Welcome!

As a part of the Department of Communication of the University of Vienna, the Vienna Advertising and Media Psychology (AdMe) Research Group deals with the impact of modern media environments on people's thinking, behavior, and opinions. The research focus of our group includes areas such as marketing communication, advertising effectiveness, hybrid forms of advertising, political advertising, as well as the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects of mass media more generally. Working with quantitative and qualitative social science methods, we integrate scholarship from communication science, social psychology, political science, and marketing.


NEWS

  • July 8, 2026
    New publications available!     Two brandnew papers have been published by Mass Communication and Society as well as New Media & Society recently.

    Melanie Saumer, Kevin Koban, and Jörg Matthes collaborated on a study entitled Fantastic bystanders and where to find them: Do emotions fuel (in)direct interventions when bystanders face anti-LGBTQIA+ hostility on social media?, which can be found here.

    Further, an international group of scholars, among them Jörg Matthes, saw their paper Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic released in the most recent issue of New Media & Society (doi:10.1177/14614448261444723).
  • July 2, 2026
    Top AdMe job placement! Phelia Weiß, who just successfully defended her dissertation, will join the Digital Democracy Centre at the University of Southern Denmark as a Postdoctoral Researcher and commence working with Lena Frischlich. 

    Prior to becoming an AdMe member, Phelia studied Communication Science at our department. She holds two Bachelor degrees from the LMU Munich in Art History and Communication Studies, respectively.
    From March 2022 onwards, she worked as a student research assistant supporting the research project Citizen Science Engagement of Refugees, before transitioning to a position as a predoctoral researcher in October 2022, with her PhD project supervised by Jörg Matthes. A few days ago, she defended her thesis entitled The toxic relationship between misogyny and the far-right: Extremist communication and radicalization in online environments with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations, dear Phelia! We wish you all the best for your personal and academic future.
  • July 1, 2026
    Another successful PhD defense!     We are super happy to announce that Phelia Weiß defended her dissertation entitled The toxic relationship between misogyny and the far-right: Extremist communication and radicalization in online environments with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations, Dr. Phelia!
  • June 16, 2026
    Successful PhD defense!     We are very proud to announce that Melanie Saumer just defended her dissertation entitled Fifty shades of digital hate: Disentangling target and bystander experiences of anti-LGBTQIA+ online hostility with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations, Dr. Melli!
  • June 15, 2026
    Top Paper Award at ICA!     Maryam Khaleghipour, Kevin Koban, and Jörg Matthes received the Howard Giles Top Student Paper Award by ICA's Intergroup Communication Interest Group, honoring their contribution entitled Whose responsibility? How Muslims and majority populations perceive bystander intervention in digital hate.
  • June 10, 2026
    Dissertation Award!     We are super proud to announce that – as part of ICA's 2026 annual conference in Cape Town, South Africa – ICA's and NCA's Health Communication Divisions honored Jaroslava Kaňková with the 2026 Abby Prestin Dissertation of the Year Award. Jara received the award for her outstanding dissertation entitled With great power comes great responsibility: Misleading health messaging by social media influencers – Characteristics, effects, and countering strategies, which she completed with "summa cum laude" in October 2025.

    Congratulations, Jara!