Anastasia G Kononova

Biography

Anastasia Kononova is an associate professor of advertising at MSU. Media multitasking is an overarching focus of Kononova's interdisciplinary and international research that lies in the intersection of three areas: media and technology use across different cultures and social groups; psychological responses to media devices and persuasive messages; and advertising and digital literacy. Kononova's primary research interest is related to exploring media multitasking behavior, i.e. using/being exposed ... to multiple media at the same time. Studying media multitasking patterns reflects idiosyncrasies and commonalities of media use across markets. Such knowledge helps enhance international communication, especially with regard to using multiple platforms to convey messages effectively. Kononova has studied media multitasking not only in a cross-cultural setting but also across the lifespan, focusing on media use behaviors of older adults.

A large body of Kononova's media multitasking research is devoted to exploring the effects of this behavior on cognition, emotion, rationalization, and resistance to persuasion. Kononova has found that switching between online tasks and using multiple screen devices at the same time negatively affect memory for mediated content, elicit less skeptical responses to persuasive messages (e.g., health and advertising messages), and hinder rational choices (e.g., choice of healthful snacks). In a related area of research, Kononova has explored how individuals cognitively and affectively respond to advertising messages placed in congruent and incongruent online contexts.

In a recent project, Kononova focused on the use of health mobile applications (apps) and privacy concerns associated with sharing personal information via smartphones, exploring credibility judgments that individuals made of sponsored health mobile apps.

Kononova's word appeared in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals, such as Computers in Human Behavior, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, International Journal of Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Medical Internet Research: mHealth and uHealth, and others.

Before joining the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University, Anastasia worked as an assistant professor of communication and media at the American University of Kuwait.