【Article by GCIT】
The Master’s Program in Global Communication and Innovation Technology (GCIT) at National Chengchi University (NCCU) held its Fall 2025 Capstone Project Presentation on November 28, featuring research proposals from Outstanding Award recipient Ming Yang and Excellent Award recipients Rou Wen, Yu-Ching Huang, and Chen Yu Wu.
Professors Sven Joeckel and Leyla Dogruel from the University of Erfurt served as examiners, offering in-depth academic feedback and guidance. The session was hosted by Distinguished Professor Trisha Lin, Director of GCIT, highlighting the program’s commitment to cultivating independent research capabilities and facilitating international scholarly exchange.
Prof. Sven Joeckel chairs the MA in Children, Adolescents and the Media program at the University of Erfurt. He specializes in adolescents’ digital media use, media literacy, digital privacy, and gender.
Prof. Leyla Dogruel researches how digitization and automation shape communication at both individual and societal levels.
Both scholars delivered a GCIT lecture in October on Algorithm and AI Literacy, and returned as examiners to provide theoretically grounded, globally informed critiques on students’ work.
 

Outstanding Award: Workplace Communication, AI Writing, and Racial Bias
Outstanding recipient Ming Yang presented “How native English speakers perceive non-native English speakers’ writing with generative AI assistance,” a timely inquiry into workplace communication in the age of generative AI and the rise of “AI slop”—low-quality, AI-generated content.
Yang noted disparities in AI adoption: while 71% of knowledge workers use AI, only 16% of the overall labor force has done so, and Asia generally shows higher acceptance compared to Western countries.
Using an experimental design, the study manipulated email content with: AI disclosure conditions (disclosed / not disclosed / human-written), Ethnic similarity cues (East Asian / European / American surnames). Participants evaluated email senders on warmth, competence, and social acceptance, with AI attitudes and cultural intelligence as moderators.
Prof. Dogruel praised the study highly: “I am reviewing ICA papers right now, and the quality of your proposal is extremely high. Your theoretical grounding is strong, and applying Joe Walther’s hyperpersonal model to an AI context is truly innovative. When AI use is undisclosed, people often cannot tell the difference. It depends heavily on prompt quality. Your disclosure manipulation is therefore very meaningful.”

Excellent Award: AI Disclosure Strategies Across Cultures
Excellent Award recipient Christine Wen presented “When AI hurts the brand: Mapping strategic boundaries for AI content disclosure across cultures and high-involvement products,” exploring how AI-generated Instagram ads influence consumer trust. “Research at Washington State University shows that simply mentioning ‘AI’ can reduce brand trust and perceived authenticity—especially for high-involvement products like smartwatches,” she explained.
Her experiment compares responses in Taiwan and the U.S. across: AI-generated content, AI-disclosed content, Human-created content with AI familiarity and risk perception as moderators. Prof. Dogruel advised focusing on AI disclosure: “If participants cannot distinguish non-disclosed AI content, the comparison becomes simply ‘good ads versus bad ads.’ Disclosure is where the real effect lies.”
She also encouraged comparing different brand types: “For environmental or ethical brands, consumers expect a human touch. AI might trigger even stronger negative reactions.”
 

Excellent Award: Storytelling Strategies in Crowdfunding
Christine Huang presented “The impact of social media on crowdfunding success: An exploration of marketing strategies,” examining how storytelling influences donor behavior on Taiwanese donation-based platforms.
“Taiwan’s crowdfunding platform zeczec has a 77% success rate—much higher than Kickstarter’s 42.47%—showing the strong potential of the local crowdfunding market,” she noted.
Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), her 2×2 experiment tests: Rational vs. emotional appeals, and Storytelling vs. non-storytelling formats. Participants allocate simulated donations to measure behavioral differences.
Prof. Joeckel emphasized the importance of story quality: “Storytelling effects depend entirely on execution. Each version must be crafted with equal effort to ensure results reflect theory—not writing skill.” He also recommended simplifying the design: “Researchers often add too many variables, doubling sample needs and complicating interpretation. A clean design strengthens your central hypotheses.”
 

Excellent Award: Cultural Controversies in Global Film Reception
Currently on exchange in Thailand, Alex Wu presented his study by a pre-recorded presentation, “Emilia Pérez, the Controversy or the Hero: A Critical Analysis of Global Audience Reception on IMDb.” The film—an award-winning French-Mexican musical tackling transgender issues—earned 13 Oscar nominations but faced criticism for cultural appropriation and reinforcing stereotypes.
Using Structural Topic Modeling (STM) and LIWC linguistic analysis, Wu examined how viewers from different cultural backgrounds interpret the film on platforms such as IMDb.
Prof. Joeckel expressed strong interest: “This reminds me of my master’s research in film and television studies. Films like The Crying Game still shape non-binary individuals’ lived experiences decades later. Your combination of cultural studies and text analytics is a rich direction for further research.”

Scholars’ Advice: Strong Theory, Simple Designs
Both examiners stressed the importance of grounding research in established theory. Prof. Joeckel noted: “Many of you draw on hyperpersonal models, ELM, and encoding/decoding theory. Early-stage research should build on classical frameworks before developing more innovative extensions.”
He also emphasized simplicity: “Communication studies often use overly complex stimuli, unlike psychology’s minimal manipulations. Simpler designs more clearly reveal theoretical effects. Ensure equal quality across conditions for credible results.”
Director Trisha Lin concluded that all projects underwent strict blind review. We will continue expanding scholarship opportunities and encourage students to submit their work. GCIT welcomes diverse methods and interdisciplinary guidance—research topics need not be limited to coursework.
Advancing GCIT’s Mission in AI Communication, Cross-cultural Studies, and Digital Marketing
This presentation session demonstrated GCIT students’ growing expertise in cutting-edge areas such as AI-enabled communication, cross-cultural media research, and digital marketing.
Through academic exchange with international scholars, students gained invaluable insights that support GCIT’s mission to cultivate communication professionals with independent research capabilities and global competitiveness.

[全球傳播與創新科技碩士學位學程獲文化部與教育部高等教育深耕計畫補助。]