Brandon Van Der Heide Ph.D.

Brandon Van Der Heide (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is a teacher and researcher working at the intersection of the domains of computer-mediated communication and interpersonal communication. Dr. Van Der Heide’s recent work has been exploring the ways that text-based communication media affect influence processes and credibility impressions. This research has implications for the ways that Internet users utilize product reviews from unknown reviewers on places like Yelp.com, Amazon.com, or Ebay.com. Dr. Van Der Heide has also conducted work in the ways that interpersonal impressions are formed in online social media environments like Facebook. Regardless of the online environment, Dr. Van Der Heide’s work seeks to identify the specific online cues that are essential to quickly and accurately form an impression of another person online. His work has been published in a wide variety of journals including: Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Research, Computers in Human Behavior, and Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

Dr. Van Der Heide leads a team of several graduate students to conduct research in these areas. Additionally, Dr. Van Der Heide regularly consults for other research groups at universities around the world to aid in the successful development of computer-mediated communication theory. Dr. Van Der Heide has served as the chairperson of the National Communication Association’s Human Communication and Technology division.

Selected Recent Publications

DeAndrea, D. C., Van Der Heide, B., Vang, M. H., & Vendemia, M. (in press). Information controllability: Can third-party testimonials vary in warranting value? Communication Research. 

Shin, S.-Y., Van Der Heide, B., Beyea, D., Dai, Y., & Prchal, B. (2017). Investigating moderating roles of goals, reviewer similarity, and self-disclosure on the effect of argument quality of online consumer reviews on attitude formation. Computers in Human Behavior, 78, 218-226.

Van Der Heide, B., & Lim, Y. (2016). The conditional cueing of credibility heuristics: The case of online influence. Communication Research, 43, 672-693. 

D’Angelo, J. D., & Van Der Heide, B. (2016). The formation of physician impressions in online communities: Negativity, positivity, and non-normativity effects. Communication Research, 43, 49-72.

Lim, Y., & Van Der Heide, B. (2015). Evaluating the wisdom of strangers: The perceived credibility of online consumer reviews on Yelp. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 20, 67-82.

DeAndrea, D. C., Van Der Heide, B., & Easley, N. (2015). How modifying third-party information affects interpersonal impressions and the evaluation of collaborative online media. Journal of Communication, 65, 62-78.

Van Der Heide, B., Schumaker, E. M., Peterson, A., & Jones, E. (2013). The Proteus effect in dyadic communication: Examining the effect of avatar appearance in computer-mediated dyadic interaction. Communication Research, 40, 838-860.