Rain Wuyu Liu

Rain Wuyu Liu (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2017) is an Assistant Professor of Communication. Her research centers on persuasion and social influence, with a particular focus on the effects of social norm messaging on health and environmental information processing, attitude formation, and behavior change. She is also interested in the intersection of cultural values, beliefs, and social normative influence in shaping individuals' attitudes and behaviors. Her research extends to areas of research methods, statistics, and strategic communication campaign design. 

With extensive experience in grant-funded research, Dr. Liu has contributed to projects such as an interdisciplinary behavioral and social science research (IBSS) study among Tibetan herders in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). She has also worked on projects supported by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the University of Arizona Research Innovation & Impact (RII). 

Her scholarly work has been featured in academic journals such as the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Health Communication, Environmental Communication, and American Behavioral Scientist, among others. 

Dr. Liu’s contributions to the field have been widely recognized. She is the recipient of the B. Aubrey Fisher Outstanding Journal Article Award, multiple Top Paper Awards from the National Communication Association (NCA) and the International Communication Association (ICA), and the inaugural Environmental Communication Division Dissertation Award from ICA. Her accolades also include the Outstanding Paper Award and Outstanding Young Scholar Award from the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS), as well as multiple research excellence fellowship awards from Michigan State University and the Association for Chinese Communication Studies (ACCS) in NCA. 

She teaches courses in public relations, intercultural communication, persuasion, research methods, and communication/PR campaign design and analysis. 

Dr. Liu will be accepting graduate students for Fall 2025. 

Selected Publications 

Liu, R. W., Fanari, A., & Lee, D. G. (2024). Love better by fighting smarter: How intercultural couples develop dyadic cultural affinity through romantic conflict management. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 100, Article 101987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2024.101987(collaborating with UA students)  

Liu, R. W., & Lapinski, M. K. (2024). Cultural influences on the effects of social norm appeals. Theme issue Social norm change: Drivers and consequences. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379(1897), Article 20230036. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0036   

Liu, R. W., Cheng, Y., Barbati, J., Rains, S. A., Crane, T. E., & Ernst, K, C. (2023). The effectiveness of social norm appeals on promoting COVID-19 prevention behaviors: A multistudy examination. Health Communication. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2284493 (collaborating with UA students)  

Liu, R. W., Cheng, Y., & Foerster, T. A. (2024; published online Jan 10th, 2023) Modeling the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and willingness to practice COVID-19 preventative behaviors: A test of the mediation and moderation mechanisms in the theory of normative social behavior. Health Communication, 39(2), 339–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2165257 (collaborating with UA students)  

Liu, R. W., Cheng, Y., Boster, F. J., & Townson, C. (2022). The suasory force of sticky messages: An replication and extension. Western Journal of Communication. 86(3), 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2022.2057579 (2024 B. Aubrey Fisher Outstanding Journal Article Award)  

Liu, R. W., Lapinski, M. K., Kerr, J., Zhao, J., Bum, T., & Lu, Z. (2022). Culture and social norms: Development and application of a model for culturally contextualized communication measurement (MC3M). Frontiers in Communication, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.770513  

Liu, R. W., & Lapinski, M. K. (2022). The theory of normative social behavior. In E. Y. Ho., C. L. Bylund, & J. C. M. van Weert (Eds.) International encyclopedia of health communication. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119678816  

Cheng, Y., Liu, R. W., & Foerster, T. A. (2022). Predicting intentions to practice COVID-19 preventative behaviors in the United States: A test of the risk perception attitude framework and the theory of normative social behavior. Journal of Health Psychology, 27(12), 2744–2762. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053211057382 (collaborating with UA students)  

Lapinski, M. K., Liu, R. W., Kerr, J. M., Zhao, J., Bum, T., & Lu, Z. (2022). Culture and social norms: Behavioral decisions about grassland conservation among ethnically Tibetan pastoralists. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 15(3), 333–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2021.1916569  

Fanari, A., Liu, R. W., & Foerster, T. (2021). Homesick or Sick-of-Home? Examining the Effects of Self-Disclosure on Students’ Reverse Culture Shock after Studying Abroad: A Mixed-Method Study. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 50(3), 273–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2020.1866643(collaborating with UA students)  

Kahler, J., Liu, R. W., Newcomb, T., Herbst, S., & Gore, M. (2020). Public risk perceptions associated with Asian carp introduction and corresponding response actions. Management of Biological Invasions, 11(1), 80–95. https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2020.11.1.06