ISF-DFG: Towards Empowering Communications Theory: A Multi-Method Approach

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jochen Hartmann
• Subject Area: Management and Marketing
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 561224721

Marginalized groups face persistent deep-rooted inequalities, driving the emergence of social movements to challenge these injustices. Nowadays, these movements thrive through digital communication, especially on social media, where messages can quickly garner support and amplify their reach. However, it remains unclear which messaging strategies are most effective in mobilizing marginalized audiences into collective action and what mechanisms drive this process. Empowerment is often recognized as a pressing need of marginalized individuals and empowering communication is frequently cited as essential for galvanizing them. However, a comprehensive understanding of what makes communication truly empowering remains elusive. While some studies have identified specific messaging tactics that empower marginalized groups, a cohesive framework for systematically exploring these tactics is still lacking. This research addresses three fundamental questions: (i) What constitutes empowering communication? (ii) How do different dimensions of empowerment manifest in social media messages? and (iii) How do these dimensions influence collective action? To examine these questions, we will implement an interdisciplinary, multi-method research program that integrates scale development, machine learning, and field studies. Our work aims to contribute to the existing literature by providing a comprehensive framework of empowerment dimensions within the context of social activism, along with insights into how communication messages foster empowerment and lead to collective action. We will develop innovative machine learning classifiers designed to automatically detect empowering signals in multimodal social media content, effectively bridging the gap between theoretical understanding and practical application. Finally, field studies utilizing real social media data will illuminate how various empowerment dimensions drive collective action. This project also holds substantial societal relevance by providing an evidence-based approach to effective messaging, thus enabling impactful digital activism and fostering inclusive online discourse. This framework is also relevant to companies striving to engage marginalized communities meaningfully and could guide social media platforms in crafting policies that empower underrepresented groups and promote constructive engagement. The machine learning models will advance automated content analysis, showcasing innovative applications of natural language processing in social contexts while examining the potential and limitations of AI in analyzing multimodal, empowering communication. In sum, our work will advance understanding of digital activism by providing new theoretical insights about empowerment mechanisms, developing computational tools for detecting empowering content, and generating practical guidance for crafting messages that effectively mobilize marginalized groups toward collective action.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel
• Partner Organisation: The Israel Science Foundation
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Sarit Moldovan, Ph.D.; Edith Shalev, Ph.D.