Dr. Alexander Ort
Lecturer and Research, Officer in Health Communication
T +41 41 229 56 32 • Alpenquai 4, Room 7 • alexander.ort@unilu.ch
CV
Alexander Ort is a researcher specializing in health communication, health psychology, and health sciences. He holds a PhD in communication from Université de Fribourg, Switzerland. He has conducted research at reputable institutions, including the Knowledge Media Research Center (Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien) and Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen.
His research focuses on media use and effects, information processing (mainly in health-related contexts), health communication message design, and the social determinants of health. To investigate these topics, he utilizes quantitative methods, including psychophysiological and real-time response measurements.
In addition to his research contributions, Alexander Ort is passionate about teaching. He shares his expertise by instructing courses on various subjects, such as health sciences, health communication, science communication, health promotion and prevention, and research methods. He has also co-authored a student textbook on health communication to foster comprehensive understanding, critical thinking, and research skills among students.
He actively engages with professional organizations including the International Communication Association (ICA), European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK). Within DGPuK, he serves as a co-chair of the Health Communication section. Furthermore, Alexander Ort contributes to academic self-governance as a board member of the association of mid-level staff (MOL) at the University of Lucerne and a member of the Senate. He also actively participates in various committees and commissions.
Publications
- Ort, A., & Sukalla, F. (2023). Risky Research? Exploring the Potentially Detrimental Effects of Employing Stigma Scale. Frontiers in Communication, (8), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1130480
- Rubinelli, S., Häfliger, C., Fiordelli, M., Ort, A., & Diviani, N. (2023). Institutional crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland. A qualitative study of the experiences of representatives of public health organizations. Patient Education and Counseling, (114), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107813
- Baselgia, S., Combertaldi, S. L., Fahr, A., Wirz, D. S., Ort, A., & Rasch, B. (2023). Pre-sleep arousal induced by suspenseful series and cliffhangers have only minor effects on sleep: A sleep laboratory study. Sleep Medicine, (102), 186–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2023.01.005
- Wehrli, D., Gilljam, H., Koh, D. M., Boes, S., Hartmann, M., Roser, K., … Gutzeit, A. (2023). Smoking trends and health equity in Switzerland between 1992 and 2017: dependence of smoking prevalence on educational level and social determinants. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10365581
- Sartoretti, E., Largiadèr, S., Sartoretti, T., Laures, S., Walter, M. A., Monti, E., … Gutzeit, A. (2023). Understanding the needs of women undergoing breast ultrasound: Are male radiologists still needed? PLOS ONE, 11, 1–11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291007
- Siegenthaler, P., Fahr, A., & Ort, A. (2022). The effects of different narrative structures in public service announcements on transportation and counterarguing. Information Design Journal, 26 (3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.20019.sie
- Ort, A., Rohrbach, T., Diviani, N., & Rubinelli, S. (2022). Covering the crisis: Evolution of key topics and actors in COVID-19 news coverage in Switzerland. International Journal of Public Health, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2022.1605240
- Camerini, A.-L., Marciano, L., Annoni, A. M., Ort, A., & Petrocchi, S. (2022). Exploring the emotional experience during Instant Messaging among young adults: An experimental study incorporating physiological correlates of arousal. Frontiers in Psychology, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.840845
- Wirz, D. S., Möri, M., Ort, A., Cordeiro, J. A., Castro, D., & Fahr, A. (2022). The more you watch, the more you get? Re-examining the effects of binge-watching on entertainment experiences. Journal of Media Psychology, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000355
- Wirz, D., Ort, A., Rasch, B., & Fahr, A. (2022). The role of cliffhangers in serial entertainment: An experiment on cliffhangers’ effects on enjoyment, arousal, and intention to continue watching. Psychology of Popular Media, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000392
- Ort, A., & Fahr, A. (2021). Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions as a Technique for Media-Mediated Persuasive Health Communication. Health Psychology Review, 16 (4), 602–621. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2021.1988866
- Ort, A., Siegenthaler, P., & Fahr, A. (2021). How positively valenced health messages can foster information selection: Evidence from two experiments. Frontiers in Communication, 6 (16), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.534496
- Rubinelli, S., Ort, A., Zanini, C., Fiordelli, M., & Diviani, N. (2021). Strengthening critical health literacy for health information appraisal. An approach from argumentation theory. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (12). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136764
- Combertaldi, S., Ort, A., Cordi, M., Fahr, A., & Rasch, B. (2021). Pre-sleep social media use does not strongly disturb sleep: a sleep Q10 laboratory study in healthy young participants. Sleep Medicine, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.09.009
- Ort, A., Reinhardt, A., Koch, L., & Rossmann, C. (2021). The emotional effects of gain-loss frames in persuasive messages about sun protection on health promotional outcomes: Evidence from an experimental study. Health Communication, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1956072
- Siegenthaler, P., Ort, A., & Fahr, A. (2021). The influence of valence shifts in fear appeals on message processing and behavioral intentions: A moderated mediation model. PLOS ONE, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255113
- Ort, A., & Fahr, A. (2020). The effectiveness of a positively vs. negatively valenced PSA against sexually transmitted diseases – evidence from an experimental study. SCM Studies in Communication and Media, 9 (3), 341–366. https://doi.org/10.5771/2192-4007-2020-3-341
- Ort, A., Wirz, D. S., & Fahr, A. (2020). Is binge-watching addictive? Effects of motives for TV series use on the relationship between excessive media consumption and media addiction. Addictive Behaviors Reports. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100325
- Ort, A., & Fahr, A. (2018). Using efficacy cues in persuasive health communication is more effective than employing threats – An experimental study of a vaccination intervention against Ebola: British Journal of Health Psychology. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23 (3), 665–684. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12310
- Meitz, T. G. K., Ort, A., Kalch, A., Zipfel, S., & Zurstiege, G. (2016). Source does matter: Contextual effects on online media-embedded health campaigns against childhood obesity. Computers in Human Behavior, 60, 565–574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.067
- Daube, D., Ort, A., Sukalla, F., Wagner, A., & Reifegerste, D. (2023). Der Blick über den Tellerrand - Chancen, Herausforderungen und Zielgrößen guter Lehre in der Gesundheitskommunikation. In Reifegerste, Doreen, Kolip, Petra & Wagner, Anna (Eds.), Wer macht wen für Gesundheit (und Krankheit) verantwortlich? Beiträge zur Jahrestagung der Fachgruppe Gesundheitskommunikation 2022 (pp. 1–10). Bielefeld: SSOAR, Social Science Open Access Repository. https://doi.org/10.21241/ssoar.88477
- Wettstein, M., Fahr, A., & Ort, A. (2019). Beyond Eyeballing: Automatische Mustererkennung in Prozessdaten. In Müller, P, Geiss, S, Schemer, C, Naab, T K & Peter, C (Eds.), Dynamische Prozesse der öffentlichen Kommunikation: Methodische Herausforderungen (Vol. 15, pp. 239–261). Köln: Herbert von Halem.
- Fahr, A., & Ort, A. (2019). Die Bedeutung sozialer Vergleichsprozesse für die Gesundheitskommunikation. In Rossmann, Constanze & Hastall, Matthias R. (Eds.), Handbuch Gesundheitskommunikation: Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Perspektiven (pp. 269–280). Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10948-6_21-1
- Ort, A. (2019). Ekel, Wut sowie Verlegenheit, Scham und Schuld in der Gesundheitskommunikation. In Rossmann, Constanze & Hastall, Matthias (Eds.), Handbuch Gesundheitskommunikation: Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Perspektiven (pp. 447–458). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10948-6_36-1
- Ort, A. (2019). Furchtappelle in der Gesundheitskommunikation. In Rossmann, Constanze & Hastall, Matthias (Eds.), Handbuch Gesundheitskommunikation: Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Perspektiven (pp. 435–446). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10948-6_35-1
- Baumann, E., Finne, E., & Ort, A. (2019). Methoden der Gesundheitskommunikation. In Rossmann, Constanze & Hastall, Matthias R. (Eds.), Handbuch Gesundheitskommunikation: Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Perspektiven (pp. 29–42). Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10948-6_3-1
- Siegenthaler, P., Ort, A., & Fahr, A. (2018). ‘Fat, sick, and nearly dead?’: Effekte positiver Emotionalisierung auf die Selektion von Gesundheitsinformation. In Wilhelm, Claudia, Podschuweit, Nicole, Hofer, Matthias & Koch, Thomas (Eds.), Medienwahl: Aktuelle Konzepte, Befunde und methodische Zugänge (pp. 173–189). Baden-Baden: Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845285023-173
- Zurstiege, G., Zipfel, S., Ort, A., Mack, I., Meitz, T. G. K., & Schäffeler, N. (2017). Managing obesity prevention using digital media: A double-sided approach: Informational Environments : Effects of Use, Effective Designs. In Buder, Jürgen & Hesse, Friedrich W. (Eds.), Informational Environments: Effects of Use, Effective Designs (pp. 97–123). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64274-1_5
- Fahr, A., & Ort, A. (2017). The Voice of the Fans. In Schramm, Holger & Ruth, Nicolas (Eds.), Musikcastingshows: Wesen, Nutzung und Wirkung eines populären Fernsehformats (pp. 179–196). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17892-5_8
- Kalch, A., Ort, A., Zurstiege, G., & Meitz, T. (2016). Gefühlt zu dick! Negative Effekte einer stereotypisierenden Anti-Adipositaskampagne auf das gewichtsbezogene Selbstbild von Kindern. In Camerini, Anne-Linda, Ludolph, Ramona & Rothenfluh, Fabia (Eds.), Gesundheitskommunikation im Spannungsfeld zwischen Theorie und Praxis (1st ed., pp. 105–116). Baden-Baden: Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845274256-106
- Zurstiege, G., Meitz, T. G. K., & Ort, A. (2016). Nicht standardisierte Methoden der Werbeforschung. In Averbeck-Lietz, M & Meyen, Michael (Eds.), Handbuch nicht standardisierte Methoden in der Kommunikationswissenschaft (pp. 429–443). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-01656-2_31
- Ort, A. (2016). Spiel mit der Angst: Der Einfluss von Bedrohung und Wirksamkeit auf Einstellungen und Handlungsintentionen gegenüber einer Ebola-Schutzimpfung. In Camerini, Anne-Linda, Ludolph, Ramona & Rothefluh, Fabia (Eds.), Gesundheitskommunikation im Spannungsfeld zwischen Theorie und Praxis (1st ed., pp. 80–91). Baden-Baden: Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845274256-81
- Ort, A. (9 March 2023). Premieren am Departement. Jahresbericht der Universität Luzern 2021, 34–36. Retrieved from https://www.unilu.ch/magazin/artikel/premieren-am-departement-12233/
- Ort, A. (2022). Negative Emotionen – Medien – Sucht: Wann und warum die Corona-Pandemie ein potenzieller Katalysator für Mediensüchte sein kann. Grüner Kreis Magazin, (122), 12–13. Retrieved from https://www.gruenerkreis.at/sites/default/files/2022-06/GrKr_Mag122_WEB.pdf
- Ort, A., Wirz, D., & Fahr, A. (2021). Qu’est-ce que le ‘binge-watching’ et s’agit-il d’une addiction? Dépendances, (70), 29–31.
- Ort, A. (21 January 2024). «Dry January» und Co. im Check - Über den Sinn oder Unsinn von Neujahrsvorsätzen. SRF Online. Retrieved from https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/dry-january-und-co-im-check-ueber-den-sinn-oder-unsinn-von-neujahrsvorsaetzen
- Ort, A. (1 November 2022). Warum wir Binge-Watching nicht verteufeln müssen. zentralplus - Onlinemagazin für Luzern und Zug. Retrieved from https://www.zentralplus.ch/gesellschaft/warum-wir-binge-watching-nicht-verteufeln-muessen-2477235/
- Ort, A. (3 March 2022). Viel zu spät! Weihnachten feiert man ja auch nicht an Ostern. OB Noppers Impfkampagne ein Piks in die Luft. Bild Stuttgart.
- Ort, A. (15 February 2022). Die deutsche Impfkampagne: Wie schlecht ist die Werbung für den Piks wirklich? WEB.DE. Retrieved from https://web.de/magazine/wissen/wissenschaft-technik/deutsche-impfkampagne-schlecht-werbung-piks-36595882
Achievements
- ChatGPT für individualisierte Prüfungsfragen am Beispiel von Vorlesungen im Bereich Gesundheits- und Wissenschaftskommunikation. Lecture, Generative KI in Lehr-/Lernprozessen: Potenziale für die Weiterentwicklung der Hochschullehre?, Universität Luzern, Luzern, 2024
- “When I’m addressed as one sex, I feel halved”: An exploration of non-binary persons’ (barriers of) health information-seeking behaviors. (Panel) contribution, European Conference on Health Communication (ECHC), University of Klagenfurt (Austria), Klagenfurt, 2023
- Are we actually feeling ourselves? Potentials and limitations of measuring arousal using physiological measurement vs. Self-Reports. (Panel) contribution, Annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), University of Toronto, Toronto, 2023
- Risky research? Exploring and avoiding detrimental effects of stigma scales. (Panel) contribution, Annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), University of Toronto, Toronto, 2023
- Stigma and Health, 2023
- Health Communication, 2023
- International Journal of Communication, 2023
- Publizistik, 2023
- Frontiers in Psychology, 2023
- European Journal of Health Communication, 2023
- European Journal of Health Communication, 2020
- International Journal of Communication, 2020
- Frontiers in Psychology, 2020
- Studies in Communication and Media, 2019