Elisabeth Bigsby

Contact Information

3001 Lincoln Hall, 702 South Wright Street Urbana, IL 61801
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Associate Professor

Biography

Dr. Elisabeth Bigsby is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Center for Social & Behavioral Science Affiliate. Dr. Bigsby studies persuasive health and environmental messages, such as anti-smoking campaigns, with a particular interest in how message features influence how people perceive and process those messages. Dr. Bigsby's overall goal is to understand why messages succeed or fail, and thus contribute to best practices in designing persuasive messages.

Research Interests

  • Persuasion & Social Influence
  • Message Effects
  • Health Communication
  • Information Acquisition

Education

Ph.D., Communication, University of Georgia
M.A., Health Communication, Michigan State University
B.A., Communication, Michigan State University

Awards and Honors

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign LAS Impact Award, Spring 2021

Illinois Foundations Fellow, Fall 2020

Courses Taught

CMN 345: Visual Media Effects
CMN 421: Persuasion Theory & Research
CMN 529: Message Design & Effects

CMN 529: Meta-Analysis in Communication
CMN 595: eHealth (HCOM)

Additional Campus Affiliations

Associate Professor, Communication

Recent Publications

Guntzviller, L. M., & Bigsby, E. (2026). The Role of Perceived Facework and Freedom Threat in Health Recommendation Responses: Integrating Reactance and Advice Evaluation Pathways. Health communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2026.2672673

Ryu, J. Y., Hovick, S. R., & Bigsby, E. (2026). Understanding Drivers and Effects of Real-Time Information Seeking on Meningitis Knowledge and Attitudes. Health communication, 41(7), 1219-1230. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2025.2558075

Bigsby, E., & Chung, M. (2025). Exemplification theory. In A Multi-Perspective Approach to Narratives in Health Communication (pp. 185-213). Bloomsbury Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781978748859.ch-009

Yan, J., & Bigsby, E. (2025). Explicating college students’ COVID-19 prevention behaviors: Integrating information seeking and response efficacy into the reasoned action approach. Journal of American College Health, 73(4), 1825-1836. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2025.2451978

Hovick, S. R., Rhodes, N., Bigsby, E., Thomas, S., & Freiberger, N. (2023). Exploring direct and indirect predictors of heart disease information seeking. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 16(1), 21-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068.2022.2076549

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