Naim Çınar

Naim Çınar is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (jointly hosted by the Department of Communication and the European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh) and an Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations at Anadolu University, Türkiye. His research focuses on data privacy in digital advertising, user interactions within online social networks, and the application of computational methods in communication research.

His scholarship examines how advertising technologies shape user privacy by either reinforcing or undermining individuals’ sense of control over their personal data. He is particularly interested in phenomena such as the privacy paradox and the illusion of control, and how design elements like cookie banners and default settings influence users’ consent decisions. His work integrates experimental and computational approaches to better understand the communicative mechanisms embedded in digital platforms and their implications for transparency, regulation, and user autonomy.

He has authored and co-authored journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers that explore the intersections of advertising, privacy, and digital communication, contributing to both theoretical debates and applied research in the field. His teaching includes both applied courses in advertising design that build on his earlier professional career as a graphic designer and theoretical courses in advertising and communication at the undergraduate level, as well as a Master level courses focusing on quantitative and qualitative methodologies in advertising research, with a particular emphasis on data collection and analysis within digital platforms. 

More about his work can be found at www.naimcinar.com