Dr Timothy Fung, Associate Professor of the Department of Communication Studies, won the prestigious 2020 Article of the Year award in the Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Virtual Conference. His journal article is entitled “The role of counterfactual thinking in narrative persuasion: Its impact on patients’ adherence to treatment regimen”. 

Published in Health Communication, one of the top-tier journals in the area, Dr Fung’s research (click here for an illustrative video) showed that patients exposed to narratives with additive counterfactuals experienced greater anticipated regret and mental simulation, which in turn influenced their attitudes and intention towards treatment adherence. 

In addition, Fan Yining and Vincent Wong, PhD students from the School of Communication, received the Top Student Papers - First Place award in the Newspaper & Online News Division at the same conference for their co-authored paper entitled “Intermedia Attribute Agenda-Setting among Hong Kong, U.S. and Mainland Chinese Media: The Case of Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill Protests”.