UMass Boston

Crisis and Risk Communication, Public Relations, Branding, Risk Campaigns, Consumer Behaviors

PhD (Communication), University of Maryland, College Park

MA (Communication Studies), New Mexico State University

BA (English, International Trade), Dalian University of Foreign Languages

• Ma, L. (2026). Mitigating the negative effects of online skepticism from SNS users through CSR message types. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 31, 37–53, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-10-2024-0186
• Ma, L. (2025). Exploring the roles of consumers' perceived self-interest and accusation credibility on the effectiveness of response strategies in corporate ethical misconduct. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 33, e70074. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.70074
• Kwon, E., Choi, T-R., & Ma, L. (2024). Me, like Chanel: Examining antecedents and consequences of consumers’ luxury brand engagement on Instagram. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 45, 1-21, DOI: 10.1080/10641734.2023.2236176
• Ma, L. (2023). Investigating stakeholders’ reactions to crises in the nonprofit sector through the lens of social identity theory, Journal of Public Relations Research, 35, 113-133, DOI: 10.1080/1062726X.2023.2166940
• Ma, X., Ma, L., & Liu, B. F. (2023). Should relationships be at the heart of public relations? A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of organization-public relationships. Public Relations Review, 49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2023.102388
• Zhan, M., Zhao, X. & Ma, L. (2023). Interplay of message features and source: Predicting Twitter users’ engagement behaviors following a terrorist attack, Communication Research Reports, 40, 51-64, DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2023.2171380
• Ma, L., & Bentley, J. M. (2022). Can strategic message framing mitigate the negative effects of skeptical comments against corporate-social-responsibility communication on social networking sites? Public Relations Review, 48, 102222, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102222
• Ma, L. (2020). How the interplay of consumer-brand identification and crises influences the effectiveness of corporate response strategies. International Journal of Business Communication. 232948841989822. doi:10.1177/2329488419898222
• Ma, L. (2020). When love becomes hate: How different consumer-brand relationships interact with crises to influence consumers' reactions. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 25(3), 357-375. doi:10.1108/CCIJ-08-2019-0103
• Bentley, J. M., & Ma, L. (2020). Testing perceptions of organizational apologies after a data breach crisis. Public Relations Review, 46(5), 101975. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101975
• Zhao, X., Zhan, M., & Ma, L. (2020). How publics react to situational and renewing organizational responses across crises: Examining SCCT and DOR in social-mediated crises. Public Relations Review, 46(4),101944, doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101944
• Ma, L. (2019). I am one of them: Examining crisis communication from an intergroup communication approach. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 27(1), 50-60. doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12232
• Ma, L. (2018). How to turn your friends into enemies: Causes and outcomes of customers’ sense of betrayal in crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 44,374-384, doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.04.009.
• Ma, L. & Zhan, M-Q (2016). Effects of attributed responsibility and response strategies on organizational reputation: A meta-analysis of situational crisis communication theory research. Journal of Public Relations Research, 28, 102-119. doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2016.1166367.
• Fraustino, J. D. & Ma, L. (2015). CDC's use of social media and humor in a risk campaign—Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 43, 222-241. doi: 10.1080/00909882.2015.1019544. 

Liang (Lindsay) Ma (PhD, University of Maryland, College Park) is an assistant professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Prior to joining UMB, she was an associate professor of strategic communication at Texas Christian University. Using quantitative methods, her research centers on crisis and risk communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, and consumer behaviors. She studies how stakeholders’ social identities and stakeholder-organization identification function to shape stakeholders’ cognitive and emotional reactions to the crises and their behaviors. She also examines how organizations can effectively address stakeholders’ concerns during times of crises and what factors affect stakeholders’ acceptance of organizational crisis response strategies. Her work has been published in journals including the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, International Journal of Business Communication, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, Corporate Communications, and the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management.