Public Relations 2016 Abstracts
Open Competition
I Thought They’d Do More: Conflicting Expectations, Constraints and Communication in a University Crowdfunding Program • Abbey Levenshus, University of Tennessee; Laura Lemon, University of Tennessee; MoonHee Cho, University of Tennessee; Courtney Carpenter Childers, University of Tennessee • This study of a university crowdfunding program adds scholarly and practical depth to knowledge of enterprise crowdfunding, a new phenomenon in the higher education fundraising context. The case study identified that development representatives use crowdfunding for donor acquisition, micro-fundraising, and awareness-building. However, the new program struggles due to influences such as limited project leader commitment and lack of urgency. Internal communication and conflicting expectations, ignored in current crowdfunding research, emerged as critical to program success.
Co-branded Diplomacy: A Case Study of the British Council’s Branding of “Darwin Now” in Egypt • Amal Bakry, Coastal Carolina University • In the wake of September 11, cultural diplomacy has become a key element of public diplomacy and dialogue-based initiatives have been used to improve understandings between the Muslim world and the West (Report of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, 2005, p. 4; Bubalo & Fealy, 2005). In 2009, the British Council implemented the “Darwin Now” initiative in Egypt in partnership with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Although evolutionary theory is considered controversial in the Islamic world, “Darwin Now” generated mostly positive media coverage. This study utilizes a co-branding theoretical framework in order to examine how the British Council was able to avoid negative spillover effects. In this research, a single case study of the British Council Darwin Now 2009 campaign in Egypt was conducted to examine how the British Council was able to brand the Darwin Now project and to avoid negative spillover effects. The case study consisted of a content analysis of news stories, press releases, and participants’ feedback surveys. In addition, 36 in-depth interviews with informants from the partner organizations, the media, and the general public were conducted. The findings of this study conclude that it was possible to overcome negative spillover effects as a result of partnering with a high-profile national organization such as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Fundraising on Social Media: How Message Concreteness and Framing Influence Donation Outcomes • Anli Xiao, Penn State University; Yan Huang, The Pennsylvania State University; Denise Bortree, Penn State University • This study examined the effect of concreteness and framing of a fundraising message on donation intention and behavioral intentions on social media. A 2 (Message concreteness: abstract vs. concrete) × 2 (Message framing: gain vs. loss) between-subjects experiment (N = 213) revealed that a message with concrete details about donation outcomes elicited greater intention to donate compared to a message with only a general description of the donation outcomes. Message concreteness had indirect effects on donation intention, donation amount, and intentions to act on the fundraising post through heightened cognitive elaboration, perception of message credibility, transparency, message vividness, and empathy. Framing the donation outcomes in terms of gains due to donors’ action or loss as a result of inaction, however, did not result in significant differences on donation intention, donation amount and social media intentions. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
Communicating effectively about social causes: Congruence between prosocial motives and CSR attributions • Baobao Song; Mary Ann Ferguson, University of Florida • Through the lens of applicable social psychology theories, this study gives practical direction to strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication that encourages stakeholder’s donations to corporate-sponsored social causes and creates positive stakeholder-corporation relationships. An experiment with 373 adults studied two types of individual prosocial motives (intrinsic and extrinsic) and two different messages about the corporation’s intrinsic or extrinsic motives for its CSR programs. The theory tested here predicted and found that, through prosocial sense-making, a stakeholder’s intrinsic prosocial motivation followed by CSR communication about the corporation’s intrinsic prosocial motives led to not only strengthened perceptions of self and organizational prosocial identities, but also created stakeholder-company identification (S-C Identification), plus positive affective attitudes, and behavioral intentions towards the corporation. In addition, the monetary benefit for the social cause, significantly increased by three times when stakeholder’s intrinsic personal prosocial motives matched the perception that the CSR motives were intrinsic.
Organizational Authenticity and Stakeholder Advocacy: Testing the Arthur W. Page Society’s Building Belief Model • Callie Wilkes, University of Florida; Kathleen Kelly, University of Florida • Authenticity and advocacy are concepts that hold great interest for both public relations scholars and practitioners. The study reported in this paper surveyed employees about their perceptions of their organization’s communication and authenticity, as well as the degree to which the employees advocate on behalf of their organization. Results showed a strong relationship between two-way symmetrical communication and perceived organizational authenticity, and, together, the two variables explained 53% of the variance in employee advocacy.
Beyond Structural Encroachment: An Examination of the Relationship Dynamics between Public Relations and Fundraising in Higher Education • Christopher Wilson, Brigham Young University; Mark Callister, BYU; Melissa Seipel, BYU; Meghan Graff, Brigham Young University • While previous research has examined the extent of fundraising encroachment on public relations in colleges and universities, most of the research conducted to understand the impact of encroachment on public relations, as well as the factors that underlie encroachment, has focused on for-profit organizations or charitable non-profits generally. This study examines the relationships between public relations and fundraising departments, as well as the factors that influence that relationship, through in-depth interviews with 23 senior public relations officers at public and private colleges and universities listed on the Philanthropy 400.
Credibility and deception in native advertising: Examining awareness, persuasion, and source credibility in sponsored content • Denise Bortree, Penn State University; Anli Xiao, Penn State University; Fan Yang, Pennsylvania State University; Ruoxu Wang, Penn State University; Mu Wu, Penn State University; Yan Huang, The Pennsylvania State University; Ruobing Li, Penn State University • This study examined the impact of awareness of native advertising, level of promotional content, and media credibility on the evaluation of sponsored content such as perceived credibility, perceived deception and future reading intention. Results from the 2x2x2 experiment (N = 500) found that awareness of native advertising leads to lower perceived credibility and higher perceived deception. However, native advertising with high promotional content is judged as more credible than messages with low promotional content.
Stakeholder Theory and World Consumer Rights Day as Indicator of China’s Growing Corporate Social Responsibility Commitment • Donnalyn Pompper; Chiaoning Su, Temple University; Yifang Tang • This study was designed to expand stakeholder theory building beyond capitalist-democratic system contexts as a means for assessing corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment. We focused on The People’s Republic of China and stakeholders engaged with World Consumer Rights Day by scrutinizing a full-week of 2015 coverage produced by 21 Chinese newspapers (N=685 news items) and conducting a hermeneutic phenomenological theme analysis. In addition to identifying ways stakeholder groups were represented among the World Consumer Rights Day reportage, findings suggested three emergent themes providing clues as to how CSR may be evolving in China: 1) Empowering consumers to pressure business into being responsible, 2) Making government policy to support consumers, and 3) Encouraging a consumer-corporation relationship philosophy. China may be moving away from a primarily philanthropic approach to CSR since supporting consumer-stakeholders is one means by which this is accomplished.
Public Relations Channel “Repertoires”: Exploring Patterns of Channel Use in Practice • Erich Sommerfeldt, University of Maryland; Aimei Yang, University of Southern California; Maureen Taylor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • There are more communication channels available to public relations practitioners today than ever before. While practitioners may use any number of channels to accomplish public relations objectives, public relations research has tended to focus on the use of single communication channel in isolation from other available channels. This study asked senior public relations practitioners in the United States, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia (N = 504) how they employ combinations of media channels or “channel repertoires” to reach their publics. Exploratory analyses revealed four distinct patterns or repertoires of channels. Results of regression analyses revealed that many public relations functions predict the use of certain channel repertoires, and which functions of public relations use more channels than others. The findings have implications for public relations theory building, practice, and pedagogy on media planning and engagement with publics.
Predictors of Members’ Supportive Behaviors Towards Nonprofit Membership Associations • Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama; MoonHee Cho, University of Tennessee • This study investigated determinants of members’ supportive behavioral intentions—to donate and to recommend the membership to others in the context of professional membership associations. Using empirically collected data from more than 5,000 members across six professional membership associations, this study found professional benefits, personal benefits, past donation experience, gender and age for significant factors on the two intentions. However, lengths in the field and solicitation were not significant factors for the members’ supportive future behaviors.
Stewardship and Credibility Strategies in Political Websites • Geah Pressgrove, WVU; Carolyn Kim, Biola University • In today’s digital environment, online stakeholders are more important than ever for political candidates. This study uses a quantitative content analysis of the website home pages of all presidential, senate and congressional candidates in the 2016 election in order to identify stewardship and credibility strategies used. Findings provide valuable insight into the future of online political communication.
Generation 3: Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility in the Age of the Integrated Corporate Citizen • Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Florida Institute of Technology • Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is multi-disciplinary. The literature contains a variety of approaches to and definitions of CSR. CSR communication scholarship has extended beyond the traditional transmission conceptualization of communication to explore CSR through a “communication constitutes organizations” (CCO) lens. This theoretical shift coupled with the increasing practice of strategically planned CSR encourages scholars and practitioners to rethink the role of CSR as an integral part of the organizational narrative. This construction fits with the concept of the corporate global citizen in which a corporation’s activities as a whole embody CSR. This paper examines award-winning corporate/cause partnerships over a ten year period to determine if and how industry standards and expectations of CSR have shifted. Applying the concept of generational CSR, CECP Directors’ Award recipients from 2004 to 2014 are analyzed to better understand if and how communication about such partnerships have evolved to third-generation, integrated CSR. Findings support a trending shift toward communicating more integrated partnerships. Implications for public relations practitioners who must develop corporate narratives and scholars negotiating the interdisciplinary conceptualizations are discussed.
Defining Publics Through CSR Communication: Testing an Integrated Theoretical Model for Examining the Impact of Companies’ Environmental Responsibility Messaging Strategies • Holly Ott, University of South Carolina • This study aims to apply the situational theory of publics and framing theory to corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication research. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to apply and test the theories in this realm to determine how different environmental issues and the manner in which information about each issue impacts publics’ behaviors and, ultimately, their perceptions of a Fortune 500 company and of a given environmental issue. Using a 3 (message frame: diagnostic, prognostic, or motivational) x 2 (environmental issue: general vs. specific) plus control between subjects experimental design, the study examines the attitudes, cognitions, and behavioral intentions different publics may form about different environmental responsibility issues. Furthermore, the study aims to examine how different types of message frames (diagnostic, prognostic, or motivational) and topics may impact how a company can move a public toward information seeking behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used to examine significant paths between variables, thus creating a proposed new theoretical model that can be applied to CSR literature. The present study adds to existing CSR communication research by applying a new theory to CSR literature and offering an integrated model that can assist companies with addressing questions that could enable organizations to enhance their CSR communication efforts.
Crafting Employee Trust: From Authenticity, Transparency to Engagement • Hua Jiang, Syracuse University; Yi Luo, Montclair State University • Based on a random sample of employees (n=391) working across different industry sectors in the US, we proposed and tested a model that investigated how authentic leadership, transparent organizational communication, and employee engagement, as three influential organizational factors, were linked to employee trust. We also examined the interrelationships among these key factors closely associated with long-term business success and organizational development. Results of the study supported our conceptual model, except for the direct effect of authentic leadership upon employee engagement. Theoretical contributions and managerial ramifications of the study were discussed.
The Evidence of Expectancy Violation Induced by Inconsistent CSR Information • Hyejoon Rim, University of Minnesota; Young Eun Park, Indiana University • Applying expectancy violation theory, the study examines how a company’s commitment to CSR interacts with the timing of receiving public relations messages (i.e., presentation order), and how they affect the public’s evaluation of the CSR campaign. The results reveal that presentation order influences the public’s attitudes and the WOM intentions when a company showed a low commitment, but the order effects disappeared when a company perceived to be dedicated to the CSR campaign. The public’s attribution to altruism, however, can differ by the presentation order even though the company showed high commitment. The result suggests potential backfire affects that associated with inconsistent CSR information, especially when public expectations are negatively violated. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Empowering Consumers Through Participatory CSR Programs: The Effect of Participatory CSR on Company Admiration and WOM Communications • Hyojung Park, Louisiana State University; Soo-Yeon Kim, Sogang University • This study conceptualized participatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a consumer empowerment strategy, which allows for public participation in CSR development and implementation. To test positive effects from participatory CSR, a 2 (type of CSR program) × 4 (tone of consumer comments) experiment was conducted in a social media context. The participatory CSR program led participants to have higher levels of perceived self-efficacy and social worth, and these subsequently resulted in stronger intentions to speak positively about the company’s CSR efforts.
Effects of Organization Sustainability Communication: The Influence of Interactivity, Message Framing, and Type of Medium • Jeyoung Oh; Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama • To understand how interactivity, message framing, and type of medium affects public perceptions and reactions to an organization in organization sustainability communication, this study conducted a 2 (interactivity: high vs. low) x 2 (message framing: gain-focused vs. loss-focused) x 2 (medium type: Facebook vs. organizational blog) experimental survey (N = 394). Results show that the level of interactivity and type of message framing appears significantly influences social presence of the message and public positive word-of-mouth intention. Public intention to generate positive word-of-mouth was highest when the message had high interactivity with gain-focused message conveyed in the organization’s Facebook page.
Holy Guacamole! A social network and framing analysis of the Chipotle E. coli contamination issue • John Brummette, Radford University; Hilary Fussell Sisco, Quinnipiac University • Active social media users can develop narratives and frames that, regardless of their accuracy, influence the trajectory of an issue or crisis. As a result, public relations practitioners must continually scan and monitor the dialogue that occurs on social media. Through the use of an agenda-setting and social network analysis framework, this study analyzed the Twitter network and frames that formed around the Chipotle E. coli issue.
Examining the Intersection of Strategic Communications Planning and Social Media Strategy: A Multi-Method Approach • Kenneth Plowman, Brigham Young University; Christopher Wilson, Brigham Young University • While public relations industry leaders have proposed a strategic approach to social media that follows traditional public relations process models, industry research has found that social media practices do not necessarily incorporate these strategic planning principles. Meanwhile, scholarly research on the organizational use of social media has largely focused on message- and channel-level strategy. The purpose of this study is to examine the integration of strategic communication planning with current organizational social media practice at the program level through in-depth interviews and a national survey of public relations practitioners.
Understanding Peer Communication about Companies on Social Media: Evidence from China and the United States • Linjuan Rita Men; Sid Muralidharan • This study proposed and tested a social media peer communication model that links tie strength, social media dependency, and public–organization social media engagement to the peer communication process and organization–public relationship outcomes. Results of a cross-cultural survey of 328 American and 304 Chinese social media users showed that tie strength and public–organization social media engagement are positive predictors of peer communication about companies on social media that leads to quality organization–public relationship outcomes.
Volkswagen mea culpa: Messages, media coverage, and audience responses to the 2015 emission scandal • Melody Fisher; Leslie Rodriguez Rasmussen; Riva Brown, University of Central Arkansas Department of Communication • The body of crisis communication research primarily focuses on one aspect of the communication process: internal and external factors surrounding a company’s response, the discourse of company literature, or audience reception. This study examines the entire communication process of a corporation’s response to crisis — the sender, message, and receiver. Specifically, this study analyzes Volkswagen’s crisis communication strategies and tactics while focusing on the interplay of its messages, media coverage, and audience response.
Facebook, Instagram, and Message Frames • Michel Haigh, Penn State; Kristen Laubscher • This study conducted a 2 (social media messages posted on Facebook and Instagram) by 3 frames – corporate social responsibility, corporate ability, and hybrid) experiment with stakeholders (N = 519). Results indicate Instagram messages significantly increased stakeholders’ purchase intent compared to Facebook messages. In addition, corporate social responsibility frames had a positive influence on stakeholders’ perceptions of the organization’s corporate social responsibility and organization-public relationship.
The Roles of Distrust and Media Use on Risk-Associated Affects, Efficacy, and Activism: The 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Outbreak Crisis in South Korea • MInjeong Kang, The Media School, Indiana University; Jangyul Kim, Colorado State University; Heewon Cha, Division of Communication & Media, Ewha Womans University • The scale of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks has been global. The 2015 South Korean MERS case is unique in that public distrust of the government and inaccurate, unreliable news media coverage of the outbreak unprecedentedly elevated and amplified public risk perceptions. The current study addressed how ineffective government communication, distrust, media use, and negative emotions can lead to public activism intentions and activism behaviors against the government. An online survey with 400 representative samples of South Korean citizens was conducted to assess these links. The study’s findings demonstrated that poor dialogic communication by the government during the crisis exerted a strong effect on public distrust toward the government and public distrust toward the government subsequently led to the arousal of negative emotions (anger and anxiety) among the public. Individuals’ media frame perceptions were also found to influence the arousal of anger and anxiety, mediated by their media uses for information about the crisis. The findings of the study expanded Turner’s Anger Activism Model by identifying critical factors affecting the levels of negative emotions during the MERS crisis, which ultimately led to an increase in activism intentions and behaviors among the public.
Relational Conciliation Effects on Hot-Issue Publics in a Crisis: • Myoung-Gi Chon; Jeong-Nam Kim • The purpose of this study is to explore models for monitoring and predicting active publics and their communicative action regarding organization reputation in a crisis. This study used panel data with 347 participants using social media, conducting the survey twice to track changing publics and evaluate the effectiveness of organizational efforts to cool down publics on the given issue. This study presents two conceptual models based on the Situational Theory of Problem Solving (STOPS) and the theory of Organization-Public Relationships (OPR) to explain changing active publics and illuminate how communicative behaviors change over the course of time in an organizational crisis.
Cyber-security breach and crisis response: An analysis of organizations’ official statements in the U.S. and South Korea • Nahyun Kim; Suman Lee, Iowa State University • The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristics of crisis responses (responsibility admittance, sympathetic expression, compensation, reassurance, spokesperson, victimization, unavoidability) appearing in official statements when a cyber-security breach threatens organizational reputation. It analyzed 108 official statements issued by U.S. and South Korean organizations. The study found that (1) organizations are hesitant to actively admit responsibility, highly express sympathy, and clearly mention compensation. Instead, they vigorously promise that a data breach will not happen again (reassurance); (2) employees are frequent perpetrators of cyber-breaches, as are outside hackers, and (3) individual spokespeople such as CEOs, presidents, and other managers (PR, HR, and IT) are more visible in the U.S. In contrast, in the statements issued by the Korean organizations, collectively referred group identities such as all members of organization and name of organization are more visible.
The State of Peer Review in the Public Relations Division: A Survey • Pat Curtin; John Russial, University of Oregon; Alec Tefertiller, University of Oregon • This study reports the findings from a survey of AEJMC conference paper reviewers, with particular emphasis paid to the 90 respondents who have reviewed for the Public Relations Division, to determine how they characterize the state of peer review both as reviewers themselves and as recipients of reviews. Significant differences exist between how they approach reviewing conference papers versus journal submissions, and how satisfied PRD reviewers are with the process compared to other AEJMC reviewers.
How Organizations Built and Framed the National News Media Agenda for Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy • Paula Weissman, American University • This content analysis explored how health and medical organizations influenced national news media coverage about postmenopausal hormone therapy from 1995 to 2011. A positive, significant relationship was found between the quantity of press releases (N=675) and news stories (N=429) over time (r = .55, p<.001). Findings supported the transference of attribute frames (benefits and risks) from the PR to the news agenda. Press releases and news stories communicate different benefits and risks than FDA-regulated channels.
Communicating Social Responsibility Efforts: A Success Strategy for Nonprofits or a Shift from Stakeholders’ Priorities? • Richard D. Waters, University of San Francisco; Holly Ott, University of South Carolina • Through a 2×5 experiment that tested the message believability and source credibility of corporate social responsibility (CSR) messaging by nonprofit organizations, this study sought to determine whether CSR messaging that is unrelated to a nonprofit organization’s mission and area of programmatic service could boost its reputation. Much of the CSR literature has documented benefits of CSR communication for corporations, but recent research has shown that nonprofit leaders are skeptical of CSR messaging because of its potential to make the nonprofit appear that it is focusing on aspects other than its mission. The results of this study highlight that CSR messaging does provide a reputational boost to the nonprofit, but the organization should be cautious as to how they incorporate the CSR messaging into their communication efforts.
The Invisible Moderators: Homophily Thesis and Agenda-Building Role of State-Owned media in the 2014 Hong Kong Protest • Tianduo Zhang, University of Florida; Ji Young Kim; Tiffany Schweickart, University of Florida; Barbara Myslik, University of Florida; Liudmila Khalitova, University of Florida; Jordan Neil; Craig Carroll, New York University; Guy Golan, Syracuse University; spiro kiousis • This study aims to advance theoretical and practical knowledge of political public relations and mediated public diplomacy through analyzing the agenda-building effects of state-own media in 2014 Hong Kong Protest, and testing whether social system homophily predicts the strength such agenda-building effects. Our results present strong correlations between Chinese state-own media agenda and foreign media agenda of 11 countries across. The democratic, cultural, and press freedom proximity does not impact state-own media’s agenda-building effect.
Buffer or Backfire: How Pre-Crisis Associations and Attitude Certainty Impact Consumer Crisis Responses • Weiting Tao, University of Miami • This experiment examines how consumers with positive associations in corporate ability versus social responsibility respond to associated-based crises differently. It also tests how consumers further adjust their responses based on the perceived certainty in their pre-crisis company attitudes. Results reveal that attitude certainty determines when positive pre-crisis associations buffer a company against crises or backfire. Additionally, the buffering and backfiring effects vary in magnitude dependent on the relevance of the crisis to these associations.
Understanding Publics’ Post-Crisis Social Media Engagement • Xiaochen Zhang, Kansas State University; Jonathan Borden, Syracuse University • Through an online survey, this study examines publics’ post-crisis social media engagement behavioral intentions including information seeking, support seeking, as well as negative and positive word-of-mouth in Chipotle’s E. coli crisis. Results indicate that uncertainty avoidance and relational trust may affect perceived severity, perceived susceptibility (i.e., likelihood of being affected by the crisis threat), and negative emotions (i.e., anger, contempt, disgust and fear), which lead to subsequent social media communication behavioral intentions.
Looking for Motivational Routes for Employee-Generated Innovation: The Effect of Individual, Managerial, and Compensatory System Factors on Employees’ Work Creativity and Scouting • Yeunjae Lee; Alessandra Mazzei; Alessandro Lovari; Jeong-Nam Kim • The purpose of this study is to (1) develop an integrated model of employees’ scouting behavior, (2) investigate how individual, managerial, and compensatory system factors affect employee empowerment and creativity, and (3) examine how employee empowerment and creative process engagement influence on communicative action, scouting behavior. A web-based survey of 306 current employees who are working full-time in a semi-conductor company in Italy explored the antecedents of a newly introduced employees’ communicative behavior, scouting. It refers to employees’ voluntary communication efforts to bring relevant information to the organization. Results suggest that the employees’ empowerment and creative work engagement are positively related to their scouting behavior. Moreover, we examined how employees’ intrinsic motivation, leader’s empowering leadership, and compensatory system factors affect employees’ empowerment and work creativity. Theoretical and practical implications for future research are discussed.
Student
Bridging the Gap: Testing the Mediating Effects of Relationship Quality and Type in the CSR Communication Process • Alan Abitbol, Texas Tech University • Utilizing the stakeholder and relationship management theories as framework, this study examined the mediating effects of perceived relationship quality and type on the CSR communication process. The results of an online survey of consumers (N = 847) showed that relationship quality and communal relationships mediated the relationship between exposure to CSR messages and attitude. This suggests the impact of a company’s CSR communication can be more effective on positive outcomes if they prioritize company-stakeholder relationships.
Motivation with Misinformation: Conceptualizing Lacuna Individuals and Publics as Knowledge Deficient, Vaccine-Negative Issue-Specific Activists • Arunima Krishna • This study sought to propose and test a new sub-type of individual activism – lacuna individuals. Lacuna individuals are those who hold high levels of negative attitudes about an issue, have deficient issue-specific knowledge, and yet are highly motivated in their information behaviors about the issue. The evaluation and acceptance of scientifically non-legitimate data, referred to as knowledge deficiency, and negative attitudes about the respective issues, form the focal points of the conceptualization of lacuna individuals. In this study, the context vaccine negativity in the US was investigated to identify lacuna individuals about vaccine safety. Results revealed that knowledge deficient, vaccine-negative individuals displayed higher levels of issue-specific perceptions, motivations, and communication behaviors about vaccines as a social issue than did non-knowledge deficient, non-vaccine negative individuals. Results, therefore, support the conceptualization of lacuna individuals, and publics, as knowledge deficient activists holding high levels of negative attitudes, and contribute to public relations scholarship by bringing knowledge and attitudes in conversation with issue-specific activism.
Testing the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model as a Predictive Tool for the NFL’s Concussion Crisis • Danielle Myers, THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM; Douglas Wilbur, The University of Missouri School of Journalism • This study repurposes the integrated crisis-mapping (ICM) model as a public relations (PR) tool for practitioners to choose an optimal response message frame in anticipation of an emotional reaction from publics. The context used for this study National Football League’s (NFL) issue of player concussions, which is a significant PR threat. Quadrants two and four of the model were tested using two hypothetical crisis response frames: accident and an equipment failure. A web-based experiment was conducted using a 2 (response condition) x 2 (involvement: high vs. low) x 2 (exposure to the NFL concussion issue) between subjects factorial design. Findings suggest that the message frames are not significant predictors of the emotions posited by the ICM model. Feelings of schadenfreude and sympathy were present; participants were more sympathetic toward NFL players than to the NFL. The accident condition was a predictor of perceived high organizational engagement, increased message credibility, and more positive perceptions of corporate reputation in comparison to the equipment failure condition. Those indicating higher involvement toward the NFL also indicated more favorable perceptions of corporate reputation, while those who were more exposed to the NFL concussion issue prior to the study indicated less favorable perceptions of corporate reputation.
The NFL and Its Concussion Crisis: Adapting the Contingency Theory to Examine Shifts in Publics’ Stances • Douglas Wilbur, The University of Missouri School of Journalism; Danielle Myers, University of Missouri • The National Football League is immersed in a serious conflict involving a disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The conflict appears to have manifested into a crisis with the release of Sony Motion Picture’s film Concussion, which is highly critical of the league. The movie has the potential to influence various publics in a manner that is harmful to the league. This study uses the contingency theory of conflict management, specifically stance adoption along the contingency continuum, as the theoretical framework. Past studies have used the contingency continuum to evaluate the shifting stances of organizations during crisis communication. However, the purpose of this study is to determine if various unorganized publics can develop stances in the same manner in which an organization may adopt a stance. A quantitative content analysis of tweets using the hashtag “#ConcussionMovie” or the words “NFL” and “concussion within the same tweet was used to gather data. Non-parametric tests revealed statistically significant findings that indicate most publics have adopted a positive advocative stance towards the movie. The findings also indicate that four of the six publics adopted an advocacy stance against the league, while two indicate a mildly accommodative stance. This study provides some evidence that contingency theory can be expanded to include not only the organization involved in the crisis, but also unorganized publics, although further research is required. The study also has implications for public relations practitioners who must account for the multitude of reactions of various publics during a crisis situation.
Public relations education in an emerging democracy: The case of Ghana • Esi Thompson, University of Oregon • A lot of studies have paid attention to public relations education in different countries. But, there is a dearth of studies on public relations education in emerging democracies in Africa. This is in spite of calls by scholars (e.g., Sriramesh 2002) for evidence of non US experiences and perspectives to enrich the profession. The current study responds to this call by investigating public relations education in Ghana. Through interviews, this study unearths how public relations lecturers in Ghana are preparing students for the industry in an emerging democracy. The findings show that lecturers perceive a reluctance on the part of professionals to accept students for internships and jobs. Furthermore, although there are curriculum inconsistencies across the diploma, bachelors and masters level, under resourced lecturers find ways to appropriate and provide the students with skills needed for industry.
Do local news side with a local organization? The impact of boosterism and information subsidies on local and national news about the crisis of Ray Rice and the Baltimore Ravens • Eunyoung Kim, University of Alabama • The study examines how local news tends to support local organizations differently from national news. Three reasons of differentiation between local and national news were suggested: organizations’ boost to the city’s economic growth, journalists’ personal/professional values, and information subsidy of local news from local organizations. Content analyses on news about the Ravens’ crisis show positive relationships between dependency on organizational sources and supportive coverage on local news. Theoretical and practical implications are presented in conclusion.
Does Public Segmentation Matter in Crisis Communication? The Interplay between Public Segmentation and Crisis Response Strategies • Jing (Taylor) Wen, University of Florida; Jo-Yun Queenie Li; Baobao Song • The Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) provides guidelines for understanding the effectiveness of different crisis response strategies. The current study showcases the importance of public segmentation in the SCCT model. A 3 (crisis response strategy: deny, diminish, rebuild) × 4 (public segment: advocate, dormant, adversarial, apathetic) factorial experiment was conducted. The findings suggest that advocate public expressed more positive evaluation about the company when exposed to rebuild and deny strategies. Both dormant and adversarial stakeholders reported positive responses on rebuild and diminish strategies. However, no difference was found among apathetic public. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.
Relationship cultivation strategies on global art museums’ Facebook fan pages • Joongsuk Lee, University of Alabama; Woojin Kim, University of Texas • This study examined types and indicators of relationship cultivation strategies on Facebook fan pages of 168 global art museums by using a content analysis. Findings showed that the networking strategy was most often used, followed by access, positivity, openness, assurance, and sharing of tasks. Other findings reported that nearly half of all 18 indicators were less used than one-half of the total sample. The indicators less used than half are links to other online entertainment media, histories, mission statements, exhibitions, responses to user reviews, membership fees, e-stores, and donations. Implications of the results are discussed.
Message Framing Effects on Increasing Donation for Nonprofit Organizations • Jung Won Chun, University of Florida • Message framing has been considered as an important theoretical framework to understand publics’ perception of nonprofit organizations’ charitable giving campaigns and their subsequent behavior intentions. By adopting appropriate message strategies, particularly framing, charitable giving campaigns can overcome apathy toward a group of unidentified victims and increase donors’ participation. The current study explored the effects of message framing focusing on regulatory fit (promotion vs. prevention), and donation target (episodic vs. thematic) by employing a 2 × 2 experimental design. The results revealed that people who read a promotion-focused message were more willing to donate than those who read a prevention-focused message when the message targeted several unidentified victims. A moderated mediation effect of feeling of hope showed the underlying mechanism to explain the effects of message framing.
The 2015 China Cruise Ship Disaster: An Extended Analysis of Image Restoration Strategies • Lijie Zhou, The University of Southern Mississippi • This mixed-analysis study examined the Chinese government’s crisis communication efforts across three stages of 2015 China cruise ship disaster. Though a quantitative analysis, this study compared the major image restoration strategies used at each stage. Beyond statistical comparisons, though a textual analysis, the study discussed the culture influence on usage of image restoration strategy and what cultural dimensions should be considered when designing crisis communication strategies so as to be culturally sensitive and relevant.
Seeing a Crisis through Colored Glasses: Exploring Partisan Media and Attribution of Crisis Responsibility on Government Trust in a National Crisis • Myoung-Gi Chon; Elisabeth Fondren, Louisiana State University • The goal of this study is to explore how partisan media influence publics’ attribution of crisis responsibility and government trust in a national crisis. Using a real disaster, the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster of South Korea, this study examined that how partisan media influence attribution of crisis responsibility to government. Further, attribution of crisis responsibility as a mediator was tested in the study. The results revealed that publics accessing liberal media are more likely to attribute crisis responsibility to the government; whereas publics reading conservative media are less likely to attribute crisis responsibility to the government. However, attribution of crisis responsibility appeared to mediate the effect of partisan media on government trust in a crisis.
Please Share Your Voice: Examining the Effect of Two-way Communication Approach in Crisis Response Messages • Shupei Yuan, Michigan State University; Tsuyoshi Oshita, Michigan State University • The current study employed an experiment (N=250) to investigate the effects of two-way communication approach in crisis communication on individual’s attitude toward the crisis response message and the company. We also considered perceived fairness as the mediator to explain the effect of two-way communication. The results showed two-way communication approach has positive influence on participants’ attitude, which suggest that excellence theory is still valid in the context of crisis communication. Moreover, as predicted, individual’s perceived fairness from the organization explains why two-way communication works. The findings provided both scholarly and practical implications for crisis communication.
Expanding the Integrated Crisis Mapping Model: Publics’ Emotions, Coping, and Organizational Engagement Following the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing • Sylvia Guo • Guided by the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) model and coping literature, this study qualitatively examined online publics’ crisis emotions, especially positive ones, coping methods, and a focal organization’s (Boston Athletic Association, or BAA) engagement as discursively enacted on the Boston Marathon Facebook (BMF) page during one month following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Results from qualitative content analysis showed that positive public emotions existed and stemmed from online publics’ identity, coping, and BAA’s engagement. Publics engaged in cognitive, emotional, action-based, and discursive coping; they formed a rhetorical digital community where a renewal discourse fostered positive emotions, aided coping, and guided BAA’s engagement. By detailing the connections among publics’ positive emotions, coping, BAA’s engagement, and community discourse, this study offers suggestions to (1) refine and expand the ICM model, and (2) develop a community-based, organization-decentered renewal discourse, which reflects the social media landscape and can be integrated in the ICM model.
Fortune 100 Companies’ Overall Social Media Presence and Dialogic Engagement at Facebook • Tae Ho Lee • Based on the dialogic theory, this content analysis explored the overall usage of social media platforms by Fortune 100 companies, and the actual dynamics of communication on Facebook, by investigating 261 profiles found on various social media platforms, together with 400 posts and 268 responses on Facebook. The findings suggested the widespread adoption of diverse platforms, a meaningful presence of special purpose accounts, and the lack of realization of dialogic potential. Practical implications are discussed.
The Voice of the Public: Twitter’s Role in Crisis Communication • Terri Manley, Texas Tech University; Mary Norman, Texas Tech University • On August 18, 2015, 37 million private Ashley Madison accounts were leaked onto the dark web. Using a content analysis to analyze the Twitter comments to understand the reactions, focus of interest, and emotional elements regarding the hack and the company, the results indicated that the public’s attention focused more on who was on the website, and what exactly the website stood for versus the negligence of the company’s security and business practices.
Mismatch vs. Magnitude: Defining and Testing Overresponse and Overreaction • Tyler G Page, University of Maryland • Situational Crisis Communication Theory suggests reputation repair strategies for organizations facing crises, however, it does not explain the impact of magnitude of response or what constitutes an overreaction. This study defines two different types of overreaction: overreaction and overresponse. It experimentally tests both with a sample of 487 participants and finds that magnitude of response can impact crisis outcomes. Implications for theory and practitioners are discussed.
Can We Trust Government Again? An Experimental Test of Government Reputation Repair and Kategoria • Tyler G Page, University of Maryland • This study is the first to compare how effective Situational Crisis Communication Theory response strategies are in repairing the reputation of governments compared to businesses. Using an experiment of 232 participants, it shows that a government in crisis will experience better outcomes than a business. This research also compares strategies within the denial posture for effectiveness and is the first to examine kategoria and its effects. Implications for theory and practitioners are discussed.
Crowdsourcing Corporate Social Responsibility • Young Eun Park, Indiana University • A growing number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices are utilizing online consumer participation (i.e., crowdsourcing). As opposed to traditional CSR communication, the crowdsourcing approach invites the public to generate and decide on companies’ CSR initiatives. The current research examined the effects of crowdsourcing in the context of CSR through experiments using an actual company (Starbucks). A pretest and posttest between subject experiments with three conditions (no crowdsourcing CSR, one-way crowdsourcing CSR, and two-way crowdsourcing CSR) were performed among 108 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. The results indicate that one-way crowdsourcing was significantly higher than a no-crowdsourcing condition in terms of affective commitment. Also, this study examined crowdsourcing in relation to negative corporate issues covered in the media. The findings indicate that presenting CSR regardless of its format (e.g., CSR report, one-way, or two-way crowdsourcing) generated a positive attitude while crisis significantly decreased attitude.
Constructing Corporate Responsibility and Relationships: Analyzing CEO Letters in Annual Reports by ExxonMobil and Chevron • Zifei (Fay) Chen, University of Miami • Through a qualitative content analysis of CEO letters in ExxonMobil and Chevron’s annual reports from 2005 to 2014, this study explored how corporate responsibility and stakeholder relationships were constructed in the corporate communication process for the two U.S. oil companies. Findings showed financial and economic dominated construction of responsibility and hierarchized stakeholder relationships, revealing the discrepancies between the companies’ social reporting and normative standards of responsible conduct. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Teaching
The State of Social Media Curriculum: Exploring Professional Expectations of Pedagogy and Practices to Equip the Next Generation of Professionals • Carolyn Kim, Biola University; Karen Freberg, University of Louisville • With the rise of social media, university programs are searching for effective ways to prepare students to use social media (Fratti, 2013). This challenge is mirrored by professionals who are also seeking to better equip themselves (Brown, 2014). This study explored key elements that should be included in social media education through interviews with over 20 social media industry leaders. Findings provided extensive guidance for faculty who teach social media courses.
I Love Tweeting in Class, But … A Mixed-Method Study of Student Perceptions of the Impact of Twitter in Large Lecture Classes • Jenny Tatone; Tiffany Gallicano, University of Oregon; Alec Tefertiller, University of Oregon • In this study, we explored how students think the use of Twitter as a pedagogical tool in the large lecture classroom affects their sense of class community (if it has any impact). We also explored students’ opinions about the ways (if any) that Twitter affects their learning experience in a large lecture classroom. We then compared survey data between two classes to identify differences resulting from Twitter use.
Teaching Media Relationships: What’s in the Textbooks? • Justin Pettigrew, Kennesaw State University; Kristen Heflin, Kennesaw State University • Media relations is still an extremely important part of a public relation’s students education. This study examined 6 introductory texts and 6 PR writing texts from a media relations standpoint. The study found that while textbooks provide basic information for reaching the media through tactical means, few go beyond that to discuss initiating and maintain long-lasting relationships with media professionals that are necessary for long-term success in navigating the changing nature of both fields.
A Dam(n) Failure: Exploring Interdisciplinary, Cross-Course Group Projects on STEM-Translation in Crisis Communication • Laura Willis, Quinnipiac University • This exploratory, quasi-experimental study examines whether incorporating an interdisciplinary, cross-course aspect to a group project on the Teton Dam failure in a crisis communication management course would impact public relations students’ ability to translate technical aspects of the crisis for media and public audiences. Results suggest the inclusion of an engineering student as a technical ‘expert’ negatively impacted project grades and increased student frustration. Possible improvements and lessons for future interdisciplinary, cross-course projects are presented.
Empowering the Future Practitioner: Postmodernism in the Undergraduate Public Relations Classroom • Stephanie Madden, University of Maryland; Katie Brown, University of Maryland; Sifan Xu, University of Maryland • Although academics have worked to bring postmodernism approaches into public relations scholarship, there has been little to no attempt to date to integrate postmodern principles into the undergraduate public relations classroom. This study explored how public relations educators can teach postmodern concepts to undergraduate students, as well as the main lessons learned about public relations from a postmodern lens by students. Results of this study indicated students were forced to questions their underlying assumptions about organizational structures for the first time and gained a deeper appreciation for the complexity of public relations.
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