Elisabeth Bigsby

Elisabeth Bigsby is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an Affiliate of the Center for Social & Behavioral Science. Her research focuses on persuasive health and environmental messages, particularly how message features influence message perception and processing. She aims to improve the design of effective persuasive messages, with a focus on public health campaigns like anti-smoking initiatives.

Educationally, Dr. Bigsby holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Georgia, and both a M.A. and B.A. in Communication from Michigan State University. She teaches courses including CMN 345 (Visual Media Effects), CMN 421 (Persuasion Theory & Research), and CMN 529 (Message Design & Effects / Meta-Analysis in Communication).

Her research interests span persuasion, message effects, health communication, and information acquisition. Key topics include fear appeals, meta-analysis of exemplar messages, and the role of efficacy information in health campaigns. She has explored pandemic messaging (e.g., COVID-19 prevention behaviors), environmental threat response, and heart disease information seeking.

Bigsby has been recognized with awards including the 2021 LAS Impact Award and 2020 Illinois Foundations Fellowship. Her work emphasizes practical applications of communication theory to public health challenges, bridging academic research with real-world messaging strategies.