moments (Qiu & Chen, 2018 ). Although some studies on targeted advertising also indicate that overly precise ads may raise concerns about personal privacy (Zhang et al., 2019 ), overall, the accuracy of advertising information is effective in enhancing advertising outcomes and is a key element in the success of targeted advertising.

Ad targeting accuracy and information trust

In influencer marketing advertisements, due to the special relationship recognition between consumers and influencers, the privacy concerns associated with ad targeting accuracy are alleviated (Vrontis et al., 2021 ). Meanwhile, the informative value brought by targeting accuracy is highlighted. More precise advertising content implies higher informative value and also signifies that the advertising content is more worthy of consumer trust (Della Vigna, Gentzkow, 2010 ). As previously discussed, people are more inclined to read and engage with advertising content they trust and recognize. Therefore, the current study proposes the following research hypotheses:

H10: Ad targeting accuracy is positively correlated with information trust.

H10a: Information trust mediates the impact of ad targeting accuracy on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H10b: Information trust mediates the impact of ad targeting accuracy on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H10c: Information trust mediates the impact of ad targeting accuracy on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Social factors: subjective norm

The Theory of Planned Behavior, proposed by Ajzen ( 1991 ), suggests that individuals’ actions are preceded by conscious choices and are underlain by plans. TPB has been widely used by scholars in studying personal online behaviors, these studies collectively validate the applicability of TPB in the context of social media for researching online behaviors (Huang, 2023 ). Additionally, the self-determination theory, which underpins this chapter’s research, also supports the notion that individuals’ behavioral decisions are based on internal cognitions, aligning with TPB’s assertions. Therefore, this paper intends to select subjective norms from TPB as a factor of social influence. Subjective norm refers to an individual’s perception of the expectations of significant others in their social relationships regarding their behavior. Empirical research in the consumption field has demonstrated the significant impact of subjective norms on individual psychological cognition (Yang & Jolly, 2009 ). A meta-analysis by Hagger, Chatzisarantis ( 2009 ) even highlighted the statistically significant association between subjective norms and self-determination factors. Consequently, this study further explores its application in the context of influencer marketing advertisements on social media.

Subjective norm and self-disclosure willingness

In numerous studies on social media privacy, subjective norms significantly influence an individual’s self-disclosure willingness. Wirth et al. ( 2019 ) based on the privacy calculus theory, surveyed 1,466 participants and found that personal self-disclosure on social media is influenced by the behavioral expectations of other significant reference groups around them. Their research confirmed that subjective norms positively influence self-disclosure of information and highlighted that individuals’ cognitions and behaviors cannot ignore social and environmental factors. Heirman et al. ( 2013 ) in an experiment with Instagram users, also noted that subjective norms could promote positive consumer behavioral responses. Specifically, when important family members and friends highly regard social media influencers as trustworthy, we may also be more inclined to disclose our information to influencers and share this information with our surrounding family and friends without fear of disapproval. In our subjective norms, this is considered a positive and valuable interactive behavior, leading us to exhibit engagement behaviors. Based on this logic, we propose the following research hypotheses:

H11: Subjective norms are positively correlated with self-disclosure willingness.

H11a: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of subjective norms on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H11b: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of subjective norms on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H11c: Self-disclosure willingness mediates the impact of subjective norms on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Subjective norm and information trust

Numerous studies have indicated that subjective norms significantly influence trust (Roh et al., 2022 ). This can be explained by reference group theory, suggesting people tend to minimize the effort expended in decision-making processes, often looking to the behaviors or attitudes of others as a point of reference; for instance, subjective norms can foster acceptance of technology by enhancing trust (Gupta et al., 2021 ). Analogously, if a consumer’s social network generally holds positive attitudes toward influencer advertising, they are also more likely to trust the endorsed advertisement information, as it conserves the extensive effort required in gathering product information (Chetioui et al., 2020 ). Therefore, this paper proposes the following research hypotheses:

H12: Subjective norms are positively correlated with information trust.

H12a: Information trust mediates the impact of subjective norms on content consumption in consumer engagement behavior.

H12b: Information trust mediates the impact of subjective norms on content contribution in consumer engagement behavior.

H12c: Information trust mediates the impact of subjective norms on content creation in consumer engagement behavior.

Conceptual model

In summary, based on the Stimulus (S)-Organism (O)-Response (R) framework, this study constructs the external stimulus factors (S) from three dimensions: influencer factors (parasocial identification, source credibility), advertising information factors (informative value, Ad targeting accuracy), and social influence factors (subjective norms). This is grounded in social capital theory and the theory of planned behavior. drawing on self-determination theory, the current study constructs the individual psychological factors (O) using self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust. Finally, the behavioral response (R) is constructed using consumer engagement, which includes content consumption, content contribution, and content creation, as illustrated in Fig. 1 .

Consumer engagement behavior impact model based on SOR framework.

Materials and methods

Participants and procedures.

The current study conducted a survey through the Wenjuanxing platform to collect data. Participants were recruited through social media platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, Weibo et al., as samples drawn from social media users better align with the research purpose of our research and ensure the validity of the sample. Before the survey commenced, all participants were explicitly informed about the purpose of this study, and it was made clear that volunteers could withdraw from the survey at any time. Initially, 600 questionnaires were collected, with 78 invalid responses excluded. The criteria for valid questionnaires were as follows: (1) Respondents must have answered “Yes” to the question, “Do you follow any influencers (internet celebrities) on social media platforms?” as samples not using social media or not following influencers do not meet the study’s objective, making this question a prerequisite for continuing the survey; (2) Respondents had to correctly answer two hidden screening questions within the questionnaire to ensure that they did not randomly select scores; (3) The total time taken to complete the questionnaire had to exceed one minute, ensuring that respondents had sufficient time to understand and thoughtfully answer each question; (4) Respondents were not allowed to choose the same score for eight consecutive questions. Ultimately, 522 valid questionnaires were obtained, with an effective rate of 87.00%, meeting the basic sample size requirements for research models (Gefen et al., 2011 ). Detailed demographic information of the study participants is presented in Table 1 .

Measurements

To ensure the validity and reliability of the data analysis results in this study, the measurement tools and scales used in this chapter were designed with reference to existing established research. The main variables in the survey questionnaire include parasocial identification, source credibility, informative value, ad targeting accuracy, subjective norms, self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, information trust, content consumption, content contribution, and content creation. The measurement scale for parasocial identification was adapted from the research of Schramm and Hartmann, comprising 6 items (Schramm & Hartmann, 2008 ). The source credibility scale was combined from the studies of Cheung et al. and Luo & Yuan’s research in the context of social media influencer marketing, including 4 items (Cheung et al., 2009 ; Lou & Yuan, 2019 ). The scale for informative value was modified based on Voss et al.‘s research, consisting of 4 items (Voss et al., 2003 ). The ad targeting accuracy scale was derived from the research by Qiu Aimei et al., 2018 ) including 3 items. The subjective norm scale was adapted from Ajzen’s original scale, comprising 3 items (Ajzen, 2002 ). The self-disclosure willingness scale was developed based on Chu and Kim’s research, including 3 items (Chu & Kim, 2011 ). The innovativeness scale was formulated following the study by Sun et al., comprising 4 items (Sun et al., 2006 ). The information trust scale was created in reference to Chu and Choi’s research, including 3 items (Chu & Choi, 2011 ). The scales for the three components of social media consumer engagement—content consumption, content contribution, and content creation—were sourced from the research by Buzeta et al., encompassing 8 items in total (Buzeta et al., 2020 ).

All scales were appropriately revised for the context of social media influencer marketing. To avoid issues with scoring neutral attitudes, a uniform Likert seven-point scale was used for each measurement item (ranging from 1 to 7, representing a spectrum from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’). After the overall design of the questionnaire was completed, a pre-test was conducted with 30 social media users to ensure that potential respondents could clearly understand the meaning of each question and that there were no obstacles to answering. This pre-test aimed to prevent any difficulties or misunderstandings in the questionnaire items. The final version of the questionnaire is presented in Table 2 .

Data analysis

Since the model framework of the current study is derived from theoretical deductions of existing research and, while logically constructed, does not originate from an existing research model, this study still falls under the category of exploratory research. According to the analysis suggestions of Hair and other scholars, in cases of exploratory research model frameworks, it is more appropriate to choose Smart PLS for Partial Least Squares Path Analysis (PLS) to conduct data analysis and testing of the research model (Hair et al., 2012 ).

Measurement of model

In this study, careful data collection and management resulted in no missing values in the dataset. This ensured the integrity and reliability of the subsequent data analysis. As shown in Table 3 , after deleting measurement items with factor loadings below 0.5, the final factor loadings of the measurement items in this study range from 0.730 to 0.964. This indicates that all measurement items meet the retention criteria. Additionally, the Cronbach’s α values of the latent variables range from 0.805 to 0.924, and all latent variables have Composite Reliability (CR) values greater than the acceptable value of 0.7, demonstrating that the scales of this study have passed the reliability test requirements (Hair et al., 2019 ). All latent variables in this study have Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values greater than the standard acceptance value of 0.5, indicating that the convergent validity of the variables also meets the standard (Fornell & Larcker, 1981 ). Furthermore, the results show that the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values for each factor are below 10, indicating that there are no multicollinearity issues with the scales in this study (Hair, 2009 ).

The current study then further verified the discriminant validity of the variables, with specific results shown in Table 4 . The square roots of the average variance extracted (AVE) values for all variables (bolded on the diagonal) are greater than the Pearson correlation coefficients between the variables, indicating that the discriminant validity of the scales in this study meets the required standards (Fornell & Larcker, 1981 ). Additionally, a single-factor test method was employed to examine common method bias in the data. The first unrotated factor accounted for 29.71% of the variance, which is less than the critical threshold of 40%. Therefore, the study passed the test and did not exhibit serious common method bias (Podsakoff et al., 2003 ).

To ensure the robustness and appropriateness of our structural equation model, we also conducted a thorough evaluation of the model fit. Initially, through PLS Algorithm calculations, the R 2 values of each variable were greater than the standard acceptance value of 0.1, indicating good predictive accuracy of the model. Subsequently, Blindfolding calculations were performed, and the results showed that the Stone-Geisser Q 2 values of each variable were greater than 0, demonstrating that the model of this study effectively predicts the relationships between variables (Dijkstra & Henseler, 2015 ). In addition, through CFA, we also obtained some indicator values, specifically, χ 2 /df = 2.528 < 0.3, RMSEA = 0.059 < 0.06, SRMR = 0.055 < 0.08. Given its sensitivity to sample size, we primarily focused on the CFI, TLI, and NFI values, CFI = 0.953 > 0.9, TLI = 0.942 > 0.9, and NFI = 0.923 > 0.9 indicating a good fit. Additionally, RMSEA values below 0.06 and SRMR values below 0.08 were considered indicative of a good model fit. These indices collectively suggested that our model demonstrates a satisfactory fit with the data, thereby reinforcing the validity of our findings.

Research hypothesis testing

The current study employed a Bootstrapping test with a sample size of 5000 on the collected raw data to explore the coefficients and significance of the paths in the research model. The final test data results of this study’s model are presented in Table 5 .

The current study employs S-O-R model as the framework, grounded in theories such as self-determination theory and theory of planned behavior, to construct an influence model of consumer engagement behavior in the context of social media influencer marketing. It examines how influencer factors, advertisement information factors, and social influence factors affect consumer engagement behavior by impacting consumers’ psychological cognitions. Using structural equation modeling to analyze collected data ( N  = 522), it was found that self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust positively influence consumer engagement behavior, with innovativeness having the largest impact on higher levels of engagement. Influencer factors, advertisement information factors, and social factors serve as effective external stimuli, influencing psychological motivators and, consequently, consumer engagement behavior. The specific research results are illustrated in Fig. 2 .

Tested structural model of consumer engagement behavior.

The impact of psychological motivators on different levels of consumer engagement: self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust

The research analysis indicates that self-disclosure willingness and information trust are key drivers for content consumption (H1a, H2a validated). This aligns with previous findings that individuals with a higher willingness to disclose themselves show greater levels of engagement behavior (Chu et al., 2023 ); likewise, individuals who trust advertisement information are more inclined to engage with advertisement content (Kim, Kim, 2021 ). Moreover, our study finds that information trust has a stronger impact on content consumption, underscoring the importance of trust in the dissemination of advertisement information. However, no significant association was found between individual innovativeness and content consumption (H3a not validated).

Regarding the dimension of content contribution in consumer engagement, self-disclosure willingness, information trust, and innovativeness all positively impact it (H1b, H2b, and H3b all validated). This is consistent with earlier research findings that individuals with higher self-disclosure willingness are more likely to like, comment on, or share content posted by influencers on social media platforms (Towner et al., 2022 ); the conclusions of this paper also support that innovativeness is an important psychological driver for active participation in social media interactions (Kamboj & Sharma, 2023 ). However, at the level of consumer engagement in content contribution, while information trust also exerts a positive effect, its impact is the weakest, although information trust has the strongest impact on content consumption.

In social media advertising, the ideal outcome is the highest level of consumer engagement, i.e., content creation, meaning consumers actively join in brand content creation, seeing themselves as co-creators with the brand (Nadeem et al., 2021 ). Our findings reveal that self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust all positively influence content creation (H1c, H2c, and H3c all validated). The analysis found that similar to the impact on content contribution, innovativeness has the most significant effect on encouraging individual content creation, followed by self-disclosure willingness, with information trust having the least impact.

In summary, while some previous studies have shown that self-disclosure willingness, innovativeness, and information trust are important factors in promoting consumer engagement (Chu et al., 2023 ; Nadeem et al., 2021 ; Geng et al., 2021 ), this study goes further by integrating and comparing all three within the same research framework. It was found that to trigger higher levels of consumer engagement behavior, trust is not the most crucial psychological motivator; rather, the most effective method is to stimulate consumers’ innovativeness, thus complementing previous research. Subsequently, this study further explores the impact of different stimulus factors on various psychological motivators.

The influence of external stimulus factors on psychological motivators: influencer factors, advertisement information factors, and social factors

The current findings indicate that influencer factors, such as parasocial identification and source credibility, effectively enhance consumer engagement by influencing self-disclosure willingness and information trust. This aligns with prior research highlighting the significance of parasocial identification (Shan et al., 2020 ). Studies suggest parasocial identification positively impacts consumer engagement by boosting self-disclosure willingness and information trust (validated H4a, H4b, H4c, and H5a), but not content contribution or creation through information trust (H5b, H5c not validated). Source credibility’s influence on self-disclosure willingness was not significant (H6 not validated), thus negating the mediating effect of self-disclosure willingness (H6a, H6b, H6c not validated). Influencer credibility mainly affects engagement through information trust (H7a, H7b, H7c validated), supporting previous findings (Shan et al., 2020 ).

Advertisement factors (informative value and ad targeting accuracy) promote engagement through innovativeness and information trust. Informative value significantly impacts higher-level content contribution and creation through innovativeness (H8b, H8c validated), while ad targeting accuracy influences consumer engagement at all levels mainly through information trust (H10a, H10b, H10c validated).

Social factors (subjective norms) enhance self-disclosure willingness and information trust, consistent with previous research (Wirth et al., 2019 ; Gupta et al., 2021 ), and further promote consumer engagement across all levels (H11a, H11b, H11c, H12a, H12b, and H12c all validated).

In summary, influencer, advertisement, and social factors impact consumer engagement behavior by influencing psychological motivators, with influencer factors having the greatest effect on content consumption, advertisement content factors significantly raising higher-level consumer engagement through innovativeness, and social factors also influencing engagement through self-disclosure willingness and information trust.

Implication

From a theoretical perspective, current research presents a comprehensive model of consumer engagement within the context of influencer advertising on social media. This model not only expands the research horizon in the fields of social media influencer advertising and consumer engagement but also serves as a bridge between two crucial themes in new media advertising studies. Influencer advertising has become an integral part of social media advertising, and the construction of a macro model aids researchers in understanding consumer psychological processes and behavioral patterns. It also assists advertisers in formulating more effective strategies. Consumer engagement, focusing on the active role of consumers in disseminating information and the long-term impact on advertising effectiveness, aligns more closely with the advertising effectiveness measures in the new media context than traditional advertising metrics. However, the intersection of these two vital themes lacks comprehensive research and a universal model. This study constructs a model that elucidates the effects of various stimuli on consumer psychology and engagement behaviors, exploring the connections and mechanisms through different mediating pathways. By differentiating levels of engagement, the study offers more nuanced conclusions for diverse advertising objectives. Furthermore, this research validates the applicability of self-determination theory in the context of influencer advertising effectiveness. While this psychological theory has been utilized in communication behavior research, its effectiveness in the field of advertising requires further exploration. The current study introduces self-determination theory into the realm of influencer advertising and consumer engagement, thereby expanding its application in the field of advertising communication. It also responds to the call from the advertising and marketing academic community to incorporate more psychological theories to explain the ‘black box’ of consumer psychology. The inclusion of this theory re-emphasizes the people-centric approach of this research and highlights the primary role of individuals in advertising communication studies.

From a practical perspective, this study provides significant insights for adapting marketing strategies to the evolving media landscape and the empowered role of audiences. Firstly, in the face of changes in the communication environment and the empowerment of audience communication capabilities, traditional marketing approaches are becoming inadequate for new media advertising needs. Traditional advertising focuses on direct, point-to-point effects, whereas social media advertising aims for broader, point-to-mass communication, leveraging audience proactivity to facilitate the viral spread of content across online social networks. Secondly, for brands, the general influence model proposed in this study offers guidance for influencer advertising strategy. If the goal is to maximize reach and brand recognition with a substantial advertising budget, partnering with top influencers who have a large following can be an effective strategy. However, if the objective is to maximize cost-effectiveness with a limited budget by leveraging consumer initiative for secondary spread, the focus should be on designing advertising content that stimulates consumer creativity and willingness to innovate. Thirdly, influencers are advised to remain true to their followers. In influencer marketing, influencers attract advertisers through their influence over followers, converting this influence into commercial gain. This influence stems from the trust followers place in the influencer, thus influencers should maintain professional integrity and prioritize the quality of information they share, even when presented with advertising opportunities. Lastly, influencers should assert more control over their relationships with advertisers. In traditional advertising, companies and brands often exert significant control over the content. However, in the social media era, influencers should negotiate more creative freedom in their advertising partnerships, asserting a more equal relationship with advertisers. This approach ensures that content quality remains high, maintaining the trust influencers have built with their followers.

Limitations and future directions

while this study offers valuable insights into the dynamics of influencer marketing and consumer engagement on social media, several limitations should be acknowledged: Firstly, constrained by the research objectives and scope, this study’s proposed general impact model covers three dimensions: influencers, advertisement information, and social factors. However, these dimensions are not limited to the five variables discussed in this paper. Therefore, we call for future research to supplement and explore more crucial factors. Secondly, in the actual communication environment, there may be differences in the impact of communication effectiveness across various social media platforms. Thus, future research could also involve comparative studies and explorations between different social media platforms. Thirdly, the current study primarily examines the direct effects of various factors on consumer engagement. However, the potential interaction effects between these variables (e.g., how influencers’ credibility might interact with advertisement information quality) are not extensively explored. Future research could investigate these complex interrelationships for a more holistic understanding. Lastly, our study, being cross-sectional, offers preliminary insights into the complex and dynamic nature of engagement between social media influencers and consumers, yet it does not incorporate the temporal dimension. The diverse impacts of psychological needs on engagement behaviors hint at an underlying dynamism that merits further investigation. Future research should consider employing longitudinal designs to directly observe how these dynamics evolve over time.

The findings of the current study not only theoretically validate the applicability of self-determination theory in the field of social media influencer marketing advertising research but also broaden the scope of advertising effectiveness research from the perspective of consumer engagement. Moreover, the research framework offers strategic guidance and reference for influencer marketing strategies. The main conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows.

Innovativeness is the key factor in high-level consumer engagement behavior. Content contribution represents a higher level of consumer engagement compared to content consumption, as it not only requires consumers to dedicate attention to viewing advertising content but also to share this information across adjacent nodes within their social networks. This dissemination of information is a pivotal factor in the success of influencer marketing advertisements. Hence, companies and brands prioritize consumers’ content contribution over mere viewing of advertising content (Qiu & Kumar, 2017 ). Compared to content consumption and contribution, content creation is considered the highest level of consumer engagement, where consumers actively create and upload brand-related content, and it represents the most advanced outcome sought by enterprises and brands in advertising campaigns (Cheung et al., 2021 ). The current study posits that to pursue better outcomes in social media influencer advertising marketing, enhancing consumers’ willingness for self-disclosure, innovativeness, and trust in advertising information are effective strategies. However, the crux lies in leveraging the consumer’s subjective initiative, particularly in boosting their innovativeness. If the goal is simply to achieve content consumption rather than higher levels of consumer engagement, the focus should be on fostering trust in advertising information. There is no hierarchy in the efficacy of different strategies; they should align with varying marketing contexts and advertising objectives.

The greatest role of social media influencers lies in attracting online traffic. information trust is the core element driving content consumption, and influencer factors mainly affect consumer engagement behaviors through information trust. Therefore, this study suggests that the primary role of influencers in social media advertising is to attract online traffic, i.e., increase consumer behavior regarding ad content consumption (reducing avoidance of ad content), and help brands achieve the initial goal of making consumers “see and complete ads.” However, their impact on further high-level consumer engagement behaviors is limited. This mechanism serves as a reminder to advertisers not to overestimate the effects of influencers in marketing. Currently, top influencers command a significant portion of the ad budget, which could squeeze the budget for other aspects of advertising, potentially affecting the overall effectiveness of the campaign. Businesses and brands should consider deeper strategic implications when planning their advertising campaigns.

Valuing Advertising Information Factors, Content Remains King. Our study posits that in the social media influencer marketing context, the key to enhancing consumer contribution and creation of advertising content lies primarily in the advertising information factors. In other words, while content consumption is important, advertisers should objectively assess the role influencers play in advertising. In the era of social media, content remains ‘king’ in advertising. This view indirectly echoes the points made in the previous paragraph: influencers effectively perform initial ‘online traffic generation’ tasks in social media, but this role should not be overly romanticized or exaggerated. Whether it’s companies, brands, or influencers, providing consumers with advertisements rich in informational value is crucial to achieving better advertising outcomes and potentially converting consumers into stakeholders.

Subjective norm is an unignorable social influence factor. Social media is characterized by its network structure of information dissemination, where a node’s information is visible to adjacent nodes. For instance, if user A likes a piece of content C from influencer I, A’s follower B, who may not follow influencer I, can still see content C via user A’s page. The aim of marketing in the social media era is to influence a node and then spread the information to adjacent nodes, either secondarily or multiple times (Kumar & Panda, 2020 ). According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, an individual’s actions are influenced by significant others in their lives, such as family and friends. Previous studies have proven the effectiveness of the Theory of Planned Behavior in influencing attitudes toward social media advertising (Ranjbarian et al., 2012 ). Current research further confirms that subjective norms also influence consumer engagement behaviors in influencer marketing on social media. Therefore, in advertising practice, brands should not only focus on individual consumers but also invest efforts in groups that can influence consumer decisions. Changing consumer behavior in the era of social media marketing doesn’t solely rely on the company’s efforts.

As communication technology advances, media platforms will further empower individual communicative capabilities, moving beyond the era of the “magic bullet” theory. The distinction between being a recipient and a transmitter of information is increasingly blurred. In an era where everyone is both an audience and an influencer, research confined to the role of the ‘recipient’ falls short of addressing the dynamics of ‘transmission’. Future research in marketing and advertising should thus focus more on the power of individual transmission. Furthermore, as Marshall McLuhan famously said, “the medium is the extension of man.” The evolution of media technology remains human-centric. Accordingly, future marketing research, while paying heed to media transformations, should emphasize the centrality of the ‘human’ element.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy issues. Making the full data set publicly available could potentially breach the privacy that was promised to participants when they agreed to take part, and may breach the ethics approval for the study. The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the participants of this study. The participants were all informed about the purpose and content of the study and voluntarily agreed to participate. The participants were able to stop participating at any time without penalty. Funding for this study was provided by Minjiang University Research Start-up Funds (No. 324-32404314).

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Conceptualization: CG; methodology: CG and QD; software: CG and QD; validation: CG; formal analysis: CG and QD; investigation: CG and QD; resources: CG; data curation: CG and QD; writing—original draft preparation: CG; writing—review and editing: CG; visualization: CG; project administration: CG. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Gu, C., Duan, Q. Exploring the dynamics of consumer engagement in social media influencer marketing: from the self-determination theory perspective. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 587 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03127-w

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EDITORIAL article

Editorial: the adaptive role of musicality in human evolution.

• 1 The Conservatorium of Music, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
• 2 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford, United Kingdom
• 3 School of Human Sciences and Conservatorium of Music, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
• 4 Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Nedlands, WA, Australia
• 5 Department of Musicology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

Editorial on the Research Topic The adaptive role of musicality in human evolution

Introduction

Over the last 40 years or so, interest has re-emerged in the topic of human musical behavior and its evolution, represented both by monographs (e.g., Wallin, 1991 ; Mithen, 2005 ; Tomlinson, 2015 ; Harvey, 2017 ) and several compilations ( Wallin et al., 2000 ; Bannan, 2012 ; Nikolsky and Perlovsky, 2020 ). In recent years, publications on this topic have increased in number and breadth. So: why publish yet another Research Topic in this field?

Our focus in devising the topic of this Research Topic was to encourage exploration of the acute and specialized nature of human aural perception and its evolved role in the capacity for music and language. Specifically, we aimed to encourage greater precision in accounts of how musical abilities are acquired and transmitted through vocal learning in relation to speech acquisition and musical expertise.

A key development, on which modern human vocal abilities depend, was the achievement of a feedback loop between the perception and production of vocal sound that allows precise matching, imitation, and meaningful variation, of the acoustic properties: fundamental frequency, duration (and its role in rhythm), amplitude, and timbral spectrum. These are the four specific properties that influence our sensations of sound. They play parallel and complementary roles in both language and vocal music, represented in blended synchrony such as unison song and collective speech; as well as temporally organized sequences such as call-and-response and polyphony.

This Research Topic comprises articles stimulated by this description of the topic, presenting studies that variously examine the evolution of these universal abilities. Fields represented include animal behavior, cultural evolution, and studies of the phenomenon of human musicality from a variety of perspectives.

Locating this topic within the disciplinary frameworks that embrace it

The study of musicality depends upon developments within a wide range of disciplines and methods: anthropology, acoustics, neurology, and social psychology perhaps at the center; linguistics, archaeology, anatomy, animal behavior and audiology presenting essential extensions and bridges that expand their perspective. In focusing on the definition and exploration of musicality and its evolutionary foundations, this Research Topic has also attracted material from within musicology and ethnomusicology, presenting data that communicates musical phenomena in their own terms where much work in this field has proved generally descriptive or poorly informed.

Convergent and divergent interpretations

The variety of approaches and disciplinary perspectives brought to bear on the issue of musicality represents a complex spectrum embracing several interacting axes. The “positioning” of research within these can both contribute clarification and provide innovative presentation of new data. This Issue adopted the stance that contributions need not represent agreement with one another, as if the editors were gatekeepers to interpretations that all would unanimously accept. Readers will judge for themselves the conviction with which they may respond to what the Issue contains, and how it may shape their own thinking on the topic.

Principal among interpretations that have led to divergent views have been:

Social Bonding (e.g., Dunbar, 2012 ; Harvey, 2017 ; Savage et al., 2021 ), in relation to Credibility of the Signal (e.g. Aitchison, 2000 ; Mehr et al., 2021 ); and the reconciliation of these in more recent models ( Podlipniak, 2023 ; Bannan et al., in press ; Bamford et al. );

Instinctive responses to harmonicity (e.g. Bannan et al., n.d. ), in relation to scales and tunings as cultural preferences ( Brown and Phillips );

Sexual dimorphism (e.g., Miller, 2011 ), in relation to abilities shared across genders ( Fitch, 2006 );

The universal and the unique: reconciling cultural contrasts (see Jacoby et al., 2019 ).

The contribution made in this Research Topic and potential responses in future research

Comparison between animal and human behaviors defines and illustrates potential evolutionary patterns. Embracing a comprehensive discussion of the factors that may affect the responses of pet and laboratory animals to human communication, Seki reviews experiments that explore the role of rhythmic synchronization to a musical beat in vocal production learners. If the cockatiels studied can sing imitations of human music in synchrony with a playback of the melody, how would such an ability have evolved in a flocking species compared to the beat perception conferred by human collective locomotion? Tracing the stages by which modern human abilities emerged, Dunbar refines and re-presents the features of the social bonding mechanism that he places at the root of the musicality mosaic.

Bamford et al. revisit Darwin' account of the origins of human vocalization in sexual attraction, exploring a model for the continuing link between romantic love and musical interaction that reconciles social bonding with credible signaling strategies. By contrast, Jordania explores the role of musicality and other early human biological and behavioral traits as components of protection against predators that contributed to survival. In the research report of Chittar et al. , close study of the singing behaviors of five hunter-gatherer women in the Republic of Congo tested the application of the credible signaling hypothesis. Amongst their findings were that group singing was not motivated by predation avoidance, but that carrying an infant while foraging correlates strongly with singing activity. The multi-sensory links between touch and infant-directed song (c.f. Dunbar ) within the combined social and working context suggests a cultural influence in the establishment of parent-infant bonding.

Brown and Phillips focus on the nature of musical organization and its acquisition. Their article argues for the culturally-derived origin and transmission of tuning systems (e.g., musical scales) in contrast to the interval ratios associated with Pythagorean theory.

Jan defines and investigates the nature of musical memetics and their operation within and between repertoire examples, illustrating an evolutionary process that remains at work. Velička speculates on the stylistic features of a Lithuanian vocal repertoire that suggest ancient, prelinguistic origins.

This assembly of research reports and reviews evokes future directions in which research needs to further clarify the nature and practice of human musical behavior (see also Yurdum et al., 2023 ). Chittar et al. exemplify the potential of detailed data collection in non-WEIRD populations, in which further work is essential in order to ensure that a full understanding of the function and transmission of music is acquired.

Author contributions

NB: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. RD: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. AH: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. PP: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Yurdum, L., Singh, M., Glowacki, L., Vardy, T., Atkinson, Q. D., Hilton, C. B., et al. (2023). Universal interpretations of vocal music. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 120:e2218593120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2218593120

Keywords: musicality, aural perception, language, song, evolution, culture, communication, harmonicity

Citation: Bannan N, Dunbar RIM, Harvey AR and Podlipniak P (2024) Editorial: The adaptive role of musicality in human evolution. Front. Psychol. 15:1419170. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1419170

Received: 17 April 2024; Accepted: 30 April 2024; Published: 15 May 2024.

Edited and reviewed by: Aaron Williamon , Royal College of Music, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2024 Bannan, Dunbar, Harvey and Podlipniak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Nicholas Bannan, n.bannan@bigpond.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Jennifer McWhirter, 50 Stone Road East, Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON  N1G 2W1; Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 58951; Email:  [email protected]

MacKay M, McAlpine D, Wrote H, Grant LE, Papadopoulos A, McWhirter JE. Public health communication professional development opportunities and alignment with core competencies: an environmental scan and content analysis. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2024;44(5):218-28. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.5.03

Introduction: Communication is vital for effective and precise public health practice. The limited formal educational opportunities in health communication render professional development opportunities especially important. Competencies for public health communication describe the integrated knowledge, values, skills and behaviours required for practitioner and organizational performance. Many countries consider communication a core public health competency and use communication competencies in workforce planning and development.

Methods: We conducted an environmental scan and content analysis to determine the availability of public health communication professional development opportunities in Canada and the extent to which they support communication-related core competencies. Three relevant competency frameworks were used to assess the degree to which professional development offerings supported communication competency development.

Results: Overall, 45 professional development offerings were included: 16 “formalized offerings” (training opportunities such as courses, webinars, certificate programs) and 29 “materials and tools” (resources such as toolkits, guidebooks). The formalized offerings addressed 25% to 100% of the communication competencies, and the materials and tools addressed 67% to 100%. Addressing misinformation and disinformation, using current technology and communicating with diverse populations are areas in need of improved professional development.

Conclusion: There is a significant gap in public health communication formalized offerings in Canada and many of the materials and tools are outdated. Public health communication professional development offerings lack coordination and do not provide comprehensive coverage across the communication competencies, limiting their utility to strengthen the public health workforce. More, and more comprehensive, professional development offerings are needed.

Keywords : health communication, core competencies’ professional development, workforce planning

• There have been widespread calls to transform the public health workforce in Canada.
• We conducted an environmental scan and content analysis to determine current professional development opportunities in public health communication and investigate how well they support communication-related core competencies.
• We found 45 professional development offerings relevant to public health communication in Canada, with varying coverage of the core competencies.
• Addressing misinformation and disinformation, the use of current technology and communicating with diverse populations are areas in need of improved professional development.
• This snapshot of the current state of public health communication professional development shows that coverage across the competencies is neither coordinated nor comprehensive.

Introduction

With the field of public health constantly evolving due to new knowledge from research and practice and changing technology, effective communication is critical, especially during crises. Footnote 1 Effective communication is also central to the design and implementation of public health initiatives, which impact adoption of recommended health behaviours, especially among those in underserved population groups. Footnote 2

There have been widespread calls to improve the Canadian public health system, including updating core competencies for public health and related professional development opportunities Footnote 1 Footnote 3 Footnote 4 Footnote 5 as well as public health communication. Footnote 6 Footnote 7 Changes in the information ecosystem have altered methods of communication and increased the threat of misinformation, undermining trust in public health communication. Footnote 8 Footnote 9 This is especially apparent in the context of social media, which is an important tool for delivering public health messages. Footnote 1 Footnote 9

Without the opportunities to continually update and adapt their communication competencies and skills, public health practitioners risk losing their credibility and the public’s trust, negatively affecting the health of Canadians. Footnote 1 Professional development allows for the enhancement of existing skills and behaviours and acquisition of new knowledge and attitudes in order to meet workforce demands.

In 2008, the Public Health Agency of Canada ( PHAC ) published Core Competencies for Public Health: Release 1.0 (“ PHAC core competencies”) after extensive consultation with public health researchers and practitioners across the country. Footnote 10 The 36 PHAC core competencies are organized into seven categories, one of which is communication. Footnote 10 At the time of writing, the PHAC core competencies were undergoing renewal and modernization. Because of the age of the current PHAC core competencies, other public health competency frameworks may help inform Canadian public health workforce planning.

Health Promotion Canada has a framework for discipline-specific competencies for health promotion (“ HPC competencies”) based on the PHAC core competencies. Footnote 11 The Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (“Council on Linkages”) in the USA has foundational core competencies for public health practitioners; Footnote 12 these core competencies have been regularly revised since their release in 2001 and provide an up-to-date framework that reflects modern communication requirements, including addressing the infodemic and culturally appropriate communication. Footnote 12

There are similarities across the three competency frameworks, including tailoring communication to various audiences, choosing the right communication channel(s), mobilizing communities and using technology effectively. The extent to which communication competencies from these frameworks inform professional development opportunities for public health communication is unknown.

Gaps have been identified in the public health communication courses offered by the master of public health programs in Canada. Footnote 13 Footnote 14 Also, research into online continuing education programs found that only about half the courses offered in 2015 included communication as a topic. Footnote 15 Although several online courses are available for public health professionals in Canada, Jung et al. Footnote 15 found that these did not provide comprehensive coverage of the PHAC core competencies, including within the communication domain; nor were they readily accessible through a central online database.

Given the significance of communication in public health practice and its focus in public health competency frameworks, it is important to understand the opportunities and resources currently available and how these align with the relevant competency frameworks. Identifying current professional development offerings for public health practitioners will also highlight the opportunities for building workforce competence and communication capacity.

This current research aims to determine the availability of public health communication professional development opportunities and the extent to which they support core competencies in communication. The objectives of this research include:

• using an environmental scan to identify currently available Canadian professional development opportunities relevant to public health communication; and
• conducting a content analysis to describe how these identified professional development opportunities align with communication competencies from the relevant frameworks ( PHAC core competencies, HPC competencies, and Council on Linkages competencies).

We conducted an environmental scan to determine the current professional development landscape that supports public health communication competencies in the Canadian workforce. Our search methods were guided by previous research on competencies for public health and continuing education. Footnote 16 Footnote 17 Following the steps outlined by Bengtsson Footnote 18 and Krippendorff, Footnote 19 we analysed the content of all the professional development opportunities identified in the scan to determine their nature and the degree to which they support the development of public health communication competency.

Search strategy

First, the research team searched, by way of a Google site search (site: URL search terms) using the term “health communication,” the entire contents of websites of public health organizations known to them.

Next, we conducted an Internet search using the Google search engine and the following search terms: “health communication,” “public health,” ”continuing education,” “Canada.” A subsequent search used the search terms “health communication,” “public health,” “course,” “Canada.” Consistent with methodological examples and recommendations, we reviewed the first 10 pages of results of each search. Footnote 17 Footnote 20 The same two searches were also run using the Ontario Public Health Libraries Association custom Google search engine, Footnote 21 the grey literature database CABI Global Health Footnote 22 and the custom Google search engine developed by Queen’s University Library. Footnote 23 Other resources known to the research team were also included.

Search criteria

Two researchers ( MM and JEM ) independently reviewed the professional development offerings for relevance to the following inclusion and exclusion criteria and resolved all conflicts by discussion. For a professional development opportunity to be included, it had:

• to be offered or be available within the last 12 months (materials and tools may still be available online long after their initial publication);
• to be widely available and applicable to Canadian public health practitioners;
• to reoccur as a multistep program offered to different public health organizations and/or allow repeated access through online platforms;
• to be in English;
• to be offered in Canada or be available to Canadians;
• to be relevant to Canadian public health infrastructure and governance; and
• to be related to public health communication.

Included were “formalized offerings,” that is, training opportunities such as certificate programs, courses, graduate programs, summer institutes, webinars and online learning programs, and “materials and tools,” that is, resources such as guidebooks, white papers, expert panel reports, toolkits, guidelines and briefing notes, conference proceedings, blog posts, factsheets, toolkits and websites.

Offerings were excluded if they were single occurrence webinars, conferences or workshops; and/or limited in geographical relevance or offered in a relatively small geographical area or organization (e.g. one local public health unit).

Data collection

One researcher ( HW ) collected the data between 13 November 2022 and 6 December 2022 and recorded the information on an Excel spreadsheet. Footnote 24 The following information was collected for each formalized offering: name, description, type (e.g. certificate program, webinar), format (e.g. hybrid, online), intended audience, time commitment, cost, the institution providing the offering, the country providing the offering and its geographical reach, date last offered, currently offered (Y/N), the URL , the search date and the search source. The following information was collected for materials and tools: title, author, description, type (e.g. guidebook, toolkit), intended audience, location, date, the URL , the search date and the search source.

Content analysis

The communication-related competencies from the PHAC core competencies, Footnote 10 the HPC competencies Footnote 11 and the Council on Linkages Footnote 12 were used to assess the degree to which the professional development offerings support public health communication competencies ( Table 1 ).

Three researchers ( MM , HW and JEM ) created a codebook describing key variables identified during data collection and the communication-related competencies from the frameworks described above. (This codebook is available online .) Subvariables for each competency that reflected the named audiences, channels, tools and techniques were also captured. Professional development opportunities could be coded for the overall competency and may or may not be coded for the various subvariables depending on whether the specific audiences, channels, tools and techniques were covered. The codebook was validated prior to coding. Two researchers ( HW and MM ), working independently, coded the full dataset, discussing and resolving all conflicts along the way.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics (frequencies) were calculated using Excel Footnote 24 to assess how each of the professional development opportunities support the communication competencies. We used RAWGraphs Footnote 25 to present the data visually.

The environmental scan uncovered a total of 45 professional development opportunities related to public health communication. Of these, 16 (36%) were formalized offerings and 29 (64%) were materials and tools. Three of the 16 formalized offerings were available and analyzed in full. The remaining 13 were analyzed based on the summary information available (most often because they were behind a paywall). All materials and tools were available and analyzed in full.

Details on the formalized offerings and materials and tools are available online .

Characteristics of professional development opportunities

Just over half of the 16 formalized offerings (n = 9; 56%) and most of the 29 materials and tools (n = 26; 90%) originated from Canada ( Table 2 ). While all the formalized offerings were offered in the last 12 months (and thus met our inclusion criteria), only one (3%) set of materials and tools was published in the last 12 months and only six (21%) in the last 5 years, although all were available online within the last 12 months, thus meeting our inclusion criteria.

Just over two-thirds of the formalized offerings (n = 11; 69%) and all the materials and tools (n = 29; 100%) were offered online asynchronously; 13 of the formalized offerings (81%) and 28 of the materials and tools (97%) focused on general public health practitioners. The most common formalized offerings were courses (n = 6; 38%); were focused on knowledge mobilization (n = 5; 31%); and were offered by academic institutions (n = 4; 14%). The most common materials and tools were resources (n = 12; 41%); were focused on general health communication (n = 10; 34%); and were offered by arms-length organizations (n = 8; 28%).

Professional development opportunities were delivered by various organizations and institutions. Formalized offerings were mostly offered by academia (n = 6; 38%), government-funded arms-length institutions (n = 3; 19%) and hospitals (n = 3; 19%). Materials and tools were mostly offered by government-funded arms-length institutions (n = 8; 28%), provincial governments (n = 8; 28%) and academia (n = 4; 14%) ( Table 1 ; Figure 1 ). No formalized offerings were provided by public health units, NGOs or provincial governments, and very few materials and tools were offered by public health units and professional associations (n = 1 each; 3%) ( Table 1 ; Figure 1 ).

Abbreviations: Council on Linkages, Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice; HPC , Health Promotion Canada; PHAC , Public Health Agency of Canada. Notes: The legend provides two reference points (smallest circle = 4 offerings and largest circle = 29 offerings) visualized in the figure. Formalized offerings: certificate (programs), courses, graduate programs, summer institutes, webinars. Materials and tools: conference proceedings, blog posts, briefing notes, expert panel reports, factsheets, guidebooks, toolkits, websites, guidelines.

Competencies within professional development opportunities

Overall, across the professional development opportunities (formalized offerings and materials and tools combined; see Table 1 ), competencies related to tailoring information (n = 44; 98%), using different communication strategies (n = 43; 96%) and communicating with internal and external audiences (n = 42; 93%) were the most supported; competencies related to misinformation and disinformation (n = 12; 27%), current technology (n = 25; 56%) and using media (n = 33; 73%) were the least supported (data not shown). Figure 2 shows the alignment of the professional development offerings with the competency frameworks broken down by formalized offerings (n = 16) and materials and tools (n = 29).

Note: The legend provides two reference points (smallest circle = 1 offering and largest circle = 5 offerings) visualized in the figure.

Alignment with PHAC communication competencies

On average, formalized offerings covered 2.25 (range: 0–4) out of the 4 communication-related PHAC core competencies and materials and tools covered 3.55 out of these 4 competencies (range: 2–4) per professional development offering. The PHAC core competency most commonly supported by professional development opportunities was interpreting information, which was addressed by all 29 of the materials and tools and three-quarters (n = 12; 75%) of formalized offerings ( Table 3 ). Communication skills was similarly supported by all of the materials and tools and almost two-thirds (n = 10; 63%) of formalized offerings. Mobilizing people was slightly less supported with 90% (n = 26) of materials and tools and 50% (n = 8) of formalized offerings addressing it. The least supported competency was current technology with 66% (n = 19) of materials and tools and 38% (n = 6) of formalized offerings addressing it.

The types of intended audiences were less frequently addressed by formalized offerings compared to materials and tools ( Table 3 ), with colleagues the least addressed audience type. Professional development opportunities most often addressed interpreting information for communities, while professional audiences were least covered. Further, social marketing techniques for mobilizing individuals and communities were not well addressed by the professional development opportunities. Finally, formalized offerings infrequently covered specific technologies identified in the competencies, while materials and tools addressed using websites and social media in approximately half of the resources that addressed this competency.

Alignment with HPC communication competencies

Overall, materials and tools were strongly aligned with all the HPC communication competencies ( Table 4 ). Tailoring information to specific audiences was the most widely addressed competency by both formalized offerings and materials and tools. Coverage of the different communication methods varied, with the media (traditional and new media) addressed by seven (44%) formalized offerings and 19 (66%) materials and tools, and information technologies addressed by just two (13%) formalized offerings and 10 (34%) materials and tools. While communicating with diverse populations was well supported by formalized offerings (n = 7; 44%) and materials and tools (n = 27; 93%), it was often addressed exclusively in the context of health literacy (n = 2/7 [29%] formalized offerings; n = 15/27 [52%] of materials and tools).

Alignment with Council on Linkages communication competencies

Overall, the materials and tools had more comprehensive alignment with the Council on Linkages communication competencies based on the information available, except for addressing misinformation and disinformation ( Table 5 ). This competency subvariable had the lowest support from professional development opportunities with only four (25%) of formalized offerings and eight (28%) of materials and tools addressing misinformation and disinformation.

Although the remaining three competencies (communication strategies, internal/external audiences, facilitate communication) were broadly addressed by many professional development opportunities, there was less focus on some key elements. Specifically, while 17 (59%) of materials and tools addressed communicating with internal audiences, only two (13%) formalized offerings addressed this element of the competency.

This study examined the professional development opportunities for public health communication widely available currently or within the last 12 months, in English, to Canadians or relevant to Canadian public health, and how closely aligned they are with public health communication competencies relevant in Canada ( PHAC and HPC ) and the USA (Council on Linkages).

We found 45 offerings related to public health communication of which 16 were formalized offerings (training opportunities, e.g. certificate programs, courses, webinars) and 29 were materials and tools (resources, e.g. guidebooks, toolkits, reports). Less than one-quarter of the materials and tools were published in the last 5 years. The older age of some materials and tools may have contributed to the competency gaps in current technology and in addressing misinformation and disinformation. Most often, formalized offerings focussed on knowledge mobilization while materials and tools focussed on general health communication.

Professional development offerings were not developed or coordinated by a governing body, but were offered by different organizations and agencies across Canada and the USA . Overall, the formalized offerings address fewer competencies relative to the materials and tools; however, this may be, at least in part, because we were only able to analyze summary materials for the majority of formalized offerings whereas all materials and tools were available and analyzed in full.

Competencies are the integrated knowledge, skills, attitudes/values and behaviours that public health practitioners and organizations must possess for effective public health practice. Footnote 26 Public health organizations can take competencies into account when recruiting personnel, assessing job performances and identifying professional development needs. Footnote 26 Workforce training and continuing education are an essential part of competency development, especially when there is a lack of graduate training options in communication and other competencies, as was found in Canada. Footnote 14 Footnote 15 The Canadian Public Health Association has recommended workforce training in modernized competencies as key for strengthening the public health system. Footnote 1 Footnote 27 PHAC used to offer Skills Online, an eight-module professional development program that directly supported the core competency categories. Footnote 28 The results of this study show that the professional development opportunities currently available do not cover all the PHAC core competencies, with formalized offerings averaging 2.25 competencies per opportunity and materials and tools averaging 3.55 competencies per opportunity. No equivalent comprehensive training program fills this gap.

Our research was specific to the public health communication categories; in fact, we found that there is no comprehensive professional development program for public health communication. What is available is a range of programs offered by many different types of organizations and agencies, some of which may not be up-to-date and which do not comprehensively support current communication competency development needs. While a comprehensive federal training program such as Skills Online Footnote 28 may provide coordinated training across the full range of core competencies (including communication), the smaller professional development offerings could not be expected to be equally comprehensive. Rather, the professional development offerings provided by the various organizations and institutions were more targeted and not designed to cover the full range of communication competencies. Examining the professional development opportunities collectively allows for understanding what is available, how the opportunities support the development of communication competencies, and what areas of opportunity exist for public health communication in the absence of a comprehensive competency-based federal training program.

Compared to the formalized offerings, the materials and tools were more aligned with the communication-related core competencies; however, practitioners need to seek out these resources, without the benefit of a facilitated structure such as could be expected from a course. Diverse effective training includes online courses, mentorship, just-in-time training and community-engaged training, through academia, government, community and other partnerships. Footnote 29 Materials and tools for public health communication would be less likely to reflect these pedagogical practices.

Further, recent research found that fewer than half of the master of public health programs in Canada offer courses that focus on health communication, and none specialize in health communication. Footnote 14 As with professional development, a systematic approach to enhancing communication competence in the public health workforce is needed, and master of public health programs should include targeted health communication education taught by faculty members with the relevant expertise. In addition, curricula need to be regularly reviewed to make sure they are aligned with contemporary competencies and current public health needs.

Comprehensive professional development opportunities that address contemporary public health communication needs will strengthen our capacity and ensure the availability of a skilled workforce. In contrast to current offerings in Canada, the selection of trainings in public health communication for students and practitioners in the USA is large and comprehensive. The Public Health Foundation offers the TRAIN Learning Network; the foundation and the New England Public Health Training Center have a number of courses related to communication that are mapped to the Council on Linkages’ core competencies for public health professionals. Footnote 12 Footnote 30 There are also 65 schools in the USA that, between them, offer 77 programs on health communication. Footnote 31 They could also provide a roadmap for comprehensive training and professional development aligned with core competencies and pedagogy for effective training in Canada.

Overall, the professional development offerings had strong alignment with the communication-related PHAC core competencies, with nearly half (49%) addressing all four competencies. One communication core competency, the PHAC core competency, “current technology” (#6.4), was not widely addressed by formalized offerings but had better coverage within materials and tools, although leveraging technology rather than teaching practitioners how to effectively use it tended to be mentioned. Digital technologies are vital to public health communication, as was evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic when social media, online big data sources, data visualization, artificial intelligence and digital platforms (e.g. video conferencing software) became increasingly important. Footnote 32 Thus, it is critical that the core competencies not only reflect the scope and complexity of digital technologies that should be used by public health in communication initiatives but also that they be mapped to professional development opportunities that teach the technologies to practitioners.

As previously mentioned, the PHAC core competencies are undergoing renewal and modernization, with an estimated launch scheduled for 2024. The Chief Public Health Officer’s 2021 report identified several areas related to communication that must be addressed through the updated competencies and workforce training: addressing misinformation and disinformation; codesigning health information with communities; culturally appropriate communication; enhanced risk and crisis communication; and tailoring information to communities’ values and needs. Footnote 33 Our research found that most of the professional development offerings did not address misinformation and disinformation, although most did address tailoring communication and communicating with diverse populations. Within the context of communicating with diverse populations, however, the focus was usually on health literacy rather than on cultural competency. These results show opportunities for strengthening our professional development in areas vital to public health communication.

The Canadian public health workforce can be enhanced and supported by building stronger linkages between practice and education, including partnerships between public health schools and public health organizations and associations to co-develop and customize education and training opportunities, including specialized subdisciplines, for public health practitioners and students. Public health organizations and associations play key roles in workforce development and are aware of community-level needs and practitioner competencies through their connection to the field and monitoring and evaluating of key issues. As such, they are in the best position to clarify the public health needs of today and anticipate the needs of tomorrow. Public health schools, meanwhile, bring expertise in pedagogy and competency-based education. Such partnerships would help produce training opportunities that are tailored to organization and practitioner needs, including format, timing and focuses. Further, public health organizations and associations could provide comments and input to public health schools on what they anticipate needing in the future, which is important because of the lead time required to build curriculum and expertise in the future public health workforce.

Strengths, limitations and future research

The search strategy was designed to capture as many professional development offerings meeting our inclusion criteria as possible. The search consisted of English language results only, and some web content was inaccessible without an organization membership. Access to the full details of formalized offerings was often not possible without enrolling in the course; therefore relevant data were mostly extracted from summary information, which may have biased the results given that materials and tools often presented  information in full. Further, while formalized offerings needed to be offered within the last 12 months, materials and tools needed to be available online within the last year, but could have been published even 15 years earlier.

Our search and data retrieval processes were also limited by challenges inherent to online research. For example, broken links due to inconsistencies in Internet archival processes were common. Also, our search results may have been biased and influenced in unknown ways by Google’s algorithms. Footnote 34

With the PHAC core competencies currently being renewed, this environmental scan provides a valuable snapshot of what is available and how it corresponds to current communication core competencies within the health communication discipline of public health. This scan does not describe other professional development opportunities within other specializations or competency domains. Similar environmental scans of professional development offerings should be completed in the future and results assessed with the updated communication competencies.

The field of public health is constantly changing as a result of new knowledge from research and practice, the changing communication ecosystem and the complexity of problems facing public health practitioners. This flux is heightening the critical role of professional development opportunities for public health practitioners to build and maintain communication-related competencies. Public health core competencies guide workforce planning, job performance assessment and professional development. These competencies  are fundamental to public health capacity and contribute to improved population health.

Our findings underscore the need for more training opportunities in public health communication and a comprehensive and coordinated approach to competency-based professional development in Canada. Although the available professional development offerings are relatively well-aligned with the PHAC core competencies, misinformation and disinformation, using current technology and communication with diverse audiences are areas with far fewer opportunities for professional development. By addressing the current gaps and aligning professional development with updated competencies, public health practitioners will be able to enhance their knowledge, values, skills and behaviours for a more effective and precise public health practice.

Acknowledgements

Funding for this research was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research ( CIHR ) in the form of a CIHR Catalyst Grant ( FRN 184647).

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Authors’ contributions and statement

• MM : Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, funding acquisition, investigation, validation, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing.
• DM : Formal analysis, investigation, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing.
• HW : Formal analysis, investigation, methodology, writing – review & editing.
• LEG : Funding acquisition, writing – review & editing.
• AP : Funding acquisition, writing – review & editing.
• JEM : Conceptualization, formal analysis, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, supervision, validation, writing – review & editing.

All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

The content and views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.

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