Gera Nikita

Biography

Dr Nikita is a Provost Fellow at Heriot‑Watt University and an academician with over nine years of teaching experience, guiding both management graduates and postgraduates of MBA Communication Management at Symbiosis International (Deemed University). She holds a PhD focused on the effectiveness of internal communication for employee engagement in CSR. She also holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from The English and Foreign Languages University, along with a specialisation in Public Relations and Advertising from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. Her research interests include Public Relations, Corporate Communication, Advertising and broader areas of communication studies, with publications in Scopus‑indexed journals.

Dr Nikita directs her research towards understanding the effectiveness of internal communication for employee engagement in organisational CSR. She also researches advertising and communication studies and has published in five Scopus‑indexed journals, along with a book chapter and nine additional research papers. As a mentor for postgraduate and undergraduate dissertations, she has embedded research into practice by leading a Student Research Project (SRP) on Advertising and Stereotypes, funded with INR 43,000 by Symbiosis University.

Academic leadership and affiliations

• Provost Fellow
• School of Social Sciences

Qualifications

• PhD, Symbiosis International (Deemed University)
• PG Diploma in PR and Advertising, Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC)
• Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism, The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU)
• Bachelor’s degree in Literature, Psychology and Journalism, Andhra University

Publications

• Nikita, G., & Velicheti, S. N. (2022). AI as a tool in internal communication to reduce employee attrition rate in India. In Achieving $5 Trillion Economy of India (pp. 43–62). Springer Nature Singapore.
• Nikita, P. G., Reddy, P. S., & Sundararajan, D. V. (2024). Impact of organisational communication on employee relations and productivity among millennial and Gen Z at workplace. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v30i5.3597

Other Scopus publications:

• Thilaka, N., & Nikita, G. (2017). Evaluation of effectiveness of printed educational material for cardiovascular diseases among patients. Indian Journal of Public Health Research and Development, 8(4), 475. https://doi.org/10.5958/0976-5506.2017.00388.6
• Thilaka, N. (n.d.). A study on the paradigm shift of advertisements from the closet to the limelight through content analysis. International Journal of Management, 11(10), 1831–1845. https://doi.org/10.34218/IJM.11.10.2020.171
• Thilaka, N., Nikita, G., & David, L. G. (n.d.). Patterns of news consumption among urban and rural post‑millennium youth in India. https://www.ijstr.org/final-print/nov2019/Patterns-Of-News-Consumption-Among-The-Urban-And-Rural-Post-Millennium-Youth-In-India.pdf
• Nikita, G., & Thilaka, N. The Role of Internal Communication Leadership on Brand Perceptions and Employee Experience during Crisis. (Accepted for Scopus‑indexed publication, Taylor & Francis)

Other publications:

• Jain, S., Thilaka, N., & Nikita, G. (2021). Colour psychology in packaging and its effect on buying behaviour among millennials. International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management, 3(8), 751–760.
• Pal, S., & Nikita, G. (2021). Audience perspectives of COVID‑19 information centre on Facebook. International Journal of Applied Research, 7(5), 295–304. https://doi.org/10.22271/allresearch.2021.v7.i5e.8582
• Chakravorty, N., Pal, S., Kayal, S., & Nikita, G. (n.d.). Gender equality in India: Changing perceptions through advertisements. https://www.eurchembull.com/uploads/paper/a6b9f3af67e8c98755ad12f4f638698b.pdf
• Vasudevan Sundararajan, G. N. (2025). The impact of culture on brand personifications and consumer purchase intentions. European Economic Letters. https://www.eelet.org.uk/index.php/journal/article/view/2407