Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care

Fangcao obtained a Ph.D. in Media and Communication at The City University of Hong Kong. She mainly investigates the implications of communication and new media technology for health empowerment using a social and behavioral science approach, focusing on people of diverse age, gender, income, and migration backgrounds to promote health equity. She is experienced in health communication research, and published several papers in international journals.

Fangcao joined the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care at HKU in July 2022, and is pursuing her interests in health empowerment for low-income families in Hong Kong.

Research interest

Health communication
Vaccine hesitancy
Body image
Family communication
Health misinformation

Publications

Lu, F., Sun, Y. & Oktavianus, J (2022). Resistance to masks during the COVID-19 pandemic: How user comments and presumed influence on others drive psychological reactance to health campaigns. Health Communication.
Chia, S.C., Lu, F., & A. C. Gunther (2022). Who conducts fact checking and does it matter?: Examining the antecedents and consequences of fact-checking behaviour in Hong Kong. The International Journal of Press/Politics.
Chia, S. C., Lu, F., & Sun, Y. (2022). Tracking the influence of misinformation on elderly people’s perceptions and intention to accept COVID-19 vaccines. Health Communication.
Lu, F., & Chia, S. C (2022). When virtual makeovers become “real”: How SNS interactions drive selfie-editing and cosmetic surgery. Chinese Journal of Communication.
Lu, F., & Sun, Y. (2022). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: The effects of combining direct and indirect online opinion cues on psychological reactance to health campaigns. Computers in Human Behavior.
Sun, Y. & Lu, F (2022). How misinformation and rebuttals in online comments affect people’s intentions to receive COVID-19 vaccines: The role of psychological reactance and misperceptions. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.
Oktavianus, J., Sun, Y., & Lu, F. (2022). Understanding health information behaviors of migrant domestic workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Sun, Y., Oktavianus, J., Wang, S., & Lu, F. (2021). The role of influence of presumed influence and anticipated guilt in evoking social correction of COVID-19 misinformation. Health Communication.
Sun, Y., Chia, S. C., Lu, F., & Oktavianus, J. (2020). The battle is on: Factors that motivate people to combat anti-vaccine misinformation. Health Communication.