Public Relations Division 2010 Abstracts
Open Competition
Effect of Message Type in Strategic Advocacy Communication: Investigating Strategies to Combat Ageism • Terri Bailey, Florida Gulf Coast University • This experimental research study investigated the effects that message type in mass media messages have on attitudes toward older adults among undergraduate college students. The purpose of the study was to investigate strategic communication message strategies that could be employed to combat negative stereotypes that stigmatize a social group, in this case older adults. Due to the large population of aging baby boomers, efforts to combat prejudice and discrimination against older adults—termed ageism—is both timely and salient. Theoretical bases for the study included social identity theory and the elaboration likelihood model. Three types of message appeal conditions (cognitive, affective, and mixed cognitive/affective) were presented in simulated Yahoo.com online news articles that combated two negative stereotypes of adults over age 65. The simulated news article was designed to reflect a published press release disseminated to the media by an age organization. The results showed that presenting fact-based cognitive arguments supported by research evidence was a more effective message strategy for producing positive attitude change toward older adults among the 200 undergraduate students participating in this experiment than were affective messages based on emotional appeals, subjective personal evaluations, and compassionate arguments or a combination of cognitive and affective appeals. Furthermore, results indicated the importance of mass media messages in terms of producing positive attitude change toward a stigmatized social group, older adults. There was significant positive attitude change toward older adults after exposure to the stimulus materials in both the immediate and time-delayed (one week) conditions.
Eclipsing Message Meaning: Exploring the Role of Source Identity and Cynicism in Publics’ Perceptions of Health Care Reform Issue Ads • Abbey Blake Levenshus, University of Maryland; Mara Hobler, University of Maryland; Beth Sundstrom, University of Maryland, College Park; Linda Aldoory, univ of Md • Using the circuit of culture to analyze interviews and focus groups, researchers found sponsor identity represented in health care reform ads overlapped with cynicism in critical, complementary ways. Researchers identified two themes, ongoing and eclipsing, regarding source identity’s meaning-making role and three themes regarding source cynicism’s regulating influence, including questioning sponsor motives, regulating sponsor identity, and regulating message. Findings add depth to the circuit of culture’s articulation between identity, regulation, and consumption of issue advertisements.
Mediating the power of relationship antecedents: The role of involvement and relationship quality in the adolescent-organization relationship • Denise Bortree, Penn State University • This study presents one of the first examinations of the influence of antecedents of relationships on the organization-public relationship. Results from a survey of adolescent volunteers suggest that reason for volunteering with a nonprofit organization was a significant predictor of the teens’ future intentions toward the organization. Two variables partially mediated the relationship between antecedents and future intended behavior, involvement and relationship quality. Findings suggest that while reasons for relationship initiation play a powerful role in the organization-public relationship, organizations can minimize the impact through relationship management.
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Grounding Organizational Legitimacy in Societal Values • John Brummette, Radford University; Lynn Zoch, Radford University • The purpose of this exploratory study is to utilize grounded theory to create a better understanding of the values and standards that constitute organizational legitimacy from the public’s perspective. Values identified are: honesty, fairness, accountability, competence, innovation, efficiency, trustworthiness, accessibility, personalization, quality, accreditation, corporate social responsibility and longevity. In addition, the study found that different values are linked to each of the six types of organizations (retail, manufacturing, service, educational, nonprofit and government) discussed by the study’s participants.
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Influence of Public Relations Communication Strategies and Training on Perceptions of Hospital Crisis Readiness • Emily Buck, Texas Tech University; Coy Callison, Texas Tech University; Trent Seltzer, Texas Tech University • To better understand organization-wide perception of crisis readiness and crisis communication effectiveness, 731 hospital employees were surveyed. Employees participating in crisis training perceived themselves and their hospital as more crisis ready than those who had not. Awareness of the crisis plan leads to higher levels of perceived crisis readiness; training, two-way communication, and face-to-face communication lead to greater perceived crisis readiness. Participants reported hospitals presented crisis plans through oral presentation more frequently than other methods.
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The Dual-Continuum Approach: An Extension of the Contingency Theory of Conflict Management Cindy T. Christen, Colorado State University; Steven Lovaas, Colorado State University • This paper examines the limitations of using a single advocacy-accommodation continuum when depicting organizational stance and movement in conflict situations. The authors argue that advocacy and accommodation vary independently in response to a variety of contingent factors. To comprehensively capture the locations and motions that are possible in intergroup conflicts, a two-continuum approach is proposed. Separate assessment of the effects of contingent factors on advocacy and accommodation can be used to locate organizational stance along advocacy and accommodation continua. Situations that are problematic for a single continuum can be captured if separate continua are employed. By depicting initial stance and desired direction of movement for both the organization and external group, the dual-continuum approach can also provide practical guidance to public relations practitioners in selecting strategies for achieving preferred outcomes. By suggesting the application of different models of public relations practice based on differences in organization-external group stances and movement, the dual-continuum approach also lays the foundation for eventual synthesis of excellence and contingency perspectives.
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Delusions vs. Data: Longitudinal Analysis of Research on Gendered Income Disparities in Public Relations • David Dozier, San Diego State University, School of Journalism and Media Studies; Bey-Ling Sha, San Diego State University • Gendered income disparities are well documented: men earn higher salaries than women. Less clear are the reasons why. This study analyzed four surveys of PRSA members (1979, 1991, 2004, and 2006). Men earned significantly higher salaries than women practitioners, men had more years of professional experience, and greater professional experience was correlated with higher salaries. In three of four surveys, men earned significantly higher salaries than women, after controlling for professional experience.
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Factors Contributing to Anti-Americanism Among People Abroad: The Frontlines Perspective of U.S. Public Diplomats • Kathy Fitzpatrick, Quinnipiac University; alice kendrick, Southern Methodist University; Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University • This study examined the views of U.S. public diplomats on factors that contribute to anti- American attitudes among people abroad. The purpose was to gain a better understanding of the most significant causes of anti-Americanism through the first-hand experiences of the men and women who have served on the front lines of U.S. public diplomacy and to consider the implications for U.S. public diplomacy going forward. A factor analysis revealed four underlying dimensions of anti-Americanism, which were labeled Information, Culture, Policy and Values. The public diplomats rated the Policy factor as the most significant, followed by the Information factor, the Culture factor and the Values factor.
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Understanding Made in China: Valence framing, product-country image, and international public relations • Gang (Kevin) Han, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication/Iowa State University; Xiuli (Charlene) Wang, School of Journalism and Communication/Peking University • This study employed an experiment to examine the effects of valenced news frames, in terms of risks and benefits, on people’s perceptions of and attitudes towards the product-country image (PCI) of Made in China. Findings suggested that participants in the risks-frame condition gave significantly negative evaluation on this product-country image, whereas the participants in the benefits-frame condition offered more positive evaluation. Personal relevance, shopping experience, and shopping habit jointly affected this relationship as covariates. The concept of product-country image, as well as the implications of valence framing for international public relations, was also discussed.
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Disaster on the Web? A Qualitative Analysis of Disaster Preparedness Websites for Children • Karen Hilyard, University of Tennessee; Tatjana M. Hocke, University of Tennessee; Erin Ryan, The University of Alabama • In a qualitative analysis using stakeholder theory, child development research and website usability criteria, the authors examine three disaster preparedness websites created for children by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The sites were characterized by outdated content and technology, low levels of two-way communication and poor usability compared to other offerings for kids on the Web, and may therefore fail to effectively accomplish the mission of preparing children for disasters.
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Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure of Media Companies • Jiran Hou, The University of Georgia; Bryan Reber, University of Georgia • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives have become increasingly common among corporations in the United States. However, there has been very limited research studying media companies’ CSR initiatives and disclosure. In this study, we examined the CSR initiatives and disclosure of major media companies in the United States. Specifically, we conducted content analysis to analyze five major dimensions of CSR disclosure: environment, community relations, diversity, employee relations and human rights. We also analyzed the disclosure of companies’ media specific CSR activities. Our findings showed that nine of the ten companies have engaged in different types of CSR activities. These companies’ CSR initiatives differ by the types of the company, and the size of the company also has influence on the reporting of CSR initiatives.
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he effects of crisis response strategies on attribution of crisis responsibility and relationship quality outcomes • Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama; Kenon Brown, The University of Alabama • This study investigated the effects of crisis response strategies on the attribution of an organization’s crisis responsibilities and relationship quality outcomes and determined the linkages among relationship quality outcome indicators. This study found that none of the tested crisis response strategies were helpful in reducing public blame surrounding the featured organization’s responsibility in the crisis. This study did not discover any significant impact of the crisis response strategies on the relationship quality outcomes.
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Content analysis on CSR Reporting of Companies’ Web sites: Signaling Theory Perspective • Hyuk Soo Kim, The University of Alabama; Joe Phelps, University of Alabama; Jee Young Chung, University of Alabama • The current study introduced the signaling theory in the domain of CSR reporting and content-analyzed how companies report their CSR activities on their corporate web sites. Top 100 advertising-spending companies were selected as a sample frame. From the perspective of signaling theory, the current study investigated how companies are reporting their CSR activities by employing the concept of benefit salience and congruency. Additionally, this study explored the relationship between CSR activities and branding. The results showed that companies are not effectively reporting their CSR activities and did not find any relationship between CSR activities and branding.
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Exploring ethics codes of national public relations professional associations across countries • Soo-Yeon Kim, University of Florida; Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama • This study explored ethics codes present on Web sites of national public relations professional associations across countries. Of a total of 107 countries examined, 66 (61.7%) countries were found to have one or more professional associations. Among the 45 Web sites accessible in English, 38 (84.4%) provided ethics codes, the most frequently presented values in which were ‘fairness,’ ‘safeguarding confidences,’ and ‘honesty.’ This study was an exploratory attempt to provide a descriptive picture of public relations professional associations and their ethics codes across countries.
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Corporate Social Responsibility and Organization-Public Relationships: Public Relations and Marketing Educators’ Perspectives • Daewook Kim, University of Florida; Mary Ann Ferguson, University of Florida • This study examines how public relations educator’s perceptions differ from marketing educators with regard to corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions. It further explores the association between CSR and the organization-public relationship (OPR) dimensions. This research found that marketing educators showed more value for the economic dimension, while public relations educators showed a relatively higher value for the ethical & legal and discretionary dimensions of CSR. The perceptual differences are also embedded in the association between the CSR and OPR dimensions.
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When Cousins Feud: Advancing Threat Appraisal and Contingency Theory in Situations That Question the Essential Identity of Activist Groups • Jeesun Kim, Grand Valley State University; Glen Cameron, University of Missouri – Columbia • This experiment applied the concepts of avowed and ascribed identities to situations when similar activist organizations clash. Based on the threat appraisal model (Jin & Cameron, 2007) and contingency theory (Cancel, Mitrook, & Cameron, 1999), analysis of effects of an attack on a group’s essential identity due to hypocritical behavior advances theory and practice of strategic conflict management. The distinction between internal and external threat and the linear perspective in stance predictions on the contingency continuum are both revised and extended by current findings.
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Reputation Repair at the Expense of Providing Instructing and Adjusting Information Following Crises:Examining 18 Years of Crisis Responses Strategy Research • Sora Kim, University of Florida; Elizabeth Avery, University of Tennessee; Ruthann Lariscy, University of Georgia • Quantitative content analysis of 51 articles published in crisis communication literature in public relations indicates both a prevalent focus on image restoration or reputation management in the crisis responses analyzed in more than 18 years of research and a relative neglect of instructing and adjusting information in subsequent recommendations. This research makes insightful crisis response recommendations regarding consideration of organizational type involved in a crisis (government, corporation, or individual) and targeting active publics when selecting crisis responses.
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Face to Face: How the Cleveland Clinic Managed Media Relations for the First U.S. Face Transplant • Marjorie Kruvand, Loyola University Chicago • When the first U.S. face transplant was performed at the Cleveland Clinic in late 2008, public relations practitioners at the non-profit academic medical center in Ohio played an essential role in helping to establish whether the risky and controversial surgery would be judged successful by the medical community, the news media, and the public. This descriptive case study uses agenda building theory and the related concept of information subsidies to examine how practitioners planned and handled media relations for one of the year’s top medical stories – a story accompanied by challenging ethical issues. Strongly influenced by what they believed was a media relations fiasco involving the world’s first face transplant, which had been performed three years earlier in France, Clinic practitioners effectively used information subsidies while tightly controlling information about and access to the patient. The study finds that the Clinic’s media relations activities resulted in highly positive media coverage that enhanced the Clinic’s reputation while also helping to reshape the U.S. media agenda on face transplants.
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Social Media And Strategic Communications: Attitudes And Perceptions Among College Students • Bobbi Kay Lewis, Oklahoma State University • Social media have been adopted from its inception by public relations, advertising and marketing practitioners as tools for communicating with strategic publics. Wright and Hinson (2009) have established that public relations professionals perceive social media positively with respect to strategic communication. Given that social media are having an impact on professionals in the industry, the current study examined if social media are having a similar impact on college students in general and students studying in the area of public relations and advertising. The attitudes and perceptions of social media among college students were explored by modifying the survey instrument used by Wright & Hinson to explore the attitudes and perceptions of social media among PR professionals. It is important for educators and curriculum leaders to have an appreciation of students’ knowledge base of social media and how they employ it in their construction of knowledge and reality. It is also valuable for professionals in the industry, who are hiring recent college graduates, to gain insight into how students perceive social media in their own lives and as strategic tools. Findings suggest that college students majoring advertising and public relations view social media more positively than other majors because they understand how it fits in to the industry in which they are being educated. Because of these findings, social media should be incorporated into strategic communications curriculum to better prepare students for the current media climate.
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Bureaucrats, Politicians, and Communication Practices: Toward a New Model of Government Communication • Brooke Liu, University of Maryland; Abbey Blake Levenshus, University of Maryland; J. Suzanne Horsley, University of Alabama • The success of any government policy or program hinges on effective internal and external communication. Despite the critical importance of communication in the public sector, very little research focuses specifically on government communication. Through a survey of 781 government communicators in the U.S., this study builds on a model – the government communication decision wheel – by adding a previously untested variable: political versus bureaucratic employer. Specifically, the study identifies four significant differences and five similarities in how the public sector environment affects bureaucrats’ and elected officials’ communicators’ public relations practices. The findings provide valuable insights for practitioners and contribute to public relations theory development for the under-researched public sector.
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Twitter me this, Twitter me that: A quantitative content analysis of the 40 Best Twitter Brands • Tina McCorkindale, Appalachian State University • In February 2010, Twitter, a microblogging website, had more than 21 million unique visitors, and continues today to be an increasingly important social media tool for public relations. Most public relations research about Twitter has focused on case studies—few quantitative analyses have been conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to conduct a content analysis to determine how Mashable’s 40 Best Twitter Brands were using Twitter, and what makes these the best brands. From October 2009 to January 2010, a constructed month of tweets were analyzed to determine an organization’s usage and authenticity/transparency on Twitter. While some organizations only used Twitter to disseminate information or for customer service, other organizations used the microblog to engage with various publics. Results also found organizations who named the individual who tweeted on behalf of the organization engaged in more dialogue with various publics compared to those that did not. The researcher also provided a list of 11 gold standard Twitter accounts, as well as suggestions for future research.
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Exploring the Roles of Organization-Public Relationships in the Strategic Management Process: Towards an Integrated Framework • Rita Linjuan Men, University of Miami; Chun-ju Flora Hung, Hong Kong Baptist University • By combining the growing body of knowledge on organization-public relationships with insights from strategic management in the management literature, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate, from the relational approach, the value of public relations at the organizational level. Specifically, it intends to examine the roles of organization-public relationships (OPRs) in each stage of the strategic management process, namely, strategic analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategic control. Seventeen in-depth interviews were conducted with public relations directors, vice presidents, and general managers from Fortune 500 and Forbes’ China 100 Top companies in China to explore the issues. The findings show that OPRs can contribute to strategic analysis by being the source of information, channel of information, active information detector and foundation for internal analysis. It contributes to strategy formulation by providing broad information, incorporating intelligence, perspectives and insights and engaging employees in decision-making. In strategy implementation, OPRs can generate support from parties involved and facilitate the strategy execution process. In strategic control, OPRs can provide feedback and updated information for strategy adjustments and strategy review, engage employee in self-management and facilitate organizational control through relational trust, commitment and satisfaction. Through playing multiple roles in each strategic management stage, OPRs can eventually contribute to sustainable competitive advantage, achievement of organizational goals and organizational effectiveness. An integrated framework of OPRs and strategic management is developed in this study based on the empirical data. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
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Crisis Preparedness versus Paranoia: Testing the Crisis Message Processing Model on the Effects of Over Communication of Crisis Preparedness Messages by Governments • Kester Tay, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Rasiah Raslyn Agatha, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; May O. Lwin, Nanyang Technological University; Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University • The literature has constantly emphasized consistent messaging and reinforcement of messages by organizations managing crisis. What remains unclear is the effects of over-emphasis and over-exposure of messages to the audience. The authors have developed a model called the Crisis Message Processing Model to understand how audience process crisis messages. This study, the first of a series of empirical tests, examines the interactions among message intensity, repetition and threat perceptions. Findings showed rigor of the model (75 words, as requested by PR division).
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Exploring Citizen-Government Relationships: A Study of Effective Relationship Strategies with South Korean Citizens during a crisis • Hanna Park, University of Florida; Linda Hon, University of Florida • This study explored the citizen-government relationships (CGRs) in South Korea during a crisis, mass protests in 2008 against the U.S. beef import. Associations among relationship maintenance strategies (RMSs), CGRs and publics’ support for the government and president were investigated. For this study, 200 online community users participated in online survey. Results showed that respondents perceived the government’s RMSs as asymmetrical and CGRs as negative. RMSs were positively correlated with CGRs and support for the government.
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Identifying the Synergy Between Corporate Social Responsibility • Hyojung Park, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Bryan Reber, University of Georgia • Using a two-step approach to structural equation modeling, this study examined how different types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are associated with relational satisfaction, trust, company evaluation, and behavioral intentions. The results revealed that trust was positively influenced by economic, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities, while satisfaction was positively influenced only by economic responsibilities. Additionally, CSR performances appeared to positively affect company evaluation and behavioral intentions (purchase, employment, and investment) through trust and satisfaction.
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Talking Health Care Reform: The Influence of Issue-Specific Communication on Political Organization-Public Relationships and Attitudes • Trent Seltzer, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • A survey of US citizens (n = 420) was conducted to examine the influence of strategic communication regarding health care reform on perceptions of organization-public relationships (OPRs) with political parties. Results indicate that issue-specific strategic communication – and dialogic communication in particular – not only enhanced perceptions of the OPR with the sponsoring political party, but also destabilized relationships with the opposition party. Positive perceptions of political OPRs resulted in favorable attitudes toward parties and the issue.
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Organization-Employee Relationship Maintenance Strategies: A New Measuring Instrument • Hongmei Shen, San Diego State University • The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to develop a valid and reliable new instrument to measure relationship maintenance strategies in the context of organization-employee relationships, and 2) to explore how organizations build relationships with internal publics. A focus group (N = 10) and an online survey were administered (N = 583). Statistical tests established the validity and reliability of a six-factor 20-item instrument for relationship maintenance strategies. It was also found that organizations utilized openness, assurances of legitimacy, networking, and compromising to a larger extent than distributive negotiation and avoiding to build relationships with their employees. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Hope for Haiti: An Analysis of Facebook and Twitter Usage during the Earthquake Relief Efforts • Sidharth Muralidharan, Univ. of Southern Mississippi; Leslie Rasmussen, Univ. of Southern Mississippi; Daniel Patterson, Univ. of Southern Mississippi; Jae-Hwa Shin, Univ. of Southern Mississippi • The Haitian earthquake devastated the small island of Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and billions of dollars of property damage. The earthquake also represented a watershed in the use of social media usage by nonprofit and media organizations to inform, communicate and mobilize support from the general public and orchestrate disaster relief efforts. By implementing applying the theory of framing to posts and tweets of nonprofits and media organizations, the authors found that morality and responsibility were the dominant message frames for nonprofits and conflict was the dominate frame for media; both used frames that were episodic in nature; and positive emotions were the dominant frame for nonprofits while media focused on negative emotions. Nonprofits and media used information dissemination and disclosure effectively but were not as effective with involvement strategies, implying a less interactive and more of a one-way communication.
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Has the use of online media rooms to create a dialogue with journalists changed in global corporations? Comparing 2004 to 2009. • Dustin Supa, Ball State University; Lynn Zoch, Radford University • This study examines whether the top 50 global corporations in 2004 established dialogic communication with the media through their use of online media rooms and, using the same methods, compares those findings to the same corporations in 2009. The authors have determined that while progress toward increased dialogic communication was realized in some areas, in other ways, there was little or no improvement. In fact the online media room in 2009 was less likely to contain some of the features that were found in 2004.
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How Emergencies Have Affected the Interaction of Journalists/Sources: Message Development in the Terror Age • Christopher Swindell, Marshall University • In a terror attack or other emergency, journalists and sources (often public relations practitioners) may bring the misperceptions they hold about the other group to bear in the interaction. This study uses survey research to highlight differences in message strategy and importance that the two groups have about a hypothetical terror attack. The researcher questioned 150 working journalists and official sources using coorientation to assess subtle differences in their beliefs about the work of the other. Using ANOVA and post hoc t-tests, the researcher found journalists and sources disagree, are incongruent, and most importantly, are inaccurate in their perceptions about message speed, accuracy and panic potential. Public relations best practices advocate forthrightness and candor with the news media. The current study found many journalists suspicious of practitioners and vice versa regarding the most critical elements of emergency messages. The paper suggests both groups should better appreciate the role of the other, especially in an emergency or terror attack where life and limb may be at stake.
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The Possibilities and Realities of Studying Intersectionality in Public Relations Jennifer Vardeman-Winter, University of Houston; Natalie Tindall, Georgia State University; Hua Jiang, Towson University • Intersectionality refers to multiple, interdependent identities that simultaneously impact groups. This paper introduces intersectionality to public relations so researchers and practitioners can to better understand the contexts of organizational-public communication relationships. Theories of power, identity, and intersectionality in public relations are reviewed. Emphasis is put on dissecting the complications of studying intersectionality and ways previous researchers have explored it. The study design for an intersectional analysis of publics is discussed.
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Indeed, It Does Depend: Examining Public Relations Leaders through the Lens of the Contingency Theory of Leadership • Richard Waters, North Carolina State University • Contrary to other leadership theories, the contingency theory of leadership argues that anyone has the potential to lead depending on situational variables. Through a survey of 11 PRSA chapters and 9 state/local public relations associations (n = 539), this study found that the contingency theory of leadership describes and predicts public relations behavior (role enactment and relationship cultivation behaviors) satisfactorily. Implications for practice and theory development are discussed.
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It’s Not a Small World After All: Using Stewardship in a Theme Park’s Daily Operations Richard Waters, North Carolina State University • Through the use of participant-observation research, this manuscript attempts to encourage relationship management scholars to explore Kelly’s (2001) conceptualization of stewardship as viable strategies for creating relationships centered on trusting behaviors. Though often equated with fundraising, the four stewardship strategies—reciprocity, responsibility, reporting, and relationship nurturing—were found to play a significant role in how managers and human resources officials strengthened relationships with employees at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. With numerous examples of their utilization in a specialization far removed from fundraising, the study challenges the traditional approach scholars have taken to understand cultivation activities in the organization-public relationship.
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Ethical Considerations in Social Media Usage — a Content Analysis of Silver Anvil Winners Patricia Whalen, Faculty; Sylwia Makarewicz, recently graduated master’s student Focusing on ethical practices in social media and relationship theory, this descriptive study uses content analysis to document usage of social media and ethical/reputational terms among recent PRSA Silver Anvil winners. The study found that a slim majority used social media, but, especially in consumer goods firms, the technology was more likely to be used as a message dissemination tool than an intent to build trust and develop more credible relationships with key constituencies.
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Translating Science for the Public: Predictors of PIOs’ Roles in the Knowledge Transfer Process • Judith White, University of New Mexico • Public information officers (PIOs) link knowledge transfer between researchers and journalists. Orientation toward science/health/technology knowledge is important to PIOs’ choices of education, training, and occupational experience. This study constructs an index to measure science/health/technology orientation (SHTO) from an Internet survey of a random sample of PIOs. This study shows SHTO index to be a statistically significant predictor for variety of story topics covered but not of number of scientist sources used in information subsidies.
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A study of PR practitioners’ use of social media in crisis planning • Shelley Wigley, University of Texas at Arlington; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • A survey exploring social media and crisis planning was conducted with 251 members of the Public Relations Society of America. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they have incorporated social media into their crisis plans. Of these respondents, most indicated they have incorporated Twitter as a tool in their crisis planning, primarily for distribution purposes. Additionally, the study found that public relations professionals whose organizations rely more heavily on social media tools in their crisis planning correlated positively with practitioners’ greater confidence in their organization’s ability to handle a crisis. As for practitioners’ use of social media in their every day practice, results revealed that a large percentage use social media on a personal level; however, results also indicated that a large percentage of respondents’ organizations (82%) use social media. Survey respondents indicated that the stakeholders they communicate with most via social media are potential customers and clients (71%), followed by news media (61%).
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Telling your own bad news: A test of the stealing thunder strategy • Shelley Wigley, University of Texas at Arlington • This study explored the concept of stealing thunder, or telling your own bad news, by conducting a content analysis of newspaper coverage following two political scandals – one in which a source stole thunder from reporters and one in which the source engaged in silence and allowed the media to break the story. Results showed no association between stealing thunder and the number of articles or length of article. However, stealing thunder was associated with more positively framed stories and fewer negative media frames.
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A Longitudinal Analysis of Changes in New Communications Media Use by Public Relations Practitioners: A Two-Year Trend Study • Don Wright, Boston University; Michelle Hinson, Institute for Public Relations, University of Florida • This two-year trend study of a large number of public relations practitioners (n=1,137; n=574 in 2009; n=563 in 2010) found new communications media have a huge impact on public relations practice. This study found social networking site Facebook to be ranked as the most important of these new media for public relations messages in 2010, replacing search engine marketing that ranked first in 2009. Micro-blogging site Twitter was the next most frequently used new media site in 2010 followed by social networking site LinkedIn and video sharing outlet YouTube. The overall use of social networking, micro-blogging and video sharing websites in public relations practice increased dramatically between 2009 and 2010. The use of blogs, search engine marketing and electronic forums or message boards remained relatively constant while the importance of podcasts decreased slightly. This study found huge some large gaps existed between how new communications media actually are being used and how much public relations people think they should be used. This study also measured the frequency of personal use by public relations practitioners of traditional news media and new communications media and found that although most who practice public relations get their news from newspapers followed by magazines, television news and radio news, the use of micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, social networks such as Facebook and video sharing sites such as YouTube made dramatic increases between 2009 and 2010.
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When did transparency appear in PR and what does it mean? A historical analysis of the word and its contexts. • Giselle A. Auger, University of Florida • Since 1990 the word transparency has increasingly been found in discussions of financial accountability, government culpability, crisis communication, and corporate social responsibility. The purpose of this study was to examine the adoption of transparency into the public relations literature, its contexts and meanings. Through a historical review of the use of the word transparency, and a content analysis of the word within the public relations literature, the adequacy of existing definitions are evaluated.
The Impact of Industy on the Crisis Situation: Applying Consensus to the SCCT Model • Kenon Brown, The University of Alabama • The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an industry’s crisis history on a member organization’s crisis situation by exploring the concept of consensus and its impact on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) model. The study uses a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment to test the impact of industry crisis history and its interaction effects with crisis history and relationship history during the reporting of a fictitious product recall. Results found that industry crisis history had no effect on crisis responsibility or organizational reputation.
Roles of nonprofit organizations as social oil: How local nonprofit organizations help multinational corporations build social capital in host countries • Moonhee Cho, University of Florida • Emphasizing the importance of social capital, the purpose of the paper is threefold: 1) to explicate social capital as the resources that determine the business success or failure of multinational corporations (MNCs), 2) to discuss the role of nonprofit organizations as boundary spanners in the relationship between MNCs and community members, and 3) to propose a model that demonstrates how local nonprofit organizations build social capital of MNCs vis-à-vis community members as well as provide propositions in formation of social capital. In doing so, the paper provides a framework of the relationships among three sectors of society: private, nonprofit, and community, for developing democracy in a pluralist society.
When tourists are your friends: An exploratory examination of brand personality in discussions about Mexico and Brazil on Facebook • Maria DeMoya, University of Florida; Rajul Jain, University of Florida • Using Aaker’s (1997) brand personality framework, this study explores how two top international tourist destinations -Mexico and Brazil— communicate their brand personalities on their Facebook pages and which personalities their followers associate with them. Specifically, this research explores if these destinations’ public relations efforts are succeeding in communicating the brand image of their countries by promoting them online on one of the most popular social media outlets.
Text Haiti to 90999: The future of relationship fundraising for a nonprofit organization. • Terri Denard, University of Alabama • The relief campaign following the 2010 Haiti earthquake yielded unprecedented text-message donations. This study examines the relief campaign to learn whether its initial success can yield deeper relationships or provide a blueprint for similar campaigns. The study found the text channel reached younger and first-time donors, 10% of whom opted-in to receive future communications. However, donations dissipated after the initial rush, underscoring the importance of cultivating new relationships through traditional and emerging channels.
The Situational Theory of Publics: Youth Civic Engagement • Jarim Kim, University of Maryland • This study addresses how the youth become active in the political processes. Research question guiding this study is why and how did youth come to be an active public in the 2008 Obama campaign? Using ten in-depth qualitative interviews with college students this study looked at how and why they became actively engaged in the political process. The situational theory of publics was employed as a framework to examine their active participation. Findings indicate that an active public engaged in Obama campaign satisfied all of the three variables of the theory. This study also found the antecedent factors of the STP that influenced their communicative behaviors. This study advances the understanding of the active publics in the political communication context as well as elaborating independent variables of the STP.
Does going green really matter to publics? The effects of environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR), price, and firm size in the food service industry on public responses • Yeonsoo Kim, University of Florida • This study examined the different effects of pro-active environmental CSR and passive CSR practices on attitudes toward the company, intent to seek information on and communicate the company’s CSR to others, and intent to pay incentives. How price of products/service, consumers’ environmental concern, and corporate size interact with those effects was tested. Proactive environmental programs led to more positive publics’ responses. Subjects wanted to find information on and talk about CSR programs the most when companies with proactive CSR provided cheap products. When small companies had proactive environmental CSR programs, participants showed favorable attitudes and stronger intent to pay more regardless of price. Conversely, in the case of passive CSR, participants showed better reactions only when the price was cheap. Environmentally conscious consumers showed more sensitive reactions toward the CSR practices in general.
Return to Public Diplomacy: A Review of the Published Work • Anna Klyueva, University of Oklahoma • Reinvigorated interest toward public diplomacy in the aftermath of 9/11 facilitated the growth of research in the field. This study analyzes peer-reviewed articles published from 1989 to 2010 from two relevant disciplines: communication and political science. The objectives of the study were to determine the concepts that have emerged, grown, or diminished within the past two decades in the field of public diplomacy; to report the types of research methods that have been most commonly employed; and to compare and contrast the similarities and differences in scholarly discussions on public diplomacy between communication and political science.
Power-control or empowerment? How women public relations practitioners make meaning of power. • Katie Place, University of Maryland • The purpose of this study was to examine qualitatively how women public relations practitioners make meaning power. Literature regarding power-control theory, gender and power and empowerment contributed to this study. From the literature, one research questions was posed: How do women public relations practitioners make meaning of power? To best illustrate and describe how women public relations practitioners experience the phenomena of power, the researcher incorporated a qualitative research method which utilized 45 in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with women public relations practitioners guided by an interview protocol. A grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to analyze the data. From the data arose several themes regarding gender and power. Results suggested that women practitioners made meaning of power as a function of influence, a function of relationships, knowledge and information, access, results-based credibility and empowerment. The data extend our understanding of practitioner power, power-control theory and empowerment in public relations. Power in public relations exists in various forms and empowerment serves as an alternative meaning making model of power.
Explicating Cynicism toward Corporate Social Responsibility: Causes and Communication Approaches • Hyejoon Rim, University of Florida • This study attempts to explicate the concept of cynicism in the context of corporate social responsibility, focusing more on the causes rather than its consequences. As corporate social responsibility has become increasingly popular in business, it has become more important to determine how to best communicate such initiatives with the public in this cynical age. Grounded on psychology, marketing, and business literature, this research intends to outline potential antecedents of cynicism on the situational and individual levels. At the situational factors, industry environment, organizational reputation, salience of promotion, and goodness of fit are identified. At the individual level, external locus of control and ethical ideologies are suggested as dominant sources of cynicism. Implications for strategic corporate social responsibility management and communication, as well as further research are discussed.
Legitimacy 2.0: Possible Research Avenues for Corporate Reputation in the Digital Age • Joy Rodgers, University of Florida • Among the challenges facing public relations practitioners in the new collaborative, interactive, and non-hierarchical digital arena is the management of corporate identity and reputation. This study examines the concept of legitimacy as it relates to reputation in order to contribute to the term’s theoretical foundation in the online realm and suggests some potential avenues for research to inform the practice of public relations reputation management in a digital information society.
Legitimation in Activist Issues Management: Congressional Testimony of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) • Erich Sommerfeldt, University of Oklahoma • This study investigated the rhetorical legitimation efforts of ACT UP, an activist group whose extreme tactics have been characterized as illegitimate. Through rhetorical analysis of the Congressional testimony of five ACT UP representatives from 1988 to 1992, the study determined how ACT UP representatives attempted to bolster legitimacy for themselves as issue managers, for their issues, and policy recommendations as they attempted to participate in shaping public policy on AIDS issues.
The Role of Social Capital in Public Relations’ Efficacy: How Internal Networks Influence External Practice • Erich Sommerfeldt, University of Oklahoma • This paper argues that public relations can be used as a force to enhance collective social capital, but only when a public relations unit has access to or reserves of social capital themselves. The paper introduces a case of a government agency in Jordan, and presents findings from a network analysis study that shows the public relations unit(s) to be deficient in social capital and thereby unable to affect its creation within or without the organization.
The impact of online comments on attitude toward an organization based on individual’s prior attitude • Kang Hoon Sung, University of Florida • This study is a 3 (Prior attitude) by 4 (Type of online comments) factorial design experiment that tests effects of online comments on attitude toward an organization based on individual’s prior attitude. The results showed that online comments have a significant effect on people’s attitude. Especially, people with prior neutral attitude were affected the most. For people with prior negative attitude, two-sided comments were most effective. Usability was the most influential factor in changing attitude.
Framing Breast Cancer: Building an Agenda through Online Advocacy and Fundraising • Brooke Weberling, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Using qualitative content analysis, this study employs agenda building and framing to examine e-mail messages from Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Komen Advocacy Alliance to determine strategies for communicating about breast cancer and inspiring involvement in the nonprofit organizations’ advocacy and fundraising efforts. Three types of messages, nine frames and various tactics emerged among the 50 messages (sent during one year). Theoretical implications and applications for public relations and fundraising professionals are discussed.
Teaching
Meeting the needs of the practice: An evaluation of the public relations curricula • Moonhee Cho, University of Florida; Giselle A. Auger, University of Florida • Considering that much of the academic literature focused on the practice of public relations, and that there appeared to be consensus between educators and practitioners about the skills necessary for entry to the field, the researchers questioned whether in fact public relations courses and programs within higher education were adequately preparing students for placement in an entry-level position or providing skills that would aid in advancing to higher level positions. To this end, researchers conducted two content analyses, first on courses offered at the college or university level, and secondly, on current job descriptions for public relations positions. Results indicated that the public relations curricula is generally meeting the needs of the practice; however the demand for knowledge and skills in social and emerging or new media by potential employers far exceeds the frequency with which such subjects are addressed in the public relations curricula.
Big Chief Tablets and Sharpened Pencils: Helping PR Practitioners Transition from Practice to Classroom • Barbara DeSanto, Maryville University of Saint Louis; Susan Gonders, Southeast Missouri State University • The first stage of Super’s (1990) theory of adult career development, exploration, combined with Tierney’s (1997) analysis of universities’ culture and socialization processes provides two perspectives to apply to a current information workshop offered as an educational tool to public relations practitioners thinking about becoming involved in academia. Using this theoretical framework allows workshop participants and workshop providers ways of understanding the process and stresses of career change decisions from each other’s perspective.
The RFP Solution: One Response to Client/Service Learner Issues • Cathy Rogers, Loyola University New Orleans; Valerie Andrews, Loyola University New Orleans • Public relations programs have adopted service learning as standard practice, particularly by incorporating real client work to maximize student learning. While the literature documents the widespread use of real clients and service learning as an exemplary teaching method, little has been written about the instructor/client relationship, other than to note the difficulties of dealing with clients, including unrealistic expectations, inadequate communication, lack of respect for students as professionals, and commitment to the project. This paper reviews one university’s creation and implementation of a formal request-for-proposal (RFP) process to match community partners with mass communication course projects. The paper reviews the process and results of focus groups conducted to create the RFP process and examines two phases of the RFP implementation. This case study shows how an RFP disseminated to local nonprofits can minimize unrealistic professor and client expectations and maximize student learning and client satisfaction.
Pre-Professional Attitudes and Identities: The Socialization of Journalism and Public Relations Majors • Bey-Ling Sha, San Diego State University; Amy Weiss, San Diego State University • Relationships between journalists and public relations practitioners tend to be uneasy, if not antagonistic. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible origins of this complex relationship by examining the socialization of journalism and public relations college majors. The findings indicate that, although pre-professional journalists and public relations practitioners have some diverging perspectives on both their counterparts and their respective professional identities, these differences may not be as significant as they first seem.
Service-Learning in the Public Relations Classroom: An Experiential Approach to Improving Students’ Critical-Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills • Brenda Wilson, Tennessee Technological University • A study of students in a public relations course showed support for a service-learning instructional model enhancing critical thinking and problem solving and reducing rote memorization. Data were collected from 40 undergraduates in a pretest/posttest design and showed significance on 11 of 19 critical-thinking and problem-solving items. Students said they would recommend the course to others, worked harder in it than in most courses, and were satisfied with their expected grade.
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