About

Lucinda Austin is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. She joined the faculty in July 2016 and teaches courses in public relations and strategic communication. Her research focuses on social media’s influence on strategic communication initiatives, particularly in health and crisis communication, and explores publics’ perspectives in corporate social responsibility and organization-public relationship building. Dr. Austin has published work in various academic journals including Communication Research, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Journal, and Social Marketing Quarterly. She has received several awards recognizing her contributions, including AEJMC's Promising Professors Award, AEJMC Public Relations Division’s SuPRstar Award, the Arthur W.. Page Center's Legacy Educator and Legacy Scholar Awards, and NCA's PRIDE Award. Dr. Austin earned her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she was honored with the Charles Richardson Most Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award in 2011 and the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009. Prior to her current role, she was an assistant professor of Strategic Communications at Elon University, where she taught courses in communications research, strategic campaigns, strategic writing, and health communications, and served as Associate Director of Elon’s Honors Program. Her professional experience includes work for the Center of Risk Communication Research at the University of Maryland and for ICF International, a firm providing communication support to Federal government and nonprofit organizations, including the CDC, HHS, FEMA, and the American Red Cross.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Medicine
• Public relations
• Computer Science
• Criminology
• Media studies
• Literature
• Environmental health
• Virology
• World Wide Web
• Internet privacy
• Communication
• Law

Selected publications

• When It Doesn't Go to Plan

  2026-01-15

  book-chapterSenior author

  This chapter examines the emerging intersection between Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) and crisis communication, focusing on how CSA can function as both a potential crisis trigger and an effective crisis management strategy. Drawing on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) as a theoretical framework, the chapter explores how SCCT’s evolution—particularly the emergence of the paracrisis concept—provides valuable insights for understanding CSA-related risks and opportunities. The chapter contextualizes the growing importance of CSA in contemporary business environments, explaining how heightened stakeholder expectations for corporate engagement in sociopolitical issues have transformed the crisis landscape. The chapter also explores how proactive and reactive CSA approaches can serve as crisis management strategies—building stakeholder relationships that provide reputational buffers during crises or helping rebuild relationships following crises. By examining both the risks and strategic potential of CSA in crisis contexts, this chapter contributes to our understanding of how organizations can navigate the increasingly complex terrain of corporations’ social and political engagement. The chapter concludes with future directions for crisis communication research in the CSA context.

  PublisherDOI

• Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) and Public Interest Communication and Activism: Best Practices and Challenges in Advocating for Social Change in Divided Times

  Palgrave practical guides in communication. · 2026-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Welcome or Not: Comparing #Refugee Posts on Instagram and Pinterest

  UNC Libraries · 2025-08-23

  articleOpen access

  The Syrian refugee crisis, started in 2011, has resulted in millions of Syrians fleeing their homes: 6.6 million have been internally displaced and more than 4.6 million have fled the country. This flow of refugees has led to both humanitarian efforts to assist refugees and growing views of refugees as a threat to receiving countries’ security and autonomy. Sentiments about the still-growing crisis are increasingly expressed on social media platforms, including visual ones like Instagram and Pinterest. However, little is known about what and how information about refugees is presented on these platforms. The current study addresses this gap by conducting a quantitative content analysis of a random sample of 750 Instagram posts and 750 Pinterest posts to evaluate and compare visual and textual messaging surrounding this crisis. Results show that Pinterest messages more frequently depict security-concern sentiment and include more unique visual components than Instagram. Across platforms, security-concern posts were more likely to be framed thematically; whereas most humanitarian-concern posts were framed episodically. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for communication scholars and practitioners that may inform the development of visual-based social-mediated messaging.

  PublisherDOI

• You asked, we listened: Examining accountability through actions and listening in corporate social advocacy

  Public Relations Review · 2025-01-02 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The purpose of this study was to examine corporate social advocacy (CSA) through the lens of stakeholder theory to explore how different CSA strategies may impact perceptions of accountability and stakeholder outcomes. A 2 (demonstrable action: present v. absent) x 2 (organizational listening: present v. absent) experiment was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 636 U.S. adults. Results revealed that both demonstrable action and organizational listening had positive effects on CSA accountability (i.e., perceived intent and perceived transparency), and these measures of accountability led to positive attitudes and supportive intentions toward the company. The findings provide guidelines for how CSA can effectively demonstrate accountability to stakeholders – to move beyond talking-the-talk to actually being seen as walking-the-walk in regard to engagement on social-political issues. • Demonstrable action and listening positively affect perceived CSA accountability. • Demonstrable action and listening positively affect consumer outcomes. • CSA accountability perceptions (i.e., intent , transparency) serve as mediators.

  PublisherDOI

• Communicating about sexual violence on TikTok: A content analysis

  New Media & Society · 2025-06-19

  article

  TikTok presents an opportunity for strategic and health communicators. There are more than 300 million views associated with the hashtags #sexualassaultawareness and #sexualassaultsurvivors on TikTok. Using quantitative content analysis, we analyzed 150 TikTok videos about “sexual assault” for trends in self-disclosures (RQ1), message framing (RQ2), types of sexual violence (RQ3), emotions (RQ4), creator characteristics (RQ5–7), and engagement (RQ8). We found that millions of people are seeing and engaging with this content. Coded videos were often (68%) framed from the perspective of educating or creating awareness. Video creators often engaged in displays of authenticity like showing their face on camera (84%). Coded videos often (60%) framed information in a way that “calls out” perpetrators or social norms surrounding sexual violence. This study sets the stage for future explorations of strategic communication on TikTok, including but not limited to projects related to sexual violence resistance and prevention.

  PublisherDOI

• Religion in crisis communication: Examining the impact of stakeholder religiosity and religious language in organizational crises

  Public Relations Review · 2025-04-10 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Tweeting the #flushot: Beliefs, Barriers, and Threats During Different Periods of the 2018 to 2019 Flu Season

  UNC Libraries · 2025-07-16

  articleOpen access

  Influenza epidemics happen every year, with more than 8 million severe cases in 2017. The most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza is vaccination. In recent years, misinformation regarding vaccines abounds on social media, but the flu vaccine is relatively understudied in this area, and the current study is the first 1 to explore the content and nature of influenza information that is shared on Twitter, comparing tweets published in the early flu season with those posted in peak flu season. Using a quantitative content analysis, 1000 tweets from both parts of the flu season were analyzed for use of Health Belief Model (HBM) variables, engagement, and flu vaccine specific variables. Findings show several promising opportunities for health organizations and professionals: HBM constructs were present more frequently than in previous, related studies, and fewer vaccine-hesitant tweets appear to be present. However, the presence of high barriers to flu vaccine uptake increased significantly from early to peak season, including an increase in the mention of conspiracy theories. Flu vaccine related tweets appear to vary in misinformation level and density throughout the flu season. While this should be confirmed by further studies over multiple flu seasons, this a finding that should be considered by public health organizations when developing flu vaccine campaigns on social media.

  PublisherDOI

• Intercultural disaster communication and community resilience: examining post-hurricane communication in communities with limited English-speaking proficiency

  Journal of Applied Communication Research · 2025-06-17 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• #GunViolence on Instagram and Twitter: Examining Social Media Advocacy in the Wake of the Parkland School Shooting

  UNC Libraries · 2025-07-17

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The February 2018 Parkland school shooting quickly initiated passionate social media response on Twitter and Instagram. Research on the effect of large-scale mass shootings, particularly on social media dialogue, is lacking, at a time when emerging research suggests potential for both driving mass contagion and enhancing risk perceptions for public interest communications. This study examines response to the shooting through a content analysis of Instagram and Twitter. Findings revealed that gun violence advocacy and risk perception variables were present more frequently on Instagram, while Social Ecological Model policy-level factors were observed more frequently on Twitter. Advocacy drove engagement on both platforms; however, anger was associated with higher Instagram engagement. Details of gun violence, associated with potential for mass contagion, drove engagement on both platforms.

  PublisherDOI

• Stay Socially Distant and Wash Your Hands: Using the Health Belief Model to Determine Intent for COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors at the Beginning of the Pandemic

  UNC Libraries · 2025-06-07

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly spread around the world, and since currently no treatments that are safe and effective for large groups of people nor a vaccine are available, the best way to prevent the illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus causing it. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive effects of both demographic and psychosocial factors originating with the Health Belief Model on reported intent to adhere to COVID-19 preventive behaviors (e.g., social distancing, hand washing, and not attending large gatherings). METHOD: A Qualtrics survey of 500 U.S. adults was conducted to explore the relationships of demographics and psychosocial factors with the intent to adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures. RESULTS: Gender was a predictor of taking preventive action, with women more likely to take action. Health Belief Model constructs predicted uptake of most COVID-19 preventive actions, but the constructs often appeared to work independent of the model. Race/ethnicity was an infrequent predictor, but when it did, minorities were less likely to report intent to adhere to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS: While not a perfect model for this pandemic, the Health Belief Model and its constructs should continue to be considered for use by public health communicators focusing on preventive measure campaign design in both the COVID-19 pandemic era and beyond.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Yan Jin

  28 shared

• Brooke Fisher Liu

  University of Maryland, College Park

  19 shared

• Seoyeon Kim

  13 shared

• Barbara Miller Gaither

  9 shared

• Jeanine P. D. Guidry

  Tilburg University

  8 shared

• Yen-I Lee

  Washington State University

  8 shared

• Marcus Messner

  Virginia Commonwealth University

  6 shared

• Karen Freberg

  University of Louisville

  5 shared

Education

• PhD, Communication

  University of Maryland

Awards & honors

• AEJMC's Promising Professors Award
• AEJMC Public Relations Division’s SuPRstar Award
• Arthur W. Page Center's Legacy Educator Award
• Arthur W. Page Center's Legacy Scholar Award
• NCA's PRIDE Award