Welcome to my website! My research explores how subtle language features shape people’s decision-making in various interpersonal, intercultural, health, and mediated contexts. I use methods such as experimental design, corpus analysis, content analysis, and computerized text analysis. My research has been funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and Merck Pharmaceutical.
Language and Persuasive Health Message Design
Using discourse-analytic and experimental message design approaches, my first line of research examines the persuasive effects of linguistic and normative message influence strategies on raising people’s awareness of health issues in multilingual societies and across different languacultures. My current projects focus on using multiple messaging strategies to prompte HPV vaccination and reduce alcohol consumption intentions.
- Jia, M. (2025). Applying linguistic theories to design effective public health messages: Implications for HPV vaccination promotion among Chinese-English bilinguals in Hong Kong. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 21(1), 2518845. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2518845
- Jia, M. & Zhao, Y. (2023). Fear appeals in public signs of COVID-19 prevention in Chinese local communities. Pragmatics and Society, 14(2), 281–305. https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.22009.jia
- Jia, M. (2022). Toward an integrated understanding of language and health communication: Discourse-analytic and message design approaches. Applied Linguistics, 43(6), 1217–1221. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amac063
Language and Interpersonal Influence
Drawing on insights from linguistic pragmatics and communication studies, my second line of research examines how interlocutors use linguistic (im)politeness and other metadiscourse markers to communicate social support and social influence in various interpersonal and intercultural contexts. My current projects examine how a strategic choice of these subtle linguistic features shapes recipients’ attitudes and behaviors in face-to-face and mediated contexts.
- Jia, M. (2024). Cross-modal management of trolling during live streaming on Periscope: A micro-analysis. In S. Tanskanen, L. Lehti, K. V. Lexander, M. T. Virtanen, & C. Xie (Eds.), Explorations in internet pragmatics: Intentionality, identity, and interpersonal interaction (pp. 225–245). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004694453_011
- Jia, M. & Yao, S. (2022). ‘Yo I am Superman, You Kiddo Go Home’: Ritual impoliteness in Chinese freestyle rap battles. Text & Talk, 42(5), 691–711. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2020-0097
- Jia, M. & Yang, G. (2021). Emancipating Chinese (im)politeness research: Looking back and looking forward. Lingua, 251, 103028 [Editors’ Choice Article in 2021]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2020.103028