Die International Communication Association (ICA) hat Hans Mathias Kepplinger zum Fellow ernannt. Zu dieser kleinen Gruppe profilierter Wissenschaftler gehören 2 % der über 3.500 Mitglieder der ICA. 

In der Laudatio heißt es:
 “Hans Kepplinger has shaped the field with numerous publications in many languages and innovative ideas. His work has always been well-grounded in theory, methodologically sound and innovative, and socially relevant. He has worked not only with theories developed in communication but always looked for interdisciplinary relationships with psychology, sociology, political science or economics. He has inspired, conducted, and analyzed dozens of public opinion surveys and used survey methodology as one analytical tool of a much wider endeavor, i.e. to understand the factors influencing the dynamics in reality perception over time and while combining survey data with media content analyses. He is convinced that despite the existence of news factors and commercial pressures of the news media it is the ultimate goal of journalism to depict reality as accurately as possible. He also has contributed services to businesses, government, education, and many other organizations as his research has always been in the public interest and of practical relevance.”