Responding to Activism: An Experimental Analysis of Public Relations Strategy Influence on Attributes of Publics

Experimental methods were used to examine the influence of public relations strategies on attributes of publics. Specifically, public relations strategies derived from Hazleton and Long's (1988) public relations process model were tested to determine strategy influence on problem recognition, involvement, constraint recognition, and goal compatibility toward an organization responding to activism. Results indicate that the attributes of problem recognition and involvement are influenced by public relations strategies. In addition, the findings of this study support the situational theory of publics. Items measuring involvement and goal compatibility were the strongest predictors of information seeking behavior. Findings indicate that goal compatibility is a predictor of strategy effectiveness.     

Overcoming Ethnocentrism: The Role of Identity in Contingent Practice of International Public Relations

Based on literature from the contingency theory of public relations and psychocultural conflict theory, this study explored how multinational corporations (MNCs) are practicing public relations in Korea, and what contingency factors impact MNCs' stances in conflict situations. Interviews of leaders in public relations agencies whose major clients are MNCs found that "fear factor" plays a critical role in MNCs taking more accommodative stances in conflict situations. MNCs tend to move toward accommodative stances based on their fear of Korean media and local culture, regardless of the presence of 2-way symmetrical communications with publics. More specifically, accommodation seemed to be enacted through 1-way communication (i.e., local publics' claims) and MNCs' fear of media, local culture, or publics. This finding implies the following: First, 1-way communication may not always result in advocacy as is claimed in Western cultures, but may actually lead to accommodation. Second, indigenous local cultural dimensions should be explored in examining international public relations practices.     

Situational Theory of Publics: Exploring a Cultural Ethnocentric Bias

The situational theory of publics demonstrates that stakeholders are best segmented into active publics, given their high problem recognition, low constraint recognition, and high level of involvement in an issue. This study further demonstrates that low identification with an issue is significant as the public's situational drivers are increased by a high ethnocentric bias. This argument is investigated with regard to a specific type of public: journalists. The results confirmed previous discussions of how a specific public's situational behavior might be influenced by a referent criterion representing a biased mindset of that public toward the topic.     

Imperializing spin cycles: A postcolonial look at public relations,greenwashing, and the separation of publics

This article draws on postcolonial theory to critique ongoing neocolonial aspects of public relations theory and practice and especially the field's recent appropriation of terms such as “corporate social responsibility” and “sustainable development.” It positions such appropriation as a continuation of the old colonial strategy of reputation management among elite publics at the expense of marginalized publics. The article makes the case that public relations can only begin to be ethical and socially responsible if it acknowledges the diversity of publics, breaks down the hierarchy of publics, and takes into account the resistance of peripheral publics.     

Weathering the storm: Hauser's Vernacular Voices,public relations and the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal

Since 2002, the Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal has had disastrous and far-reaching effects on both the church's ability to interact with its internal publics and its ability to pursue its public agenda. This paper blends the author's experience as a public relations practitioner in the Roman Catholic Church with Gerard Hauser's theory of publics and public spheres articulated in Vernacular Voices: The Rhetoric of Publics and Public Spheres to discover how organizations could improve their responses to crises.     

Environmental Concern and Situational Communication Theory: Implications for Communicating With Environmental Publics

Public relations practitioners will find Grunig's situational communication theory to be a useful tool for identifying environmental publics and their orientations toward specific environmental issues. The research reported here explores the utility of Van Liere and Dunlap's (1981) measure of environmental concern in differentiating situational publics. The data were collected by telephone survey from 1,002 adult respondents. Members of the routine public did not perceive environmental issues to be a problem because they favored economic development over concern for the environment. The fatalistic public reported watching television news about pollution and held a pro-environmental attitude. Problem recognition provided a cognitive measure of environmental awareness and was consistently associated with communication behavior. Level of involvement and environmental concern provided attitudinal measures of the respondent's orientation toward environmental issues; however, these variables were not consistently associated with communication behavior. Public relations objectives designed to increase awareness and knowledge of an organization's environmental position may be far more effective than attitudinal objectives designed to create a more favorable image for the organization in view of the fact that the relationship between cognition and communication is much stronger than that between affect and communication.     

Conflict management in the modern world-system

What is the relationship between the status of nation-states in the modern world-system and their strategies for conflict management? Using Wallerstein's world-systems theory, Kick's empirical specifications of core, semiperiphery, and periphery, and Black's theory of conflict management, I examine the use of self-help, avoidance, negotiation, and third-party settlement by nation-states. These possible tactics are variously used as forms of social control from below, social control from above, and social control between equals. I argue that the status of nations within the world-system is correlated with the primary mode of conflict management they use at a given time. I speculate that the use of a particular strategy may also subsequently contribute to changes in nations' status.     

Diversification and internationalization in the sociological study of science and religion

Classical sociology addressed the relationship between science and religion, but interest in the topic waned during the 20th century. A second wave of research has emerged in the 21st century, focusing on scientists' (ir)religiosity, evolution, and the relationship between knowledge and acceptance of scientific concepts. Most of this research has been conducted in the United States, used quantitative methods, and focused on creationism, although scholars have recently begun to explore different research methods and sites. Their results suggest that the “conflict thesis” is not valid and that publics and scientists' views tend to be fluid and strongly shaped by national context. The literature on nonreligion has also expanded, but its connection to science remains ripe for further development. A more intersectional approach would also benefit the field, as would increased engagement between public understanding of science scholars and sociologists studying science and religion. Research in both areas is showing that attitudes toward science and religion cannot be understood solely in terms of knowledge about either domain. There is scope for more empirical and theoretical work internationally eschewing the assumption that science and religion conflict and focusing more on identity, culture, and power relations.     

A “Nutcracker” Theory of Modern Organizations: A Conflict View

Abstract

This paper presents a point of view toward formal organizations which departs from the equilibrium models contained on both bureaucratic and open system theory. Specifically, a conflict perspective is taken in terms of which organization disequilibrium is understood to be typical of organizations as a consequence of their being continually subject to the threat of withdrawal of monetary and non-monetary supports from both internal members and external publics with which organizations are interdependent. The factors contributing to these circumstances of conflict are attributed to recent maturations of rights of citizenship and participatory democracy, the social organization of these sources of conflict are termed the “nutcracker” effect.     

International public relations’ influence on media coverage and public perceptions of foreign countries

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of international public relations on a target country's news coverage and public perceptions toward other countries. This study proposed a public relations influence model of national image formation and tested its relationships based on 27 countries’ public relations effort targeting the U.S. news coverage and publics. This study found that (1) public relations of other countries in the U.S. had a direct impact on how significantly the U.S. public perceived those countries; (2) the more prominently and favorably foreign countries were covered by the U.S. news media, the more significantly and favorably the U.S. public perceived and felt toward those countries.     

Loyalty Conflicts and Family Relationships in Latency Age Boys

Forty boys aged 6-11, 20 living in maternal and 20 in joint physical custody, were administered tests assessing specific aspects of divorce-related emotional adjustment. An original child-administered loyalty conflict measure found no custody group difference despite the fact that joint custody parents perceived significantly higher levels of loyalty conflict in their sons than did maternal custody parents. Tests assessing children's feelings toward their parents (Family Relations Test) and children's perception of the post-divorce family structure (Kinetic Family Drawing Test) indicated that boys in joint custody were comfortable in expressing negative as well as positive feelings toward both parents and were not preoccupied with fantasies of parental reconciliation.     

When giving means taking: Public relations,sponsorship, and morally marginal donors

It is generally considered a positive social action to form relationships of support between organizations and publics. In public relations terms, such connections can lead to beneficial outcomes for both the organization, in terms of reputation and attributions of social responsibility, and publics, in terms of the ability to meet their own goals through financial contributions. It is less easy to understand what happens when these relationships detract from society holistically. In this paper the Tattersall's organization, Australia's “largest” privately owned company, is used as an example. Tattersall's has a history of community involvement, sponsorship, and benevolence. However, its sole business is gambling, and hence vulnerable gamblers fund its charitable donations. This article uses the writings of Pierre Bourdieu to discuss ethical practice and professionalism as well as the dynamics of sponsorship dependence of vulnerable groups. It suggests that although an underused theorist on the edges of mainstream public relations theory, Bourdieu's ideas have much to contribute to our understanding of professional practice.     

The effects of organizational Twitter interactivity on organization–public relationships

Social media sites such as Twitter provide organizations with the ability to interact directly with publics. Previous research has suggested that web-based relationship building is dependent on the level of organizational interactivity with web technology, or how the organization uses the technology to engage with its publics. This study tested if levels of organizational Twitter interactivity affected the quality of organization–public relationships. Findings suggest that an organization's level of Twitter interactivity influences relationship quality.     

How publics react to situational and renewing organizational responses across crises: Examining SCCT and DOR in social-mediated crises

The prevalence of social media among networked publics calls for more research regarding how organizations can conduct effective crisis communication on social networking sites. Based on the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and the discourse of renewal (DOR) theory, this study examined how social media publics’ sentiments were affected by situational and renewing organizational responses in various clusters of crises. Twitter data of six crises representing three crisis clusters varying in the responsibility attribution (i.e., ambiguous, accidental, and preventable) were collected. We conducted a content analysis on organizations’ official tweets during crises (N = 59) and sentiment analysis on publics’ replies on Twitter (N = 4,340). The results showed that publics’ positive sentiments toward organizations were affected by organizational crisis responses that included instructing information, sympathy, systemic organizational learning, and effective organizational rhetoric. We recommend that crisis managers express sympathy toward publics as well as organizational learning that prevents a crisis from happening again.     

Social gerontology as public sociology in action

Burawoy (2005) argues that sociology needs to re-establish a public sociology oriented toward society’s problems and the practice of its unique knowledge if it is to again be taken seriously by the public, policymakers, and others. Yet, it is unclear how best to achieve these goals. We argue that the relatively young field of social gerontology provides a useful model of successful public sociology in action. As a multidisciplinary field engaged in basic and applied research and practice, social gerontology’s major aim is to improve the lives of older people and to ameliorate problems associated with age and aging. Thus social gerontology has routinely reached beyond the academy to engage with its publics. We review the field’s historical and theoretical development and present four examples of public sociology in action. Several factors have contributed to social gerontology's success in achieving the goals of public sociology: (1) Working in multidisciplinary teams which promote collaboration and respect for diverse perspectives. (2) Its ability to advocate “professionally” for its publics without favoring one group at the expense of another. (3) The unique affinity of its theories and practices with its disciplinary values. (4) The constructive effects of its ongoing questioning of values and ethics. Working in a multidisciplinary field with multiple publics, social gerontologists have been able to blend professional, critical, policy, and public sociologies to a considerable degree while contributing toward improvements in well-being.     

I Want to Be Your Friend: The Effects of Organizations’ Interpersonal Approaches on Social Networking Sites

Publics tend to use social networking sites mainly for interpersonal communication purposes. Corporate communication focusing on promotional activities, thus, might create negative sentiments toward the organization within those platforms. This experimental study examined the effect of organizations’ interpersonal approaches to communication (e.g., nonpromotional messages, high interactivity) in social networking sites using real and fictitious companies. Our results suggest that publics consider corporate activities in social networking sites more negatively when they perceive those platforms as a personal space. However, publics evaluate an organization more positively when it is highly interactive with its publics on these platforms. Finally, publics who perceive the platform as a personal space have a more positive attitude toward the organization when the organization is both highly interactive and employs nonpromotional messages.     

Community Social Structure and Issue Differentiation: A Study in the Political Sociology of Welfare

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze a case of cross-cultural interaction as it bears on attitude formation and attitude change. Three hypotheses on the relationship between interaction, perception, and attitude are tested. Two sets of survey data on the Arab students' experience in the United States were collected before and after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. In absence of conflict (before the war) the Arab students' attitudes toward Americans seemed to be a function of (a) the students' perception of Americans' attitude toward the Arabs, and (b) the extent to which the students interact with Americans. Under conditions of crisis or conflict, however, the students' attitudes toward Americans seemed to be mainly a function of how they perceived Americans' attitudes toward the Arabs.     

Newsgroups,activist publics,and corporate apologia: The case of Intel and its Pentium chip

Historically, the study of an organization’s publics has been primarily a research tool to profile the different stakeholders with whom organizations regularly come into contact. Using the case of the flawed Intel Pentium chip, this study applied Grunig’s theory of publics to the phenomenon of Internet newsgroups arguing that technology facilitates the rapid movement of publics from the theoretical construct stage to the active stage. This creates an environment in which these publics become communities of individuals who behave in ways that have a tangible effect on companies. Consequently, organizations are urged to maintain a presence on the Internet to monitor potentially damaging rumors as well as to provide a vehicle for feedback during crisis management.Keith Michael Hearit is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Western Michigan University.     

The problem of intersectionality as an approach to digital activism: the Women’s March on Washington’s attempt to unite all women

ABSTRACT

This study examined the convergence of activism and intersectionality to understand how communicators create messages about social justice issues using social media. This is particularly relevant for public relations today, as digital activism almost ubiquitously involves bringing together conflicting publics who are active and social media-savvy, meanwhile maintaining an organizational brand/mission. Using the 2017 Women’s March on Washington (WMW) as an object of study, we explored how campaign messages reflected principles of intersectionality, consensus- and dissensus-based communication, and organizational self-reflection. We conducted a thematic analysis of posts from the WMW’s social media accounts as well as media quotes by the organizational leaders to get at the leaders’ intentions in their message design. Data suggested that messages of inclusivity as well as of necessary discord were employed to enact political change for WMW’s publics. We argue that although the WMW was not wholly intersectional, particularly in determining its political agenda, the efforts toward intersectionality are notable for theory-building and reflective practice, particularly for social mediated campaigns. The study proposes a theory for digital intersectional communication to guide future research and advocacy work.