About

Natalie Brown Devlin is an associate professor in the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations. Her research focuses on crisis communication and digital media within the context of sport. Her work examines how social media empowers organizational stakeholders during sports-related crises. She previously worked in digital advertising as a senior analyst of strategic account analytics, providing custom analyses and consumer insights to client marketing executives. Currently, she teaches a course on digital metrics in the Texas Media Program.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Business
• Advertising
• Sociology
• Social Science
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Marketing
• Media studies
• Public relations

Selected publications

• #LetShacarriRun: A Case Study Examining the Dissemination of Crisis Information During an Athlete Reputational Crisis

  International Journal of Sport Communication · 2026-05-07

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Following an outstanding 2020 Olympic trials performance, the United States Anti-Doping Agency suspended likely medal favorite Sha’Carri Richardson for marijuana use, placing her in an athlete reputational crisis that would, in many ways, shape her career. Grounded in situational crisis communication theory and the social-mediated crisis communication model, this manuscript utilizes three studies to examine Richardson’s attempt at reputation repair and outline how crisis information was disseminated. Using a mix of natural language processing and qualitative review, we employ a thematic analysis, a social network analysis, and a textual analysis to reveal insight into (a) Richardson’s effort to engage in reputation repair, (b) the voices and social media accounts that influenced the flow of information, and (c) the amplification of certain reputation repair strategies. Together, Richardson’s case highlights how crises can, at times, be co-opted into larger policy discussions. Finally, this case underscores how a crisis can sway how the media discusses an athlete years later.

  PublisherDOI

• Social Identity Can be a Team Game: Social Identity and Other Factors that Widen and Bridge Partisan Gaps in Political Perceptions of Sports Media Topics

  Communication & Sport · 2025-10-03

  articleSenior author

  Sport and politics are often intertwined, as political and social issues “play out” during a game. Not all sports media consumers may read the same news topics as political, however. By analyzing data from three years of cross-sectional surveys of sports fans in the United States, we generate inferences about how political perceptions of sports media topics may vary by political party and other key variables. Guided by social identity theory, results support the idea that social identification with a person’s political group may be associated with seeing some sports media topics as more political and may increase partisan differences in political perceptions. By contrast, social identification with being a sports fan may have the opposite relationship for some sports media topics. Political efficacy may also decrease partisan differences for some sports media topics. These results are discussed in the context of contemporary political debate around sports issues.

  PublisherDOI

• Venting crisis emotions in secondary crisis communication on social media: the moderating roles of brand identification and social media metrics

  Journal of Communication Management · 2025-11-04

  articleSenior author

  Purpose Using the three crisis emotion clusters (attribution-independent (AI), external-attribution-dependent (EAD) and internal-attribution-dependent (IAD) emotions), this research explored how consumers engage in secondary crisis communication on social media by way of emotional venting, depending on their identifying relationship with the brand and the number of social media metrics. Design/methodology/approach For Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis and PROCESS Model 7 were conducted with the data from a total of 345 participants. Study 2 conducted a two-level (the number of social media metrics: high vs low) single factorial design experiment with a total of 173 participants. Findings This study suggested disappointment as an important crisis emotion for consumers. While demonstrating the mediating role of a need for emotional venting in the relationships of different crisis emotions and social media secondary crisis communication, this study suggested consumer brand identification and the number of social media metrics interact with IAD emotions, respectively, to influence a need for emotional venting. Originality/value This study identified 12 emotions within three clusters: (1) AI emotions that consumers feel toward a brand crisis situation (anxiety, apprehension and fear), (2) EAD emotions consumers feel about a brand company in a crisis (anger, contempt, disgust, disappointment, sadness and sympathy) and (3) IAD emotions that consumers feel for themselves as stakeholders involved in a crisis (embarrassment, guilt and shame). It also shed light on how consumers engage in secondary crisis communication on social media as an emotional coping strategy during crises.

  PublisherDOI

• Do Fans Have to Choose Between Formula One and Sustainability? A Case Study of Spectators Balancing Environmental Beliefs and Fandom

  International Journal of Sport Communication · 2025-02-04 · 1 citations

  article

  The environmental impact of sports has become a growing concern, with many organizations facing scrutiny over their sustainability practices and accusations of greenwashing. Formula 1 (F1), a global motorsport, is no exception. This exploratory case study examined F1 fans’ perceptions of the sport’s environmental impact and its initiatives to mitigate it. It particularly analyzes how F1 spectators navigate potentially conflicting social identities and any subsequent cognitive dissonance between their fandom and environmental beliefs. Using semistructured interviews with ten F1 fans who attended the 2022 U.S. F1Grand Prix, we explored their perspectives on the sport’s sustainability efforts and how cognitive dissonance influenced their attitudes, focusing on how they reconciled the tension between their environmental values and dedication to F1 fandom. Our interviews show that while F1 spectators prioritize their fandom over environmental concerns, issue salience is a crucial element in their cognitive dissonance. These results can guide sports toward more serious proactive efforts in getting involved in sustainability initiatives and communicating them well, thus moving away from potential greenwashing. By placing these findings in a broader sport context, this study also adds to the literature on the intersection between sport fandom, behavior, and environmental communication.

  PublisherDOI

• Connecting Through Fear of Missing Out (FoMO): Social Media Involvement and Team Identification Among Sports Fans

  Communication & Sport · 2025-05-29 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study explores how FoMO fosters sports fan attachment and enhances team identification in the context of online sports fandom. Grounded in social capital theory and social identity theory, this paper investigates how sports fans’ experiences with FoMO activate socially driven behaviors, particularly social media involvement, which build attachment to sports and deepen team identification. An online survey of 451 U.S. based participants revealed that FoMO strongly correlates to social media involvement, which in turn enhances sports attachment and team identification; additionally, a moderating effect was observed among sports fans with moderate to high levels of bridging social capital, suggesting that fans with broader weak-tie networks gain more from FoMO-driven engagement. These findings reframe FoMO as a prosocial motivator within digital fan communities. The research also provides theoretical insights into FoMO’s role in identity-building and recommends practical approaches for sports organizations to boost long-term fan engagement.

  PublisherDOI

• Examining Sports Media Credibility, Bias, Political Identification, and Fandom Using a Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey

  Communication & Sport · 2025-01-24 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Two studies utilizing a repeated cross-sectional survey were conducted over a three-year period to measure the source credibility and media bias ratings of six sports media brands (i.e., NBC Sports, ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports). Study 1 found sports media brands’ source credibility has been rated more positively since 2021 and ratings of media bias have decreased since 2021. Guided by social identity theory, Study 2 analyzed how respondents’ social identity labels (i.e., political identification and sports fandom) affected their media bias and source credibility evaluations, noting the importance of sports fandom. Notably, sports fans report lower levels of media bias when their fandom level is high.

  PublisherDOI

• Augmented Basking in Reflected Glory? A Case Study of Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Sport Fans’ Augmented Reality Filters

  International Journal of Sport Communication · 2024-05-06

  article

  Among all the innovative applications of immersive technologies in the sport industry, augmented reality (AR) has demanded more scholarly attention. Particularly, using AR face filters that layer computer-generated visual effects over the physical world on mobile devices became a valued marketing tactic that brands employed to attract fans. Yet, limited empirical evidence has explored the effect of AR on sport fans’ digital fandom. Through an online quasi-experiment ( N = 250) following a 2022 FIFA World Cup match between the U.S. and U.K. soccer (e.g., association football) teams, data suggest an important role of BIRGing (basking in reflected glory) in influencing fans’ AR filter use. Specifically, fans with a stronger tendency to bask in reflected glory elicited a higher perception of affiliation and enjoyment, which tended to be more likely to use AR. These effects were heightened when fans’ team identification was higher and they believed their team performed better. Theoretical and practical implications were addressed accordingly.

  PublisherDOI

• “False advertising, fact-checked” examining how social identification affects fact-checking of false advertisements

  International Journal of Advertising · 2024-06-17

  article

  This study examines the effectiveness of fact-checking technology in combating false advertising on social media. Focusing on two understudied consumer groups: vegans and vegetarians (Study 1) and mothers (Study 2), the study employs a social identity framework to explore the impact of fact-checking tools on consumer perceptions. The findings indicate that such tools can be beneficial for consumers, leading them to have a heightened sense of deception towards false advertising. However, the study also highlights the potential for fact-checking features to backfire when persuasive content emphasizes the consumer's social identity in-group characteristics. Despite consumers recognizing attempts at deception in the advertisement, they find its persuasive message more credible when it aligns with their identity group's distinctive traits. Overall, this research contributes to the literature on social identity theory, targeted advertising, message credibility, cognitive dissonance, and false information. Furthermore, the findings guide managerial decisions regarding the implementation of fact-checking features in social media advertising.

  PublisherDOI

• What the Olympic Games Communicates to the World

  2024-09-06

  book-chapter

  This chapter focuses on how the Olympic Games functions as more than just a sporting event by conveying particular messages both to and about the world in which it unfolds. Rather than focusing solely on the content that is rendered, the chapter informs how production choices interact with content renderings, which then infer effects and potentially salient ideas about athletes of different genders, races, ethnicities, and nations. Moreover, the chapter provides an overview of Olympic media coverage influence in the areas of (a) Olympic production tendencies, (b) Olympic media content trends, (c) Olympic effects research findings, and (d) paths for a better understanding of what the Olympics communicates to the world. Focus on more contemporary issues of social media influence and movements for social justice is infused to show how the Olympic media product is continually evolving in a dynamic manner along with the political and social contexts in which it resides.

  PublisherDOI

• Chatbot as Corporate Actors to Respond to Rumors: Examining the Effect of Crisis Strategies on Source Credibility and Crisis Communication Outcomes

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Michael B. Devlin

  Texas State University

  11 shared

• Andrew C. Billings

  University of Alabama

  10 shared

• Kenon A. Brown

  University of Alabama

  10 shared

• Hayoung Sally Lim

  University of Oregon

  5 shared

• Jingyue Tao

  3 shared

• Won-Ki Moon

  University of Florida

  2 shared

• Lindsay Bouchacourt

  2 shared

• Buduo Wang

  The University of Texas at Austin

  2 shared

Labs

• The LabPI