Won-Ki Moon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Department of Advertising
Office: 2074 Weimer
Phone: 352-392-7594
Email: wonkimoon@ufl.edu
Won-Ki Moon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Department of Advertising
Dr. Won-Ki Moon (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising at the University of Florida. His research examines how individuals, organizations, and societies make decisions in an era defined by artificial intelligence and algorithmic communication. Central to his work is the study of sociotechnical decision-making and legitimacy—how people and institutions interpret emerging technologies, evaluate their trustworthiness, and negotiate their social and ethical implications.
Dr. Moon investigates how intelligent systems shape information environments, persuasion processes, and public judgments of social responsibility. His work spans multiple levels of analysis: from individuals engaging with AI-enabled media, to organizations navigating technological change, to societal debates about the governance and public value of new technologies. A major strand of his research focuses on responsible and public-interest AI, including questions of legitimacy, accountability, platform governance, and the social conditions that support trustworthy innovation.
Another branch of his work examines how AI transforms consumer-facing communication—including digital persuasion, automated information sources, and data-driven advertising—and how these shifts reshape consumers’ risk perception, information processing, and marketplace decision-making. This line of research connects consumer psychology with broader societal conversations about fairness, transparency, and ethical technology design.
Dr. Moon’s scholarship also extends into science communication and technology policy communication, examining how people understand scientific and risk-related information across domains such as climate, public health, and digital safety. His work explores the dynamics that shape public trust in science, the spread of misinformation, and the communication strategies that support evidence-based decision-making at both individual and community levels. This portfolio positions him to collaborate with scholars and institutions focused on science communication, public engagement, and technology governance.
His research has been published in leading journals across communication, advertising, and science studies, including Technology in Society, Computers in Human Behavior, Public Understanding of Science, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Mass Communication & Society, Science Communication, and Health Communication, among others.
Areas of Expertise
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology and Media Effects, Science Communication, Social Marketing
Education
Ph.D. in Advertising, University of Texas at Austin
M.A. in Journalism, University of South Carolina
B.A. and M.A. in Mass Communication, Incheon National University in South Korea
News
- Eugy Han and Won-Ki Moon selected for UF International Center 2026 Global Fellows Program (November 12, 2025)
- Won-Ki Moon Offers Information on Classroom Best Practices at 2025 UF Quest Day (March 28, 2025)
- Personalized Ads: Friend, Foe or Creepy Stalker? (January 28, 2025)
- Study: Transparent Messages and Algorithmic Awareness Can Shape Advertising Effectiveness (December 16, 2024)
- “Don’t Believe Everything You Read Online”: How AI Fact-Checking Could Challenge Political Bias in Science Information Processing (December 12, 2024)
- All News About Won-Ki Moon
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Moon, W., & Kahlor, L. (2025). Fact-checking in the age of AI: Reducing biases with non-human information sources. Technology in Society.
Song, Y., Brown-Devlin, N., & Moon, W. (2025). “False advertising, fact-checked” examining how social identification affects fact-checking of false advertisements. International Journal of Advertising.
Moon, W., Wei, X., Holly, O., & Kim, J. (2025). Between innovation and caution: How consumers’ risk perception shapes consumers’ AI product decisions. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising.
Lim, H., Ciszek, E., & Moon, W. (2024). Advertising for brands and society: the role of perceived authenticity in corporate transgender advocacy advertising campaigns. Journal of homosexuality.
Lee, S., Song, Y., & Moon, W. (2024). Is it transparent or surveillant? The effects of behavioral targeting and transparency cues on advertising effectiveness. Journal of Interactive Advertising.
Kim, J., Moon, W., & Lee, J. (2024). The role of corporate social advocacy forms in shaping young adults’ responses. Corporate Communication: An International Journal.
Moon, W., Song, Y., & Atkinson, L. (2024). Virtual voices for real change: The efficacy of virtual humans in pro-environmental social marketing for mitigating misinformation about climate change. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans.
Lee, S., Taylor, M., Ahmed, S., & Moon, W. (2024). Going Beyond Political Ideology: A Computational Analysis of Civic Trust in Science. Public Understanding of Science.
Choi, M., O’Donnell, N., & Moon, W. (2024). Examining Attenuate Responses to COVID-19 Risk. Health Education & Behavior.
Choi, M., Song, B., & Moon, W. (2024). Legitimacy, Issue Management, and Gun Debates. Public Relations Review.
Choi, M., Song, B., & Moon, W. (2024). Understanding Public Support for Nonprofit Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Strategic Communication.
Lee, S., Moon, W., Lee, J., & Sundar, S. S. (2023). When the Machine Learns from Users, is it Helping or Snooping?. Computers in Human Behavior, 138.
Chung, M., Moon, W., & Jones-Jang, M. (2023). AI as an Apolitical Referee: Using Alternative Sources to Decrease Partisan Biases in the Processing of Fact-Checking Messages. Digital Journalism.
Moon, W., & Lee, S. (2023). Who Seeks and Shares Misinformation about Politicians? Focusing on the Roles of Party- and Politician-Level Social Identities. Journal of Information Science. DOI: 10.1177/01655515231205482
Lee, S., Oh, J., & Moon, W. (2022). Adopting Voice Assistants in Online Shopping: Examining the Role of Social Presence, Performance Risk, and Machine Heuristic. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction.
Moon, W., Chung, M., & Jones-Jang, M. S. (2022). How can we fight partisan biases in the COVID-19 pandemic? AI source labels on fact-checking messages reduce motivated reasoning. Mass Communication & Society.
Moon, W., & Kahlor, L. (2022). Nanoscientists’ perceptions of serving as ethical leaders within their organization: Implications from ethical leadership for responsible innovation. Journal of Responsible Innovation.
Lim, H., Ciszek, E., & Moon, W. (2022). Perceived Organizational Authenticity in LGBTQ Communication: The scale development and initial empirical findings. Journal of Communication Management, 26(2).
Moon, W., Kahlor, L., Yang, J., & Lim, H. (2022). Political risks and information avoidance. Journal of Risk Research.
Lee, S., & Moon, W. (2021). New public segmentation for political public relations using political fandom: Understanding relationships between individual politicians and fans. Public Relations Review, 47(4).
Wang, W., Kahlor, L., Moon, W., & Olson, H. (2021). Person, place or thing: Individual, community and risk information seeking. Science Communication, 43(3), 307-335.
Moon, W., Atkinson, L., Kahlor, L., Yun, C., & Son, H. (2021). U.S. political partisanship and COVID-19: Risk information seeking and prevention behaviors to the health communication. Health Communication, 37(13), 1671-1681.
Copple, J., Bennett, N., Dudo, A., Moon, W., Newman, T., Besley, J., Leavey, N., Lindenfeld, L., & Volpe, C. (2020). Contribution of training on scientists’ public engagement intentions: A test of indirect effects using parallel multiple mediation. Science Communication, 42(4), 508-537.
Jang, S., Hart, P., Feldman, L., & Moon, W. (2020). Diversifying or reinforcing science communication? Examining the flow of frame contagion across media platforms. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 97(1), 98-117.
Moon, W., Kahlor, L., & Olson, H. (2020). Understanding public support for carbon capture and storage policy: The roles of social capital, stakeholder perceptions, and perceived risk/benefit of technology. Energy Policy, 139.
Li, J., Kim, J., Overton, H., Bhalla, N., Choi, M., Zhang, N., & Moon, W. (2019). What shapes environmental responsibility perceptions? Measuring value orientations as a predictor of situational motivations and communicative action. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(3), 214-232.
Lee, S., & Moon, W. (2017). Social media use and political election campaign: A meta-analysis of current trend research. Journal of Social Sciences, 10(1), 143-168.
Lee, S., & Moon, W. (2017). Videostyle of televised political advertising in Korean presidential elections. Korea Observer, 48(3), 425-451.
Lee, S., & Moon, W. (2016). The effect of political advertising on voter: A meta-analytic assessment. Korean Journal of Advertising and Public Relations, 18(2), 182-212.
Lee, S., Song, M., Moon, W., & Shin, M. (2016). The effects of native advertising on readers' recognition, attitude, and sharing intention. Advertising Research, 111, 68-100.
Lee, S., Moon, W., Song, M., & Shin, M. (2015). A study on the consumer-oriented image compositions for providing information in TV home shopping. Journal of Consumer Policy Studies, 46(1), 1-28.
Kim, E., Jung, S., & Moon, W. (2015). SNS, SNS network type, and political participation: Focusing on comparison of SNS network type (Twitter and Facebook). Social Science Studies, 39(1), 175-200.
Moon, W., & Lee, S. (2015). The influence of social media on political participation: The meta-analysis of current research in Korea. Korean Journal of Journalism and Communication Studies, 59(4), 133-162.
Moon, W., & Kim, E. (2014). The effects of social media service quality of political information on political participation of young voters: Focusing on the relationship between political use of social media and political efficacy. Korean Journal of Journalism and Communication Studies, 58(3), 145-172.
Lee, S., Song, M., Moon, W., & Shin, M. (2014). The influence of PPL’s expression type and audience’s characteristics on advertising effects. Journal of Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research, 87, 75-106.
Moon, W., & Kim, H. (2014). Voter responses to SNS election campaigns of women political candidates: Focusing on the reflection of sex-role stereotypes. Korean Journal of Journalism and Communication Studies, 58(6), 302-328.
Lee, S., & Moon, W. (2013). A study on the SNS-based crisis management communication strategies of political campaign: Focusing on the 18th presidential election in Korea. Election Research, 4, 117-140.