Description
Dr. Appiah is a renowned communication and race scholar who has written and lectured about the impact of strategic communication messages in media on ethnic minorities, and the role stereotypes play on intergroup interaction. His research program attempts to provide a better understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and psychological mechanisms at work when people are exposed to ethnic-specific messages in the media. He also examines advertising effects on ethnic minority audiences, and the impact of cultural identity on audiences’ responses to advertising and strategic communication messages.
He has been effective in demonstrating to mainstream journal editors, reviewers and readers the importance of race and “why race matters” in the field of communication by emphasizing the theoretical contribution and broad implications of his studies. He has tested theories such as distinctiveness theory, social comparison theory and social identity theory, but has also contributed to theory building by developing his cultural voyeurism framework.
Dr. Appiah has co-edited the book, Advertising & Persuasion in a Diverse World. He also has published in leading academic journals such as: Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Communication Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Health Communication, Media Psychology, Journal of Applied Social Psychology and The Howard Journal of Communications.
Dr. Appiah was former Chair of the Department of Advertising at Temple University, and has served as Head of the Advertising Division of the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication (AEJMC). He has won teaching awards and several research paper awards.
He enjoys watching suspense-filled television programs such as Power, Empire, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Murder in the First, The Last Ship and How to Get Away with Murder. In addition to the Buckeyes, he’s a big FSU Seminoles football fan.
Dr. Appiah holds a B.A. in communication from Santa Clara University, an M.S. in communication from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in communication from Stanford University. His professional experience includes market research at Yankelovich Partners, Inc., product marketing and customer research at Apple Computer, Inc., and sports marketing at Nike, Inc. He has also worked as a professor-in-residence and a multi-cultural media consultant for Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency in New York.