Jaeho Cho

Education

• Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2005

About

Jaeho Cho has expertise in political communication and campaigns.

Research Focus

Dr. Cho's research concerns how and under what conditions information and communication contribute to an informed citizenry and a vibrant democracy. Under this overarching research interest, he has developed two research programs. The first line of research seeks to understand how mediated political information or events influence the way people understand politics and make decisions. This research program has largely built on the information processing perspective and psychological concepts of memory accessibility, decision heuristics, and associative priming. His second research area focuses on citizens’ everyday communication practices as an underlying process of campaign media effects. In this research, he seeks to understand (a) the dynamics of communication processes involving campaign exposure, news use and political discussion, and (b) the role of citizen communication in mediating campaign effects.

Publications

• Lee, S., & Cho, J. (in press). Living in a Diverse Community: Effects of Geographical Variations in Diversity on Partisan Communication. Communication Research. 
• Huang-Isherwood, K. M., Cho, J., Hong, J-W., & Lee, E. (2024). Human or Not?: An Experiment With Chatbot Manipulations to Test Machine Heuristics and Political Self-Concepts. Social Science Computer Review (https://doi.org/10.1177/089443932412520)
• Lee, S., & Cho, J. (2022). When CNN Praises Trump: Effects of Content and Source on Hostile Media Perception. Sage Open, 12, 1-13. (doi.org/10.1177/21582440221079890)
• Song, H., & Cho, J. (2021). Assessing (In)accuracy and Biases in Self-reported Measures of Exposure to Disagreement: Evidence from Linkage Analysis Using Digital Trace Data. Communication Methods & Measures, 15,190-210. (doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2021.1935824)
• Cho, J., Ahmed, S., Hilbert, M., Liu, B., & Luu, J. (2020). Do Search Algorithms Endanger Democracy? An Experimental Investigation of Algorithm Effects on Political Polarization. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 64, 150-172. (doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2020.1757365)
• Song, H., Cho, J., & Benefield, G. A. (2020). The Dynamics of Message Selection in Online Political Discussion Forums: Self-segregation or Diverse Exposure? Communication Research, 47, 125-152. (doi.org/10.1177/0093650218790144)
• Cho, J., Ahmed, S., Keum, H., Choi, Y. J., & Lee, J. H. (2018). Influencing Myself: Self-reinforcement through Online Political Expression. Communication Research, 45, 83-111. (doi.org/10.1177/0093650216644020)

Teaching

Jaeho Cho teaches courses in political communication, media effects and survey research methods.

Awards

• Robert M Worcester Award, World Association of Public Opinion Research, 2024
• Article of the Year Award, Communication Methods & Measures, 2022