Yan Qu
Assistant Professor, Communication
Education
M.A., Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park
Ph.D., Communication and Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Expertise
Crisis & Risk Communication
Public Relations
Dr. Yan Qu studies public relations and strategic communication broadly from a social network perspective. His research centers on developing and applying a personal network approach to examine various publics in public relations, as well as issues related to risk and crisis communication. More recently, Dr. Qu has launched a new line of research exploring how AI technologies reshape individuals’ identities and personal networks, and how these changes influence communication processes and outcomes in public relations, risk and crisis contexts.
Dr. Qu is the recipient of the 2022 ICA James E. Grunig and Larissa A. Grunig Outstanding Dissertation Award, as well as multiple top paper awards from AEJMC and IPRRC. His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, and Health Communication, among others. Prior to his current role, Dr. Qu worked as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Publications
How AI induces professional identity threats: A survey study with public relations professionals
Co-Authored work in Public Relations Review
Author/Lead: Yan QuContributor(s): Taufiq Ahmad
The transformative force of AI is largely redefining how public relations professionals approach their work, understand their responsibilities, and make sense of the meaning and value associated with being a PR practitioner. While research in other disciplines have increasingly recognized the implications of AI toward professional identities, this topic remains underexplored in the public relations field. Through a quantitative survey (N = 285), we assessed how PR practitioners experience professional identity threats across five dimensions: expertise, status position, autonomy, professional influence, and job responsibility. Our findings highlight that these perceived threats are associated with a combination of factors, including AI use patterns, attitudes and assessment of AI, and influences from leaders and peers. Overall, this study contributes to ongoing conversations about the impact of AI toward the future of public relations through a novel perspective exploring PR professional identities. It also offers practical insights for leaders and organizations on strategies to support PR practitioners in successfully navigating the AI-driven public relations landscape.
A social influence perspective toward employee-organization relationships: The role of relationship norms in employee peer networks
Study using a social influence perspective toward employee-organization relationships and relationship norms in employee peer networks published in Public Relations Review
Author/Lead: Yan QuEmployee-organization relationships (EORs) have been widely examined in the scholarship of internal public relations. While previous research has focused on organizational- and leadership-level factors that shape EORs, the influence of employees’ peer networks has not received much attention. Drawing from a social influence perspective, this study examines EORs as a product of normative influence within employees’ instrument and friendship networks—those networks composed of coworkers with whom employees share information or advice and those they consider friends. An egocentric online survey was conducted to examine the effects of EOR norms on employees’ EOR perceptions and how such normative influence is moderated by structural network characteristics (i.e., network size, relationship closeness, and network density). We found that employees’ EOR perceptions were highly consistent with the EORs of their instrument and friendship ties across all dimensions. Moreover, network size and relationship closeness were directly and positively associated with certain dimensions of EORs. Relationship closeness also played a moderator role for some dimensions of EOR. Our research findings suggest the importance of organizations creating a positive relationship environment and dynamics among employees.