Research Topics & Ideas: Communication
50 Communication-Related Research Ideas To Kickstart Your Project
By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | Updated January 2025
Struggling to find the right communication-related research topic for your dissertation or thesis? Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. In this post, we’ve compiled 100+ communication research topics and ideas to help you get started.
Covering a wide range of areas like media studies, organisational communication, intercultural communication, and digital communication, this guide is packed with inspiration. Whether you’re exploring social media trends, corporate communication strategies, or the impact of technology on human interaction, you’ll find plenty of ideas to fuel your research.
P.S. If you’re new to the sometimes daunting world of academic research, don’t miss our free Topic Ideation 101 Webinar, packed with tips on refining your research ideas and identifying the perfect gap in the literature.
Organisational and Internal Communication
Research in this category focuses on how communication strategies impact employee engagement, organisational change, and internal processes within businesses and institutions.
- Investigating the impact of internal communication on employee engagement in remote work environments.
- The role of communication in change management within large healthcare organisations.
- Analyzing the effectiveness of internal crisis communication in financial institutions during economic downturns.
- Investigating the use of employee advocacy on social media as a branding tool.
- The role of communication in facilitating organisational change in public sector organisations.
- Analyzing the role of communication in employee wellness programs.
- Assessing the impact of leadership communication styles on employee productivity in hybrid workplaces.
- The effectiveness of internal gamification strategies in improving communication and collaboration.
- The role of internal communication in addressing workplace burnout and mental health.
- Exploring how communication platforms influence employee onboarding in multinational corporations.
Marketing and Consumer Communication
This category explores the relationship between communication strategies and consumer engagement, brand loyalty, and marketing effectiveness.
- The role of social media in shaping corporate brand identity in the fashion industry.
- The effectiveness of influencer marketing in health and wellness brands.
- Investigating the impact of communication strategies on patient adherence in healthcare.
- Analyzing the impact of mobile communication technologies on marketing strategies in retail.
- The effectiveness of green marketing communication in promoting eco-friendly products.
- Investigating the impact of augmented reality in interactive marketing campaigns.
- The effectiveness of podcasting as a marketing tool for small businesses.
- Analyzing the role of communication in the adoption of new technologies in traditional industries.
- The impact of neuromarketing communication techniques on consumer purchasing behaviour.
- The role of gamification in enhancing customer communication for loyalty programs.
Crisis and Strategic Communication
This category examines how organisations and public figures manage crises, communicate strategically, and navigate challenging situations.
- Analyzing the effectiveness of crisis communication strategies in the airline industry post-accidents.
- The impact of corporate social responsibility communication on consumer perceptions in the fast-food industry.
- Investigating the role of strategic communication in corporate restructuring processes.
- Analyzing the role of public relations in managing celebrity image crises.
- The role of communication in managing stakeholder relationships in construction projects.
- Exploring the role of strategic communication in environmental advocacy.
- Investigating the impact of communication strategies during political scandals.
- The role of transparency in crisis communication for rebuilding brand trust.
- The effectiveness of post-crisis communication strategies on brand recovery in the hospitality sector.
- The role of AI tools in enhancing real-time crisis communication during global events.
Technology and Digital Communication
This category investigates the impact of digital communication tools, social media, and emerging technologies on communication practices and effectiveness.
- Analyzing the impact of virtual reality in enhancing audience engagement in museums and galleries.
- The impact of social media algorithms on news dissemination and public opinion.
- Investigating the effectiveness of video marketing in consumer engagement on social media platforms.
- The impact of artificial intelligence on personalised customer communication.
- Investigating the use of virtual events for community building in online gaming.
- Analyzing the impact of communication technologies on remote learning and education.
- The role of digital storytelling in building trust for non-profit fundraising campaigns.
- Exploring the effectiveness of chatbots in improving customer service communication in the banking sector.
- The impact of 5G technology on digital communication efficiency in multinational corporations.
- Investigating the ethical considerations of deepfake videos in political communication.
Cross-Cultural and Global Communication
This category explores the complexities of communication across cultures and its impact on international business, branding, and public relations.
- The role of intercultural communication in the success of international mergers and acquisitions.
- Investigating the impact of cultural differences on international public relations practices.
- The impact of language barriers on global marketing and advertising strategies.
- The role of cross-cultural communication in global branding strategies.
- The impact of cultural intelligence on cross-cultural leadership effectiveness in global organisations.
- Exploring communication strategies for localising international advertising campaigns.
- Investigating the role of intercultural communication training in improving expatriate job performance.
- Analyzing cross-cultural communication challenges in multinational virtual teams.
- The effectiveness of cross-cultural negotiation strategies in international trade.
- Exploring the role of cultural metaphors in international marketing communication.
Communication in Leadership and Management
This category focuses on the role of communication in effective leadership, team management, and organisational decision-making.
- Investigating the impact of communication style on leadership effectiveness in tech startups.
- Analyzing the relationship between leadership communication and team performance in high-pressure industries.
- The role of public speaking skills in leadership effectiveness.
- Exploring the use of storytelling as a tool for persuasive leadership communication.
- The role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership communication.
- Investigating how communication styles influence employee retention in SMEs.
- Analyzing the effectiveness of leadership communication during organisational restructuring.
- The role of social media in enhancing a leader’s personal brand.
- Exploring the impact of transparent communication on leadership trust in hybrid teams.
- Investigating the relationship between leadership communication and organisational agility during crises.
Communication for Social Change and Advocacy
This category explores how communication influences social movements, advocacy, and public awareness campaigns.
- Analyzing the effectiveness of environmental communication strategies in promoting sustainable practices among businesses.
- The effectiveness of grassroots communication campaigns in social movements.
- Investigating the role of multimedia content in enhancing online engagement for educational institutions.
- Exploring the role of strategic communication in advancing climate change awareness.
- Investigating the impact of social media campaigns on voter turnout in local elections.
- The role of digital influencers in promoting mental health awareness.
- Analyzing the impact of advocacy communication on public perception of refugee crises.
- The effectiveness of storytelling in raising funds for disaster relief campaigns.
- Exploring the role of digital platforms in amplifying marginalised voices in advocacy movements.
- Investigating the role of visual communication in conveying complex issues such as sustainability.
I didn’t know if I was good enough.
See how Kelsee went from lost and confused to conquering her PhD.Examples: Communication Research
While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a communication-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual studies to see how this all comes together. Below, we’ve listed a collection of actual academic publications within the communication field.
Pascual-Fraile, M.P., Talón-Ballestero, P., Villacé-Molinero, T. & Ramos-Rodríguez, A. (2022) ‘Communication for destinations’ image in crises and disasters: a review and future research agenda’, Tourism Review.
Svitlana, P., Svitlana, L.-D. & Nataliia, L. (2023) ‘The Importance of Management and Marketing in the Context of Modern Business Communications’, Problems of Innovation and Investment Development.
Achkasova, V.A. & Zhuravleva, N. (2024) ‘The discourse of the communicative sphere: Current topics and research guidelines (analytical review of professional periodicals)’, Media Linguistics.
Kuipers, S., Perlstein, S., Wolbers, J. & Jong, W. (2023) ‘Assist or accuse? Identifying trends in crisis communication through a bibliometric literature review’, Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy.
Trabadela-Robles, J. (2021) ‘Systematic Review of Recent Literature on Strategic Communication Analysis of the Scientific Production in Web of Science (2011-2020)’, Strategic Communication in Context: Theoretical Debates and Applied Research.
Bukar, U., Jabar, M., Sidi, F., Nor, R., Abdullah, S. & Othman, M. (2020) ‘Crisis Informatics in the Context of Social Media Crisis Communication: Theoretical Models, Taxonomy, and Open Issues’, IEEE Access, 8, pp. 185842–185869.
Mazzei, A. (2014) ‘A multidisciplinary approach for a new understanding of corporate communication’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19, pp. 216–230.
Noris, A., Nobile, T.H., Kalbaska, N. & Cantoni, L. (2020) ‘Digital Fashion: A systematic literature review. A perspective on marketing and communication’, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 12, pp. 32–46.
Schwarz, A. (2012) ‘Stakeholder Attributions in Crises: The Effects of Covariation Information and Attributional Inferences on Organizational Reputation’, International Journal of Strategic Communication, 6, pp. 174–195.
Holz, J.R. & Wright, C.R. (1979) ‘Sociology of Mass Communications’, Review of Sociology, 5, pp. 193–217.
Peters, L. & Fletcher, K. (2004) ‘A market-based approach to understanding communication and teamworking: A multidisciplinary literature review’, Journal of Marketing Research.
Kantanen, H., Koponen, J., Sointu, E. & Valtonen, T. (2019) ‘Including the Student Voice: Experiences and Learning Outcomes of a Flipped Communication Course’, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 82, pp. 337–356.
Hauser, J., Tellis, G. & Griffin, A. (2006) ‘Research on Innovation: A Review and Agenda for Marketing Science’, Marketing Science, 25, pp. 687–717.
Du, J. (2020) ‘Communication and Culture in Multinational Organizations’, Communication.
Valdiviezo-Abad, C. & Túñez-López, M. (2021) ‘Automation in communication and marketing’, 2021 16th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI).
Seeger, M., Sellnow, T. & Ulmer, R. (1998) ‘Communication, Organization, and Crisis’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 21, pp. 231–276.
Edwards, A. & Usher, W. (2010) ‘Crisis Communication and Sport Public Relations’, Journal of Sports Communication.
Looking at these research titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrow, compared to the generic ones presented earlier. To create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context. If you’d like to learn more about that process, check out our popular Research Topic Bootcamp.
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