Youjeong Kim received her Ph.D. in communications in 2010 from Pennsylvania State University. Kim worked as a television producer for the Korea Broadcasting System (one of three major broadcasting systems in Korea) for two years, where she directed and produced several TV documentaries and received the “The Best Program of This Month” award in 2002.
Kim’s research investigates the social and psychological effects of new media technology unique to online communication in the context of health-related communication, ranging from websites to virtual environments. In particular, she is interested in the role of avatars (i.e., graphical, human-like characters) with regard to user information processing and health-related behavior. Her work has resulted in over 12 conference papers and presentations in various areas, as well as several journal publications (Computers in Human Behavior or International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking) and New York Tech internal grants. She is also actively involved in professional service by acting as a reviewer of competitive journals in the field of communications such as Media Psychology, Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, Communication Research, and Human Communication Research.
Recent Projects/Research
- The Impact of Mobile Virtual Pets to Promote Children’s Healthy Behavior
- The Impact of Interactive Plants on Social Skills Enhancement Among Autistic Children (in preparation for NIH grant)
- Video games for tourism, collaborating with professors of Business School in California and Hong Kong
Publications and Presentations
- Kim, Y. (2015). My desired self, avatar: The impact of avatar creation on persuasion. International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, 7(1), 1-13.
- Lu, Y., Kim, Y., Dou, X., & Kumar, S. (2014). Promote physical activity among college students: Using media richness and interactivity in web design. Computers in Human Behavior (Journal indexed in SSCI, with an impact factor 2.273), 41, 40-50.
- Kim, Y. (2014). Social media and my avatar: Can the avatar influence SNS users’ attitudes toward health message? Health Communication Research (Paper in English, Journal indexed in Korean Citation Index), 9, 113-141.
- Kim, Y., & Sundar, S. S. (2012). Visualizing ideal self vs. actual self through avatars: Impact on preventive health outcomes. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 1356-1364.
- Kim, Y., & Sundar, S. S. (2011). Anthropomorphism of computers: Is it mindful or mindless? Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 241-250.
Honors and Awards
- Outstanding Research Presentation Award, the 3rd Biennial D.C. Health Communication Conference (DCHC)
- Best Graduate Student Presentation Award, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Annual graduate exhibition, Pennsylvania State University
Courses Taught at New York Tech
- ADVG 101: Introduction to Advertising
- TEVE 101: Fundamentals of TV production
- COMM350: Mass Communication Problems:
- Digital Media Games
- US advertising
- TV commercial production
- International Film
- PREL 610: Advertising Principles and Practices