Dr. Dongyoung Sohn

Assistant Professor

Contact Information
School of Communication
The Ohio State University
3026 Derby Hall
154 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1339
Tel: 614-247-1691
Fax: 614-292-2055
sohn.42@osu.edu

Qualifications
B.A. Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea
M.A. The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin

Profile
My primary research interest concerns "collective social dynamics" -- the process through which individuals' local social behaviors (e.g., information sharing, cooperation, conformity) translate into macro-level outcomes (e.g., information diffusion, collective behavior, public opinion formation). In any group, community, or society as a whole, each individual's attitude and behavior is dependent partly on what others do or don't. This system of social interdependence makes the process and outcome of collective social dynamics highly complex and unpredictable. Using experimentation, social network analysis, and agent-based modeling (ABM), I have been examining various psychological and social factors facilitating or hindering the collective communication among individuals, especially in a computer-mediated environment like virtual communities. Secondly, I have long been interested in the effects of interactivity on media users, and how the effects vary depending on personal and situational factors including expectation, expertise, and motivation, among many others.  

For teaching, the courses I taught or will teach include advertising research methods, strategic media planning, digital media seminar, contemporary persuasion theory, and social network analysis. In my class, students are strongly encouraged to learn how to breed their own questions and to reach logical conclusions among many alternatives. I firmly believe that only through this process is it possible for students to make the scientific knowledge in books and articles truly their own.

In my spare times, I enjoy watching well-made documentaries about history, science, unsolved mystery and more. 

Recent Publications
Sohn, Dongyoung (2009). “Disentangling the Effects of Social Network Density on Electronic Word-of-Mouth Intention,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(2): 352-267.

Yoon, Doyle, Sejung Choi, and Dongyoung Sohn (2008). “Building Customer Relationships in an Electronic Age: The Role of Interactivity of E-Commerce Websites,” Psychology & Marketing, 25(7): 602-618.

Sohn, Dongyoung, Cunhyeong Ci, and Byung-Kwan Lee (2007). “The Moderating Effects of Expectation on the Patterns of the Interactivity-Attitude Relationship.” Journal of Advertising, 36(3): 109-120.

Sohn, Dongyoung and John D. Leckenby (2007). “A Structural Solution to Communication Dilemmas in a Virtual Community.” Journal of Communication, 57(3): 435-449.