Public Relations Division
Doug Newsom Award for Global Ethics and Diversity
How Do Stakeholders React to Different Levels of LGBTQ-related Diversity and Inclusion CSR in India? Examining Social Acceptance, Perceived Fit, and Value-driven Attribution • Nandini Bhalla, Washington and Lee University; Yeonsoo Kim, James Madison University; Shudan Huang • This study examined stakeholders’ responses toward LGBTQ-related diversity and inclusion CSR practices in India. The study proposed a dual-route model and explored how different degrees of LGBTQ-DI CSR practices (i.e., active, passive and refusal) influence stakeholders’ perception of CSR levels, CSR fit evaluation and CSR attribution and in turn, impact CSR outcomes (i.e., corporate evaluation, supportive communication intent and purchase intent). An online experiment with real stakeholders in India was conducted. The findings suggest an interaction influence between social acceptance and perceived levels of CSR on CSR fit. Also, CSR- induced value-driven motives can strongly influence CSR associations. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Open Competition
Examining Problem Chain Recognition Effect: How Issue Salience and Proximity Impact Environmental Communication Behaviors? • Nandini Bhalla, Washington and Lee University • This study applied the STOPS theory and tested the mechanism of problem chain recognition effect in the realm of environmental communication. Using a 2 (environmental issue salience: salient vs. non-salient) × 2 (environmental issue proximity: local vs. global) experimental design, this study found that if individuals have high motivation for climate change problem, they are more likely to perceive and talk about other related lesser known environmental issues (air pollution/land degradation).
CSA and the OPR: Corporate Attachment and Stakeholder Motivations to the Organization-Public Relationship • Jonathan Borden, Nowhere • As increasing professional and academic interest turns towards corporate social advocacy as a practice, it is crucial we consider theoretical frameworks to understand the mechanisms of CSA’s effects on the organization-public relationship. This study applies the attachment theory of interpersonal relationships to understand how corporate political behaviors can motivate stakeholder attitudes and behavioral intentions.
Towards a Conceptualization of Corporate Accountability • Jonathan Borden; Xiaochen Zhang, University of Oklahoma • Corporate accountability remains a significant construct in normative public relations theory and in applied crisis response, yet it remains ambiguous in practice. This research operationalizes a three-factor accountability scale based on the extant literature and validates this scale among three sample publics. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.
* Extended Abstract * Effective Social Media Communication for Startups in China: Antecedents and Outcomes of Organization-Public Dialogic Communication • Zifei Chen; Grace Ji, Boston University • This study examines the mechanism through which startups can drive publics’ trust and positive word-of-mouth using effective social media communication. Results from an online survey with 1,061 social media users in Mainland China revealed that startups’ conversational human voice and social presence on social media helped drive organization-public dialogic communication, and startups’ organization-public dialogic communication, in turn, fostered publics’ trust and positive word-of-mouth. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
CEO Activism & Employee Relations: Factors Affecting Employees’ Sense of Belonging in Workplace • Moonhee Cho, University of Tennessee; Sifan Xu, University of Tennessee Knoxville; Brandon Boatwright • Acknowledging the importance of CEO activism in employee relations, this study examined how perceived employee-CEO value fit influences employee’s sense of belonging. Furthermore, using expectancy violation theory (EVT) and the concept of salience, this study explored moderating effects of expectation-reality discrepancy and salience of CEO activism. Conducting an online survey with 429 employees in the U.S., the study provides both theoretical and practical implications for effective CEO activism.
* Extended Abstract * Balancing Between a Global and Local Perspective in the Public Relations Agency Industry • Surin Chung, Ohio University; Suman Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill; Euirang Lee, Ohio University • This study examined the current status of globalization and localization of public relations industry and its market environmental factors by analyzing 101 countries. Using content analysis and the secondary data analysis, this study found that the degree of globalization of public relations industry in a country was influenced by its economic (foreign direct investment inflow), legal (rule of law), cultural (power distance, individualism, masculinity) and media system (press freedom) factors. The degree of localization of public relations industry in a country was also influenced by its economic (trade) and media system (press freedom) factors.
Building the science news agenda: The permeability of science journalism to public relations • Suzannah Comfort; Mike Gruszczynski; Nicholas Browning • The current study examines the relative influence of press releases about scientific studies in terms of their impact on news coverage. Using an innovative approach that allowed for analysis of a large corpus of text and calculation of similarity scores, we were able to trace the influence of press release materials into news media articles. We found that news organization characteristics were a more important indicator of PR success than press release characteristics. News organizations that had a history of producing award-winning science journalism were much less likely to draw on PR materials, reaffirming the importance of news organizations’ dedication to providing resources for science journalism. In some cases, news articles incorporated up to 86% of the material from a press release – a shocking indication of how powerful information subsidies can be. While our results contain some good news for public relations practitioners, they also carry a warning for consumers of journalism and for the public science agenda, which may be left vulnerable to bad actors exploiting the natural trust that the public, and journalists, have in science.
* Extended Abstract * Reconstructing the PR history time machine: Missing women and people of color in introductory textbooks • Tugce Ertem-Eray, University of Oregon; Donnalyn Pompper • This exploratory study offers a critical perspective on reasons for and effects of missing women and people of color across introductory public relations textbooks’ history pages, leading instructors to supplement public relations history lessons with their own pedagogical materials. Viewing survey findings of public relations instructors through feminist and critical race theory lenses yields two important recommendations to include women and people of color in recorded public relations history.
Hot Issue and Enduring Publics on Twitter: A Big Data Analysis of the Charlotte Protest • Tiffany Gallicano; Ryan Wesslen, UNC Charlotte; Jean-Claude Thill, UNC Charlotte; Zhuo Cheng, UNC Charlotte; Samira Shaikh • This study is the first of its kind to contribute to theory regarding hot issue and enduring publics in a naturalistic setting, and it models a way to conceptualize these types of publics based on their Twitter behavior. We applied structural topic modeling to 151,004 tweets to investigate tweet content, the duration of tweeting behavior, and the extent to which a small group of people shoulder the majority of the content generation in hot issue and in enduring publics. We found not only validation for existing theory but also questions for future researchers to explore based on surprising findings. This study also updates the conceptualization of hot issue publics for the social media age.
Saying vs. Doing: Examining the Effects of Corporate Issue Stances and Action • Eve Heffron, University of Florida; Melissa Dodd, University of Central Florida; Jay Hmielowski, University of Florida • This study expands the body of research surrounding corporate social advocacy (CSA). Using an experimental design, participants were exposed to three conditions for Nike’s engagement with the issue of equal pay. Results indicated that taking a stance with action was associated with more positive outcomes than both the stance-only and no-stance conditions; and taking a stance only was associated with more positive outcomes than the non-stance condition. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
* Extended Abstract * Extended Abstract: Thriving Under the Sun: Stakeholder Relationships of Small Firms in the Emerging Field of Solar • Nell Huang-Horowitz; Aleena Sexton • This paper explores stakeholder relationships of small firms in the emerging field of solar. Interviews were conducted with 29 small firm executives. Results show that executives view customers as their number one priority, employees as family and partners, and government as supporter and opponent. Some challenges faced include the lack of credibility and legitimacy, limitation in resources, widespread misconception, and uncertainty about the future. Solutions on how these challenges can be addressed are also discussed.
Engaging employees in CEO activism: The role of transparent leadership communication in making a social impact • Grace Ji, Boston University; Cheng Hong, California State University, Sacramento • “With a survey of 600 U.S. employees, this study investigated the effect of transparent leadership communication on employee engagement in the context of CEO activism. Employees’ perceived psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) were examined as mediators. Results showed transparent leadership communication was positively associated with employees’ psychological needs. In turn, needs for autonomy and relatedness both positively influenced employees’ information sharing and activism participation intentions. Theoretical and managerial contributions were discussed.”
Mapping CSR Communication Networks on Social Media: The Influence of Communication Tactics on Public Responses • Yangzhi Jiang, Louisiana State University; Hyojung Park • Grounded in the networked stakeholder management theory and two-way communication, this study provides a snapshot of networks between companies and publics on Twitter in a CSR communication context. Results showed that CSR communication activities (i.e., informing, retweeting, and mentioning) empowered a corporation through centralizing its network position and gaining public support (i.e., emotional, influencer, and knowledge support). In addition, degree centrality mediated the relationship between corporate retweets and stakeholders’ knowledge supports.
How controversial businesses look good through CSR communication on Facebook: Insights from the Canadian cannabis industry • Ran Ju, Mount Royal University; Chuqing Dong; Yafei Zhang • This study advances our current understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in a controversial industry by analyzing CSR-related Facebook posts from seven Canadian public cannabis companies. Our findings indicated that these companies’ CSR communication was mostly instrumentalist, lacked transparency, and used effective multimedia characteristics. In addition, public reactions (# of likes, comments, and shares) suggested an association between CSR communication efforts and engagement revealing both opportunities and ethical concerns for CSR scholars and practitioners.
Who’s Posting That? Roles and Responsibilities at Civil Rights Organizations • Kate Keib, Oglethorpe University; Katie Hunter; Sarah Taphom • Ethnic Public Relations asserts that organizations focused on particular cultural groups are unique from general organizations. Civil Rights Organizations fall into that category and deserve their own area of study. Messaging on social media is a heavily relied upon tactic by advocacy organizations. Utilizing role theory, as well as two scales aimed at understanding how social media communicators function in organizations, this survey based study examines the communications teams at civil rights organizations, the levels of role conflict and ambiguity, as well as the levels of social media self-development and leadership. Results begin to fill a void in ethnic PR work focused on civil rights organizations, extend role theory and can help such organizations understand how to best structure their teams.
How Strategic Internal Communication Leads to Employee Creativity: The Role of Employees’ Feedback Seeking Behaviors • Yeunjae Lee, University of Miami; Jarim Kim, Yonsei University • “This study examined how organizations’ internal communication affects employee creativity through the lens of the symmetrical communication model in public relations and the theory of creativity, using a survey with 405 full-time employees in the U.S. The results suggested that information flow, supportive supervisory communication, and CEO relational communication positively influence symmetrical internal communication systems. The analysis also indicated symmetrical internal communication caused employees to seek more feedbacks, which in turn enhanced creativity.”
Online Firestorms in Social Media: Comparative Research between China Weibo and USA Twitter • Sora Kim, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Kang Hoon Sung, California State Polytechnic University; Yingru JI; Chen Xing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Jiayu Qu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Through a quantitative content analysis of top trending keywords and associated top tweets in the United States (US) Twitter and China (CN) Weibo, this study offers significant insights into how users in varying countries engage in online firestorms, extending the existing knowledge in cultural aspects of crisis communication. Users on the two platforms showed difference in attribution focus (individuals vs. group/organizations), target scope (government/politics vs. business arena), and prioritized social problems (racism vs. corruption/bribe).
The determinants of support for crowdfunding sites: Understanding internal and external factors from PR’s perspectives • Eunyoung Kim, Auburn University at Montgomery; Sung Eun Park, University of Southern Indiana • “This study aims to examine the factors affecting behavioral intention of online donation and word-of-mouth via crowdfunding sites, so we have conducted an online survey. The results confirm that social identification, relationships with SNS connectors, involvement, and attitudes toward online donation positively predict intention to donate online. Also, attitudes toward helping others, social identification, involvement, and SNS features had predictive power on intention of word-of-mouth. Theoretical and practical implications are presented in discussion and conclusion.”
Is timing everything? : Exploring benefits and drawbacks of stealing thunder in crisis communication • Soo-Yeon Kim, Sogang University; Jeong-Hyeon Lee, Gauri Communication Co.; JIN SUN SUL, SOGANG UNIVERSITY • Qualitative responses from 286 Korean consumers were collected to find their perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of stealing thunder. Although more consumers evaluated stealing thunder positively, others pointed out its negative consequences. Consumers identified positivity, credibility, consumer behavior, and ethics as benefits, while they considered backfire effects, irrelevant consumer behavior, negativity, and admittance to be drawbacks. Follow-up actions and transparent crisis communication, along with stealing thunder, were also emphasized as positive aspects of crisis communication. For stealing thunder to be acknowledged positively in society, it must fulfill the ethics of justice and care, and consumers must experience it in real world situations.
* Extended Abstract * Extended Abstract: The Impact of Fairness Perception on the Public’s Attitudinal and Emotional Evaluation of an Organization • Nahyun Kim, Pennsylvania State University; Suman Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill • “A 2 (distributive fairness: high vs. low) x 2 (procedural fairness: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment (N = 134) was conducted online to test the impact of (un)fairness perception on trustworthiness, quality of organization-public relationship, and the publics’ anger and attitude toward an organization, and positive/negative word-of-mouth intentions. Procedural fairness had significant impact on all of the dependent variables while distributive fairness had significant impacts on some dimensions of trustworthiness (e.g., competence, integrity) and attitude.”
Diversity-oriented leadership, internal communication, and employee outcomes: A perspective of racial minority employees • Yeunjae Lee, University of Miami; Queenie Li, University of Miami; Wanhsiu Tsai • Through 633 samples of racial minority employees in the United States, the current study examines the effect of diversity-oriented leadership on the excellence of internal communication and employee outcomes. Using the normative model of internal communication and organizational justice theory, this study advances the theoretical links among leadership, communication, and organizational justice, and its resulting effects on employee engagement and behavioral outcome. Results of an online survey showed that diversity-oriented leadership enhances symmetrical internal communication and racial minority employees’ perceived fairness of an organization, thereby increasing employee engagement and advocative behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications for public relations and internal communication are discussed.
Power of Apology: Comparative Analysis of Crisis Response Strategy Effects between China and the United States of America • Moon Lee, University of Florida; Sunny Yufan Qin, University of Florida • The purpose of the study was to investigate differences in how people respond to two distinctive crisis response strategies (i.e. apology vs. bolstering strategy) in comparison with combined strategy (i.e. apology followed by bolstering strategy) and no comment strategy (e.g. strategic silence: the control group). In addition, the publics’ responses between two different countries (USA vs. China) were compared. Two experimental studies were conducted with a total of 629 people (297 in America vs. 332 in China). In both countries, apology strategy works the best in garnering the public’s trust and reputation in an accidental crisis, particularly in comparison with bolstering strategy. Practical/theoretical implications are further discussed in the paper.
* Extended Abstract * Extended Abstract: Exploring the Effects of CSR on Perceived Brand Innovativeness, Brand Identification and Brand Attitude • Yukyung Lee, University of Connecticut; Carolyn A. Lin, University of Connecticut • This experimental study reveals that exposure to a sustainable (vs. generic) fashion ad increases perceived CSR image and brand innovativeness. The relationship between sustainable fashion ad exposure and CSR image is stronger when attitude towards sustainable fashion is more positive. Perceived CSR image is also positively related to perceived brand innovativeness, consumer-brand identification and brand attitude. Moreover, perceived brand innovativeness and consumer-brand identification both significantly mediate the relationship between perceived CSR image and brand attitude.
From tragedy to activism: Publics’ emotions, efficacy, and communicative action on Twitter in the case of the 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting • Queenie Li, University of Miami; Taylor Wen, University of South Carolina • Guided by the Anger Activism Model and pain and loss activism literature, this study analyzes public discussion in a particular case of activism on social media (i.e., the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting) to present a refined activism framework that advances predictions for policy change engagement during pain and loss events. Key insights about the joint effects of emotion and efficacy in activism communication, public segmentation, and communicative action provide direction for future research investigations that can strengthen theoretical arguments and best practices in activism and advocacy. Public relations or activism scholars can use this research as a stepping stone for conceptualizing more comprehensive ways to identify activist publics and motivate inactive publics to take action.
A View from the Margins of the Margins: How a Queer of Color Critique Enriches Understanding of Public Relations • Nneka Logan; Erica Ciszek • This paper examines the public relations field from the perspective transgender communicators of color. It unites queer of color literature with Bourdieu’s conceptualization of habitus to explore issues of race, gender and marginalization within the discipline. Interviews were conducted with 13 transgender communicators of color and revealed several themes with important implications for public relations theory and practice including advocacy, representation and empowerment. Building on anti-racist and queer scholarship, the purpose of this paper is to expand public relations research by offering a more inclusive conceptualization of the discipline through centering marginalized voices.
Image Repair in the #MeToo Movement: An Examination of Kevin Spacey’s Double Crisis • Don Lowe, University of Kentucky • Through examination of the news articles and Tweets that followed the Anthony Rapp Buzz Feed News article and Spacey’s response Tweet, I argue: (1) double crisis exist; (2) proxy communicators often feel the need to speak out for the profession/industry; (3) proxy communications can be positive or negative; (4) proxy communication can cause harm to the individuals who practice the concept often creating a new crisis; and (5) LGBTQ community members are treated differently as well as the same as their heterosexual counterparts during crises. The Spacey case clearly exemplifies and qualifies as a double crisis. While the severity of the initial and following legal proceedings and publication of numerous other sexual assault claims are proving to be detrimental to Spacey, his Tweet conflating sexual orientation with pedophilia coupled with the conflation that being gay is a choice caused considerable harm to his reputation. Harm that could have been avoided with a sincere apology Additionally, proxy communicators often feel the need to speak out in behalf of the industry/profession. Fellow actors both LGBTQ and heterosexual rushed to Twitter and some to the media to distance the industry/profession from Spacey. Social activists and LGBTQ actors also felt the need to defend the LGBTQ community and distance it from Spacey as well. Spacey’s conflation of sexual orientation with pedophilia and his equating being gay with a choice were both widely condemned in Tweets.
Corporate diplomacy and media: How local news contribute to organizational legitimacy in the host country • Sarah Marschlich; Diana Ingenhoff • Applying neo-institutional public relations approaches, this study explored if and how media frames on corporate diplomacy contribute to organizational legitimacy of foreign multinational corporations in the United Arab Emirates. Conducting a quantitative content analysis of local news media coverage (N=385) from 2014 to 2019, we identified three corporate diplomacy frames, of which two enable corporations to build moral or pragmatic legitimacy. Understanding how media frames contribute to organizational legitimacy has several theoretical and practical implications.
Political Issues Management: Framing the Climate Crisis on the Campaign Trail • Meaghan McKasy; Diana Zulli • This mixed-methods analysis examines the way that democratic presidential candidates at CNN’s 2019 climate crisis town hall presented climate change to the public using fact vs. value-based frames, choice frames, and responsibility frames. Results indicate that candidates predominantly used value-based frames, “gains” were presented in the context of the economy, and candidates were more likely to use prognostic frames over diagnostic frames. These findings speak to the value of framing in political issues management.
* Extended Abstract * From Advocacy to Activism: Scale Development of Behavioral Steps • Brooke McKeever; Robert McKeever; Minhee Choi; Shudan Huang • Although advocacy and activism have gained increasing importance in organizational success, conceptual definitions and valid measurement of the concepts are lacking. By searching the literature, seeking expert feedback, and employing two survey data sets (N= 1,300) for scale development, this study advances a new measurement model of behavioral outcomes that can be useful for future research as well as practice. Findings indicate six dimensions of advocacy and activism. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.
Scientific Evolution of Public Relations Research: Past, Present, and Future • Bitt Moon • Public relations, as an independent domain of applied communication research, has developed unique, original theories to describe, explain, and predict public relations practices that range from the organizational environment to organization-public relationships to publics over the last four decades. This study views public relations as a scientific discipline and takes a scientific evolutionary approach to examine how public relations scholarship has evolved since the 1970s. The four evolutionary stages are applied to illustrate the scientific evolution of public relations research from the 1970s to the 2010s. This study also reviews public relations theories to comprehend research trends in the field. This article concludes that public relations research is in the final stage of scientific evolution (synthesizing) with significant theoretical shifts and calls for another new perspective that fosters innovative and insightful public relations research.
* Extended Abstract * Are employees better spokespeople for CSR initiatives? Findings from a cross-national study • Geah Pressgrove, WVU; Carolyn Kim; Cristobal Barra, Universidad de Chile • This study explores the impact of cultural values on perceptions of spokespersons in a corporate social responsibility context in both the United States and Latin America. Findings indicate individuals with masculine cultural values, perceive spokespersons with managerial titles as a more credible source for information. Conversely, people with more feminine cultural values perceive spokespersons with an employee title as more credible. Further, it was found that different dimensions of transparency (openness, integrity, respect) drive results.
Toward an Informed Employer: The Implications of Organizational Internal Listening for Employee Relationship Cultivation • Sunny Yufan Qin, University of Florida; Rita Linjuan Men, University of Florida • This study examined whether and how organizational internal listening (i.e., organizational- level and supervisory-level listening) influences the quality of employee-organization relationships. Informed by the self-determination theory, employees’ psychological need satisfaction for autonomy, competence, and relatedness was examined as a mediating mechanism in this process. An online survey was conducted with 443 employees across various industries in the U.S. Results showed that organizational-level listening positively influenced the quality of employee relationships with the organization both directly and indirectly via satisfying employees’ psychological need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The impact of supervisory-level listening on the quality of employee- organization relationships was fully mediated via employees’ psychological need satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
* Extended Abstract * A Construal-level Approach to Post-crisis Response Strategies • Soojin Roh, Peking University HSBC Business School; Hyun Jee Oh • Summary: In order to provide guidance for effective post-crisis communication, this study explores under which circumstances differently framed crisis response message is likely to be effective, building on construal level theory of psychological distance (CLT; Liberman & Trope, 2008; Trope & Liberman, 2010). This study demonstrates significant interaction effects of social distance and crisis message framing (e.g., why vs. how vs. why and how) on publics’ anger and trust toward the organization in crisis.
* Extended Abstract * Suffragists as Early PR Pioneers: The Development of the National American Woman Suffrage Association Press Bureau • Arien Rozelle, St. John Fisher College • Through an examination of Susan B. Anthony’s push to create a Press Bureau for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), this paper argues that Anthony and fellow suffragist Ida Husted Harper should be recognized as early public relations pioneers. Anthony and Harper employed a strategic approach to public relations at the same time – if not before – Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays, who are often credited as the “founding fathers” of modern public relations. Anthony and Husted worked to advance an activist approach to public relations during the dawn of modern public relations in the United States. The early development of the NAWSA Press Bureau tells the story of a grassroots, strategic, coordinated and women-led integrated press effort for social good beginning in 1897, three years before the establishment of the Publicity Bureau, which is largely credited as the first public relations firm in the U.S. (Cutlip).
Building Consumer Communal Relationships through Cause-Related Marketing: From the Perspective of Persuasion Knowledge • Baobao Song; Weiting Tao; Taylor Wen, University of South Carolina • This study investigates the value of cause-related marketing campaigns in consumer relationship management. Specifically, following the tenets of Persuasive Knowledge Model and Equity Theory, this study proposes that the effect of consumers’ inferences of the companies’ manipulative intent in cause-related marketing campaigns on consumer-brand communal relationships is contingent on their knowledge about the degree to which the company and the social cause respectively benefit from the cause-related marketing campaigns. A panel of 506 consumers was recruited to complete an online survey. Results supported the significant three-way interaction effects among the variables of inferences of manipulative intent, corporate benefit knowledge, and social benefit knowledge on consumer communal relationship. Generally, when consumers believe that non-profit partners benefit more from a cause-related marketing campaign than the company does, inferences of manipulative intent positively affect consumer communal relationships. However, when consumers perceive greater corporate benefits than social benefits, inferences of manipulative intent will negatively affect consumer communal relationships. This study provides significant theoretical and managerial implications for future corporate social responsibility/cause-related marketing research and practice.
Appealing to the Marketplace of Audiences: The Anti-Proposition 112 Public Relations Campaign in Colorado • Burton St. John III, University of Colorado-Boulder; Danielle Quichocho, University of Colorado – Boulder • In the fall of 2018, fracking interests in Colorado initiated a public relations campaign against Proposition 112—a measure that these interests perceived as an emergent threat to their continued viability. This study reviewed the messaging used by the industry and its supporters as it appeared across 1,515 text articles (e.g., news accounts, op-eds, etc.) and 38 Facebook posts. We found that pro-fracking messages, rather than concentrating on the quality of the ideas offered in support of fracking (e.g., facts and data) often chose to emphasize connections to the lived experiences of the audiences. As such, this work offers a model of this phenomena called the marketplace of audiences, which includes the components values, aesthetics, and resonance. This model offers both a theoretical and applied framework for how an organization may affirm alliances with key audiences, especially when detecting an emergent threat to its continued existence.
* Extended Abstract * Scholarly Books, Reviews, and Public Relations: Publicity and the Perception of Value • Meta G Carstarphen, University of Oklahoma; Margarita Tapia, The University of Oklahoma • With the sheer volume of books published, global marketplaces, and technology, the field for academic book publishing is robust—and crowded. Survey data gathered from 150 publicists/marketing staff from the Association of University Presses form the basis of this study. A discussion of the results from this study offers an opportunity to re-examine key theoretical constructs about the role of publicity in public relations—including rhetoric, narrative, third-party endorsements, and relationship-building.
Servant Leadership and Employee Advocacy: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment and Perceived Relationship Investment • Patrick Thelen; April Yue • The current study examines how servant leadership relates with employee advocacy behaviors through the mediating role of psychological empowerment and perceived relationship investment (PRI). Through a quantitative survey with 357 employees who work for a variety of organizations, the study’s results indicated that servant leadership plays a critical role in fostering psychological empowerment and PRI, which in turn, encourage employee advocacy behaviors. Relevant theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
* Extended Abstract * How CSR partnerships affect nonprofit organizations (NPOs): The mediating role of consumer-brand identification, CSR motives, and NPO social objective achievement • Michail Vafeiadis; Virginia Harrison, Penn State University; Pratiti Diddi, Lamar University; Frank Dardis, Penn State University; Christen Buckley • This study examined how CSR partnerships with corporations affect nonprofit organizations (NPOs). A 2 (NPO reputation: low vs. high) x 2 (CSR fit: low vs. high) x 2 (partnership duration: short vs. long) between-subjects experiment showed that CSR partnerships are more effective for high-reputation NPOs. Also, NPOs should partner only with high-fit corporations. Consumer-brand identification, perceived corporate extrinsic motives, and fulfillment of nonprofit social objective can influence stakeholders’ supportive intentions toward the NPO.
Public Relations in the Age of Data: Corporate Perspectives on Social Media Analytics (SMA) • Kathy Fitzpatrick, University of South Florida; Paula L. Weissman, American University • The aim of this study was to understand how public relations leaders view and use social media analytics (SMA) and the impact of SMA on the public relations function. Personal interviews with chief communication officers (CCOs) from leading multinational corporate brands revealed that although CCOs perceive social media analytics as strategically important to the advancement of public relations, the use of social media data is limited, slowed by challenges associated with building SMA capacity.
Responding to Online Hoaxes: The Role of Contextual Priming, Crisis Response Type and Communication Strategy • Anli Xiao; Yang Cheng, North Carolina State University • Hoaxes present detrimental threats to individuals and organizations. This paper examines how companies should respond to hoaxes on social media using different crisis response types and crisis communication strategies. In addition, this paper investigated how contextual priming might influence participants’ judgment on the company’s responses. Results indicated that a narrative response might be more effective, and people’s judgment of the crisis response is partially influenced by the contextual priming. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Effects of Narratives on Individuals’ Skepticism toward Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts • Sifan Xu, University of Tennessee Knoxville; Anna Kochigina, University of Tennessee Knoxville • Skepticism is prevalent surrounding companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. Existing research on narratives suggests that narratives can reduce counterarguing and increase story-consistent beliefs and attitudes. However, research is still in its preliminary stage in understanding how narratives may help alleviate individuals’ skepticism toward companies’ CSR initiatives. The current study first tested multiple videos searched on YouTube depicting a real organization’s CSR initiatives. Four videos (two in narrative format and two in non-narrative format) were eventually selected and used in the experiment, where participants recruited from MTurk (n = 345) were randomly assigned to watch one of the selected videos. Results of the study suggest that narrative significantly reduced almost all of the previously identified dimensions of CSR skepticism and significantly increased perceived extrinsic (public-serving) motive. Furthermore, narrative engagement and perceived CSR motive were significant mediators in the effect of narrative format on CSR skepticism. Considering the growing perspective of using engagement as a framework to unpack public relations theories and practices, the current study provides valuable insights to narrative engagement in public relations research.
Does the Medium Matter? A Meta-analysis on Using Social Media vs. Traditional Media in Crisis Communication • Jie Xu, Villanova University • There has been a growing body of crisis communication research that treats social media as a critical variable, which might alter how people perceive and react to crisis communication messages. The meta-analysis of 8 studies (k = 22, n = 3,209, combined n = 9,703) compared the impact of social media vs. traditional media in crisis communication. Five studies (n = 1,896) contained 8 relevant effect sizes on crisis responsibility, representing 3,294 individuals. Seven studies (n = 3,185) contained 14 relevant effect sizes on persuasiveness, representing 6,409 individuals. Compared to traditional media, using social media significantly lessened consumers’ perceived crisis responsibility (r = -.134, 95% CI -.212– -.054, p = .001). There was no significant difference between using traditional media and social media in crisis communication on persuasiveness (r = -.039, 95% CI -.114– .035, p = .30). The moderator analysis indicated that for both crisis responsibility and persuasiveness, the effect size was more noticeable when an organization communicates with college students vs. non-student publics. The ability of social media in dampening crisis responsibility was more pronounced for fictitious organizations compared to real organizations. Compared to traditional media, social media was significantly more negative for preventable crisis, the influence was weak for accidental crisis. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as well as directions for future research.
Publics’ Emotional Reactions and Acceptance of Organizational Crisis Response in the Case of Boeing 737 MAX Crisis • Hao Xu, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Jisu Huh, University of Minnesota; Smitha Muthya Sudheendra, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Debarati Das, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Jaideep Srivastava, University of Minnesota Twin Cities • This study examined publics’ emotional reactions to a crisis, and the impacts of such emotions on their acceptance of organizational crisis response communications, using computational analysis of the real-world example of the Boeing 737 MAX crisis. The results reveal sadness and fear as the two primary emotions among publics, and, for publics in this emotional state, specific and accommodative crisis response strategies seem to be better accepted and generate favorable reactions in certain stakeholder groups.
Understanding the Impact of Brand Feedback to Negative eWOM on Social Media: An Expectation Violation Approach • jing yang, Loyola University Chicago; Juan Mundel, DePaul University • The current study investigated the effects of brand feedback strategies in response to negative eWOM on social media on consumers’ positive and negative expectation violations, as well as the consequences of such expectation violation. Results indicated two routes of mechanisms (i.e., positive and negative), such that positive consumer expectation violation results in higher consumer satisfaction, which leads to brand love. On the other hand, negative consumer expectation violation results in higher consumer dissatisfaction, an antecedent to brand hate. Our study also revealed that it is important for brands to respond to negative eWOM to avoid consumer backlash. Moreover, providing compensation to consumers is also an effective approach to attenuate consumer dissatisfaction, potentially restoring consumer satisfaction.
Do instructing and adjusting information make a difference in crisis responsibility attribution? Merging fear appeal studies with the defensive attribution hypothesis • Xueying Zhang; Ziyuan Zhou, Savannah State University • The research on crisis response strategy has long been a popular topic in crisis communication. Image repair strategies, such as apology, excuse, deny, sympathy, to name a few, have been well documented in the literature. However, empirical evidence on instructing and adjusting information is scarce. Extant research generates inconsistent, sometimes even contradicting conclusions (Kim & Sung, 2014; Park & Avery, 2018). This study joins the discussion of the two types of information and adds empirical evidence on how the two strategies work. A 2 (high vs. low threat) × 2 (high vs. low efficacy for instructing information) × 2 (high vs. low efficacy for adjusting information) factorial experiment was conducted using Qualtrics national research panel to test the effect of instructing and adjusting information on participants’ account acceptance, attribution of crisis responsibility and evaluation of organizational reputation. Overall, the results highlight the role of efficacy in adjusting information in promoting account acceptance, alleviating crisis responsibility, and protecting organizational reputation. The mixed results of threat and efficacy in instructing information encourage managerial considerations when organizations design initial crisis responses. Many interesting directions for future research are also inspired.
Organizational Legitimacy for High-Risk Facilities: Examining the Case of NBAF • Xiaochen Zhang, University of Oklahoma; NANCY MUTURI • Through an online survey of community residents living nearby the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), this study examined how high-risk organizations can communicate organizational legitimacy, and how legitimacy perception may affect public trust and risk perceptions. Results illustrated the importance of transparent and consistent communication in organizational legitimacy-building, as well as the role of legitimacy, especially for high-risk organizations, to garner public trust, to ease public uncertainty, and to increase public preparedness.
Provincial and Municipal Leaders’ Coronavirus Discourse Repairs Local Governments’ Image • Ernest Zhang, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Yitao Liu, Meishi Film Academy of Chongqing University; William Benoit, Department of Communication Studies of University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences; Fritz Cropp, University of Missouri School of Journalism • “Seventeen years ago, SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) wreaked havoc in China and across the world. Zhang and Benoit (2009) pointed out that the then Chinese health minister failed to defend the image of the Chinese government because he ineffectually used image-repair tactics. Seventeen years later, did the leaders of Hubei province and its capital city Wuhan more effectively protect the image of Hubei and Wuhan? The first case of COVID-19 was believed to originate in Wuhan on December 1, 2019 (Huang et al., 2020). The virus up to April 6 caused 1,331,032 infections and 73,917 deaths across the world (Johns Hopkins CSSE, 2020). Since most of deaths and infections had happened in Hubei and Wuhan before March 28 (Ansari et al., 2020), people in the world for a while considered the province and the city “Wuhan Pneumonia” equivalent to COVID-19. To repair the image of Hubei and Wuhan as liars for covering up the disaster and as equivalent to the virus, Hubei and Wuhan’s leaders held 65 press conferences and were interviewed over 10 times between January 19 and April 6. Using Benoit’s image repair theory (1995, 2015), the authors analyzed the leaders’ discourse at eight selected news conferences and five interviews, concluding that the leaders succeeded in applying seven of Benoit’s (1995) image-repair tactics but failed in the other three ones. The study argues their discourse succeeded in repairing Wuhan’s and Hubei’s images.
Student Papers
Finding an Antidote: Testing the Use of Proactive Crisis Strategies to Protect Organizations from Astroturfing Attacks • Courtney Boman, University of Missouri; Erika Schneider, University of Missori • “Astroturfing, or the orchestration of manipulative propaganda campaigns, has become the center of conversations amid Fake News disputations. Exploring an astroturf attack as a paracrisis, this research investigates the effects of an attack and how proactive communication strategies can protect organizational outcomes (i.e., credibility, crisis responsibility, account acceptance, and organizational reputation). In addition to expanding theoretical crisis response models, this research offers practitioners with advice that emphasizes the use of proactive strategies.
Crisis Communication Strategy in Crisis of Chinese Celebrities with Huge Fan Base • QINXIAN CAI, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Chinese celebrities with huge fan base have recently attracted much attention, and some of them have some crises within the social media environment. In this study, four cases were chosen and divided into two types, competence-violated and integrity-violated. This article offered a comprehensive angle including celebrities, fans and media to understand the interaction during the crises. The analysis indicated that the different strategies were used in different kinds of crises among different parties and the reasons, and also the suggestions about how to deal with the celebrities’ crises.
Effects of Crisis Severity and Crisis Response Strategies on Post-Crisis Organizational Reputation • Sera Choi • Using SCCT, this study investigates the impact of crisis severity and crisis response strategies on post-crisis organizational reputation. Two (crisis severity: low vs. high) x 2 (crisis response strategy: match vs. mismatch) between-subjects factorial design was employed (N=289). There were main and interaction effects between the variables. A matched response strategy was more effective under high crisis severity, but there was no such interaction effect under low severity condition. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Social Movements and Identification: Examining BLM and MFOL’s Use of Identification Strategies to Build Relationships. • Candice Edrington, North Carolina State University • With the rapid connectivity and mobility provided by the technological affordances of the Internet, individuals and organizations have been able to broaden their reach in terms of sharing information. In particular, social movements have used these affordances to their advantages by creating social media pages/accounts to widely disseminate information regarding their advocacy and activist agendas. Black Lives Matter and March For Our Lives are two such movements. Due to their unique communication and relationship building needs, activist organizations are of particular importance in public relations scholarship (Taylor et al., 2001). Coombs and Holladay called for the reconsideration of activism from a public relations perspective by asserting that activists seek to alter the behaviors and policies of organizations in some fashion, which requires them to utilize power and persuasion, thus noting the similarities between public relations and activism (Coombs & Holladay, 2012). However, advocacy and activism on digital platforms has been examined in public relations scholarship from the perspective of nonprofit organizations. Sommerfeldt (2007) notes that “the study of public relations, the Internet, and activism have rarely converged” (p. 112). Thus, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to analyzing the message strategies that social movements employ on digital platforms. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to bridge the gap through an analysis of the message strategies used by these two social movements in an effort to build relationships through establishing identification with their key publics via their Twitter pages.
Explicating Moral Responsibility in Crisis Communication • Yoorim Hong, University of Missouri, Columbia • Moral responsibility has been widely used by publics and public relations practitioners to imply an organization’s accountability for an incident with negative impact on society. Despite its frequent usage, the concept of moral responsibility has not been sufficiently explicated in the field of public relations. This concept explication paper makes its departure from reflecting on nearby concepts such as blame, causal attributions, and crisis responsibility. By integrating ideas from other fields of study, the theoretical definition of moral responsibility, its dimensions and indicators are proposed. This paper also guides the future empirical analysis, by suggesting possible antecedents and consequences of attributions of moral responsibility in an organizational crisis. The authors believe that investigating how publics attribute moral responsibility to organizations would help public relations researchers and practitioners develop more effective communication strategies in ways that protect the organization’s reputation and its relationships with publics in a crisis.
What Makes Organizational Advocacy More Effective?: The Moderating Effect of the Public’s Perception of Issue Polarization • Ejae Lee, Indiana University • This study focuses on individual publics’ perceptions about the attributes of hot-button issues on which organizations take a stance, in order to better understand the effect of organizational advocacy. This study examined (a) how individuals perceive an organization’s stance and their own stance on a controversial sociopolitical issue, (b) whether the alignment of issue stances is positively related to pro-company support, and (c) how perceived issue polarization could moderate the association between individuals’ perceived issue alignment and their support for companies doing organizational advocacy.
Protecting Intangible Assets on Twitter: The Effects of Crisis Response Strategies on Credibility, Trust, Reputation, and Post-Crisis Behavior • James Ndone, University of Missouri (School of Journalism) • This study investigated the effects of crisis response strategies of stealing thunder, apology, and denial on a hospital’s intangible assets of reputation, credibility, and trust on Twitter using an online survey. Besides, the study investigated social amplification and post-crisis behavior such as purchase intentions and negative word-of-mouth on Twitter. The findings suggest that stakeholders will trust, treat a message as credible, and hold the reputation of an organization at high levels if it posts apologetic tweets and steals thunder during a crisis. When an organization denies its responsibility for a crisis on Twitter, stakeholders are likely to spread negative word-of-mouth and reduce their purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
* Extended Abstract * Effects of Inconsistent CSR Information on Customer’s Attitudes: A Mediation Model • Moon Nguyen, Hong Kong Baptist University • The study proposes a model to examine effects of inconsistent CSR information on customer’s attitudes. Using a between-group experiment, results show that corporate hypocrisy is a mediator in this relationship. Corporate hypocrisy is mediated by CSR belief and company reputation. Implications are that companies should be conscious when adopting CSR activities as customers are sensible to information inconsistency, and they should maintain good reputation and enhance CSR belief as these factors can have buffering effects.
Favoring Emotional or Analytical? Exploring Corporate Brand Personality Projected on Twitter • Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University; Jinping Wang, Pennsylvania State University • The present study sought to unveil corporate brand personalities that top-ranking brands might project on social media using a machine-learning approach. We collected pertinent data at two time points and examined 99 most valuable brands’ corporate brand personality on Twitter along with how Twitter users engaged with different corporate brand personalities. We found different types of corporate brand personalities were presented on Twitter, and there was a close relationship between projected personality and public engagement.
Stand on Parties or Issues? Comparing the Effects of Different Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) Strategies • Hao Xu, University of Minnesota Twin Cities • This research project examined the effects of three different CSA strategies – standing on a political party, standing on multiple issues along with one particular ideology, and standing on a single issue – on publics’ attitudes and supportive intentions. The results demonstrate that for both Democratic and Republican publics, the three strategies can generate similar effects, but the effects between Democrats and Republicans can possibly be asymmetrical. Implications for academic research and practices are discussed.
Teaching
* Extended Abstract * Analytics in Public Relations Measurement: Desired Skills for Digital Communicators • Melissa Adams; Nicole Lee, North Carolina State University • This exploratory study examined the analytics education and skills agencies seek in new digital public relations hires and extends recent research on the topic of public relations analytics education. In-depth interviews with 14 senior managers at O’Dwyer’s Top 50 ranked agencies identified the analytic training and tool knowledge most desired in new hires. Results show that basic education in analytic measurement and data analysis is necessary preparation for the digital public relations job market.
* Extended Abstract * Forming and Implementing an Interdisciplinary Public-Interest Course Experience on Emerging Technology Communication and Policy • Julia Fraustino, West Virginia University; Kakan Dey, West Virginia University; Dimitra Pyrialakou, West Virginia University; David Martinelli, West Virginia University; John Deskins, West Virginia University • This study investigates an interdisciplinary public-interest course experience for upper-level undergraduates. Five instructors in public relations, economics, and engineering created and piloted a course with students across multiple disciplines to explore the challenge of an Appalachian state’s potential autonomous vehicle (AV) implementation and policy from an interdisciplinary perspective. Pre- and mid-semester data collected from public relations students along with the instructors’ field observation and reflection memos provide preliminary qualitative insights into the course’s benefits and challenges.
What It Really Takes: Revealing the Shared Challenges in PRSSA Faculty Advising • Amanda J. Weed, Kennesaw State University; Adrienne Wallace, GVSU; Betsy Emmons, Samford University; Kate Keib, Oglethorpe University • PRSSA supplements the traditional public relations curriculum by providing student members with enhanced learning and networking opportunities. PRSSA faculty advisers assume an advanced mentoring role by facilitating experiential learning and networking that connects classroom learning to practical application of knowledge, skills, and understanding of the public relations profession. A two-wave survey of current PRSSA faculty advisers examined the shared challenges that impact the personal and professional satisfaction of those who hold the role.
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