Brandon Van Der Heide

Brandon Van Der Heide serves as Associate Professor and Director of Doctoral Studies in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University, specializing in the intersection of computer-mediated communication and interpersonal dynamics. His research investigates how digital environments shape credibility assessments and social impressions through text-based interactions.

Education:

• Ph.D., Michigan State University

Dr. Van Der Heide's work centers on identifying critical online cues that drive impression formation across platforms like Facebook, Yelp, and Amazon. He examines how anonymity, self-disclosure, and reviewer characteristics influence credibility judgments in consumer reviews and healthcare contexts. His methodology combines experimental and survey approaches to analyze persuasion mechanisms in computer-mediated environments, with particular attention to how warranting value affects information processing.

Analysis of his publication record reveals consistent focus on digital influence pathways, spanning e-commerce review systems, health communication communities, and virtual identity effects. His research demonstrates how avatar appearance in dyadic interactions triggers behavioral changes (Proteus effect) and how negativity bias operates in physician evaluations online. Publications appear consistently in premier outlets including Journal of Communication and Communication Research.

Dr. Van Der Heide mentors graduate researchers while providing international consultation for computer-mediated communication theory development. He previously chaired the National Communication Association’s Human Communication and Technology division, contributing to field-wide theoretical frameworks.

His research operations are based in Michigan State University's Communication Arts and Sciences Building (Room 565), where he directs doctoral studies and coordinates collaborative projects examining emerging digital communication phenomena.