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

  • September 14, 2026
    Post-summer publications update! A total of six new papers were released over the course of the last few weeks. You can find all references in alphabetical order below.

    Hirsch, M., Bührer, S., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2027). Approval mechanisms fueling digital hate: Online incivility and intolerance perpetration in four countries. Computers in Human Behavior, 186, 109143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2026.109143

    Khaleghipour, M., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2026). The strategic provocation of digital hate: Empowered targets' perceptions of perpetrators and bystanders. Information, Communication & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2674873

    Meerson, R., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2027). Pretty privilege? Effects of perpetrators' attractiveness and hate type on user responses against misogynist digital hate. Computers in Human Behavior, 186, 109112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2026.109112

    Nguyen, G., Bührer, S., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2026). Where digital hate finds its home: Perpetrators' preferred affordances and their experiences with content moderation and user intervention. Information, Communication, & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2663190

    Thomas, M. F., Binder, A., & Matthes, J. (2026). Decision-making on dating apps: Is swiping more less and swiping right wrong? Media Psychology, 29(5), 867-898. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2025.2555430

    Thomas, M. F., Binder, A., & Matthes, J. (2026). Safer sexting: Who cares and how? Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 20(4), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2026-4-7
  • September 7, 2026
    New AdMe position!     We are currently advertising a temporary Senior Scientist position (October 2026 – January 2027) within our team. If you would like to take a closer look at the requirements, please check here for more details.
  • July 30, 2026
    Another paper published!     A viral war: Threat perceptions in light of social media news consumption on the Russo-Ukrainian war (doi:10.1177/10776990261470427) by Tamás Tóth, Phelia Weiß, Kevin Koban, Ines Spielvogel, and Jörg Matthes now appeared in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.
  • July 22, 2026
    Papers galore! The Journal of Consumer Marketing recently released the article An eye-tracking study: Perceptions of greenwashing and the impact of greenwashing literacy (doi:10.1108/JCM-04-2025-7842), a collaboration between Ariadne Neureiter, Sophie-Catherine Schröter, Jörg Matthes, and Manina Biermayer.
  • July 13, 2026
    Paper alert!     The Annals of the International Communication Association published the article Emotions, social media, and politics: A scoping review (doi:10.1093/anncom/wlag035), a collaboration between our former team members Ruta Kaskeleviciute, Andreas Nanz, Irina Dietrich, and Jörg Matthes.
  • July 10, 2026
    Top AdMe job placement!     Long-term AdMe member Melanie Saumer will join the Health Psychology Group within the University of Vienna's Department of Clinical and Health Psychology as a Postdoctoral Researcher. There, she will work closely with Laura M. König and her team.

    Melli completed her bachelor degrees in Journalism and Communication Studies (2019) as well as Political Science (2020) at the University of Vienna. Afterwards, she enrolled into our English-speaking Master program in Communication Science, graduating in June 2021. She joined AdMe as a teaching assistant in October 2017, supporting Jörg Matthes's teaching activities up until August 2021. Since September 2021, Melli was a predoctoral researcher under Jörg Matthes's supervision and an integral part of our group, who even managed to obtain her own grant by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) for her dissertation project in June 2024.

    On June 15, Melanie 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 on your next career step, dear Melli! We wish you all the best for your personal and academic future.