2026 Awards

Dr. Nick Carcioppolo, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, along with candidates and graduates of the Communication, Ph.D. program including Geyi Wang, Kaixu Yuan, Zixiao Yang and Dongya Wang published “When Humor Appeals Fail and When They Succeed: Using Latent Profile Analysis to Identify Audience Receptivity to Humorous Messages.” They received the Top Paper Award by the National Communication Association.

The research examines why humor works for some audiences but not others, identifying distinct audience profiles that help explain when humorous messaging persuades, and when it can backfire.