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Zexin “Marsha” Ma

@zxma.bsky.social
101 followers 130 following 16 posts

Assistant Professor @ UConn | I study how storytelling influences health-related attitudes and behaviors.

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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Journal of Communication @journal-of-comm.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Pub Alert! Introducing new JoC publication: “Words that trigger: a meta-analysis of threatening language, reactance, and persuasion in health”, by Rong Ma, @zxma.bsky.social Callie Kalny, Nathan Walter. Read here: doi.org/10.1093/joc/...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
My recent publication on the role of sympathy in communicating alcohol and cancer risk and promoting drinking behavior change has been selected as an Editor’s Choice article in Health Education Research. It will be free to access for six months. Check it out here: academic.oup.com/her/article/...
academic.oup.com
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Joel Mire @joelmire.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Reading social media stories evokes a wide range of contextual reader reactions—inferential, affective, evaluative—yet we lack methods to study these at scale. Excited to share our new paper that builds a framework for analyzing storytelling practices across online communities!
Screenshot of paper title and authors. 

Title: Social Story Frames: Contextual Reasoning about Narrative Intent and Reception
Authors: Joel Mire, Maria Antoniak, Steven R. Wilson, Zexin Ma, Achyutarama R. Ganti, Andrew Piper, Maarten Sap
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Sean Westwood @seanjwestwood.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Many have asked for the LLM Survey paper. The release was bungled a bit by PNAS, but it is live now: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
The potential existential threat of large language models to online survey research | PNAS
The advancement of large language models poses a severe, potentially existential threat to online survey research, a fundamental tool for data coll...
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Johannes B. Gruber @jbgruber.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Very happy to update the {traktok} #rstats readme. After 1.5 years, you can finally search TikTok again without access to the Research API. It's slow and a bit clunky, but it works! Thanks, @michaelgoodier.bsky.social for the crucial hint!
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Public health is under attack by a deluge of misinformation. We offer a consensus report from the American Psychological Association summarizing what we know & what interventions are effective in countering it. We provide 8 concrete recommendations. Open-access - awspntest.apa.org/fulltext/202...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
🥲
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
🚨New pub with @drxnan.bsky.social on a systematic review of reviews of narrative persuasion: academic.oup.com/anncom/artic...
academic.oup.com
The persuasive effects of narratives: a systematic review of reviews
Abstract. This systematic review of reviews aimed to determine whether and the extent to which narratives were persuasive. Our analysis of 30 systematic re
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Daniel Angus @antmandan.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Hey #ica25, introducing The Mobile Observation of Advertising Toolkit, a new app for capturing ads in the wild from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, & YouTube. @icacm.bsky.social Data Collection Tools & Datasets Sunday 15th | 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM | Colorado B (Grand 2) @internetobservatory.org.au
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Comm Sci Bio @icacsab.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Leading up to #ICA25 we're sharing info on Top Paper recipients. Today, you can read about "Effects of Narrative versus Non-Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels on Visual Attention and Alcohol-Related Cancer Risk Perceptions" by Zexin Ma, Joshua Haworth, & Jun Hu: commscience.org/ica-top-pape...
commscience.org
ICA Top Paper: Ma, Haworth, & Hu
Zexin “Marsha” Ma In our lead up to #ICA25, we are providing information about papers that received Top Paper awards from the Communication Science and Biology (CSaB) Interest Group. Ea…
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
Zoe McElligott @nanopharmnc.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I just reached out to my senators about the NIH situation. If you need to find out how much impact NIH has in your state in terms of dollars in and their economic impact here's a link: www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
unitedformedicalresearch.org
NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research
Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.
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Reposted by Zexin “Marsha” Ma
NPR @npr.org · 14/01/2025
The FDA wants front-of-package nutrition labels required on packaged foods. The labels would tell consumers if the product has Low, Medium or High levels of saturated fat, sodium and added sugar.
npr.org
The FDA calls for at-a-glance nutrition labels on the front of packaged foods
The FDA wants front-of-package nutrition labels required on packaged foods. The labels would tell consumers if the product has Low, Medium or High levels of saturated fat, sodium and added sugar.
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Thank you to @instalcstud.bsky.social for inviting me to share our work! Check out my previous post to learn more about my research on communicating the cancer risks of alcohol.
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z. (2022). The role of narrative pictorial warning labels in communicating alcohol-related cancer risks. Health Communication. 37(10), 1345-1353. doi.org/10.1080/1041...
doi.org
The Role of Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels in Communicating Alcohol-Related Cancer Risks
This study examined the role of pictorial warning labels (PWLs) featuring narrative content in communicating alcohol-related cancer risks. In an online experiment, 169 adult alcohol consumers were ...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, R., & Ma, Z. (2022). Social media use and demographics predicted knowledge about alcohol as a cancer risk factor. American Journal of Health Promotion. 36(6), 1025-1028. doi.org/10.1177/0890...
doi.org
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z. & Yang, G. (2022). Show me a photo of the character: Exploring the interaction between text and visuals in narrative persuasion. Journal of Health Communication. 27(2), 125-133. doi.org/10.1080/1081...
doi.org
Show Me a Photo of the Character: Exploring the Interaction between Text and Visuals in Narrative Persuasion
The use of narrative text in health messaging has been ubiquitous. With the popularity of promoting public health on social media, it becomes critical to investigate what visual images should be us...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, R., & Ma, Z. (2022). “You know nothing about how alcohol might lead to cancer!” Effects of threatening and hedging languages on intentions to reduce and stop drinking alcohol. Journal of Health Communication. 27(7), 460-470. doi.org/10.1080/1081...
doi.org
“You Know Nothing about How Alcohol Might Lead to Cancer!” Effects of Threatening and Hedging Languages on Intentions to Reduce and Stop Drinking
Alcohol causes cancer, but many alcohol consumers are not aware of this risk. Research is needed to identify effective communication strategies to increase risk perceptions and decrease alcohol con...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z., & Ma, R. (2023). Designing cancer warning labels for alcoholic beverages: Examining the impact of visual elements. Health Education & Behavior. 50(5), 586–594. doi.org/10.1177/1090...
doi.org
Designing Cancer Warning Labels for Alcoholic Beverages: Examining the Impact of Visual Elements - Zexin Ma, Rong Ma, 2023
Alcohol is a known carcinogen. However, public awareness of cancer risk associated with alcohol use is low. A promising approach to raising awareness is to incl...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z. (2024). “I can see a story from the warning”: Understanding the role of perceived narrativity in pictorial warning. Health Communication. 39(4), 675-684. doi.org/10.1080/1041...
doi.org
“I Can See a Story from the Warning”: Understanding the Role of Perceived Narrativity in Pictorial Warning Labels
This study examined the role of perceived narrativity in pictorial warning labels (PWLs) in countering warning reactance and increasing warning effectiveness and support in the context of communica...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z., Hintz, E. A., & Cassano, B. (2024). “You are telling the story yourself”: Defining and developing narrative pictorial warning labels. Health Communication, 39(12), 2920–2930. doi.org/10.1080/1041...
doi.org
“You are Telling the Story Yourself”: Defining and Developing Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels
Pictorial warning labels (PWLs) featuring narrative content are promising strategies for communicating health risks and motivating behavior change. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z., Hintz, E.A., & Cassano, B. (2024). “Are we saying every time you drink, you’ll get cancer?” Lessons learned from a focus group study of communicating difficult-to-swallow health-risk information. Frontiers in Communication. doi.org/10.3389/fcom...
doi.org
Frontiers | “Are we saying every time you drink, you’ll get cancer?” Lessons learned from a focus group study of communicating difficult-to-swallow health-risk information
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z., Haworth, J., & Hu, J. (2024). Effects of narrative versus non-narrative pictorial warning labels on visual attention and alcohol-related cancer risk perceptions: An eye-tracking study. Addictive Behaviors. doi.org/10.1016/j.ad...
doi.org
Redirecting
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Ma, Z., Haworth, J., Rash, C., & Hu, J. (2024). Binge drinking status as a moderator in narrative versus non-narrative pictorial warning labels: Roles of cognitive elaboration and retrospective reflection. Health Communication. doi.org/10.1080/1041...
doi.org
Binge Drinking Status as a Moderator in Narrative Versus Non-Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels: Roles of Cognitive Elaboration and Retrospective Reflection
This study examined the potential role of binge drinking status in moderating the persuasive effects of narrative versus non-narrative pictorial warning labels (PWLs). In an online longitudinal exp...
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/h... I have been working on this topic for several years with colleagues at @uconn.bsky.social, @oaklandu.bsky.social and beyond. I share my relevant publications in this thread.
nytimes.com
Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol
Dr. Vivek Murthy’s report cites studies linking alcoholic beverages to at least seven malignancies, including breast cancer. But to add warning labels, Congress would have to act.
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Zexin “Marsha” Ma @zxma.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Always a pleasure to work with and learn from amazing @elizabethahintz.bsky.social
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