Research and Creative Work
From creative capstone projects to award-winning advertising campaigns - our creative work has a reputation for outshining the rest. In our research, we study the effects of advertising on the mind and dive deep into the underlying cognitive processing associated with using, and interacting with, the media.
Featured Work
ADPR doctoral student earns national paper award for environmental stewardship research
Julia Terhune, a doctoral student in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, has received the 2026 Natural Resources Research Interest Group (NRRIG) Student Paper Award from the Rural Sociological Society for her paper, "A Call for Indigenous First in Definition and Application for Environmental Stewardship: A Content Analysis of and an Argument for a Future of Co-Management."
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Q&A: Undergraduate researcher Madelyn Wilkins studies the impact of TikTok’s “Get Ready With Me” videos
MSU researchers receive Horticultural Research Institute grant to study AI, digital marketing in plant sales
MSU research on Asian American and Pacific Islander nonprofit public relations earns best paper award at international conference
Study examines evolution of strategic management research in public relations
Labs
The Media and Advertising Psychology Lab (MAP Lab) studies and measures the effects of advertising and the media on individuals and the world. Studies in the MAP Lab rely on physical outputs - like eye-tracking, heart rate and perspiration - to unravel the underlying cognitive and affective processing associated with using mediated communication.
Learn from the Best
Faculty
John Besley
Ellis N. Brandt Professor of Public RelationsDepartment
Advertising + Public Relations
Dr. Besley is a science communication and risk communication scholar who studies public views about science and scientists' views about communication in the context of helping science communicators be more evidence-based and strategic.
Dr. Besley is a science communication and risk communication scholar who studies public views about science and scientists' views about communication in the context of helping science communicators be more evidence-based and strategic.
Contact
Faculty
Saleem Alhabash
ProfessorDepartment
Advertising + Public Relations
Saleem Alhabash is an Associate Professor of Public Relations and Social Media at the Department of Advertising + Public Relations, studying the persuasive effects of social media.
Saleem Alhabash is an Associate Professor of Public Relations and Social Media at the Department of Advertising + Public Relations, studying the persuasive effects of social media.