Search

The article discusses the importance of relationship building in public relations and corporate communications. It emphasizes the need for organizations to actively engage with stakeholders and build collaborative relationships to create value for both parties. The article also explores the shift from transactional relationships to relationship-oriented approaches in marketing. It highlights the emergence of corporate social advocacy as a strategy in corporate communications and the challenges it poses in terms of stakeholder engagement. The article concludes by addressing the role of communication in the digital age, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communication strategies, and the ongoing influence of mainstream media in shaping public opinion. Overall, the article emphasizes the significance of relationship building and the need for organizations to consider stakeholder behavior in their communication efforts. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Based on Lasswell's communication model, this study investigates how four categories of factors (i.e. the source, content, medium and receiver) conjointly affect the relational, financial and social outcomes (i.e. what effect) of CSA communication. Design/methodology/approach: With a survey (N = 366), this study found configurations of core CSA communication factors leading to three different CSA communication outcomes. Findings: While this study found multiways to yield three different CSA outcomes, combinational logic indicated the combined effects from source, content, medium and receiver. With content and medium, individuals' connectedness (receiver) to a CSA issue is a core factor leading to a high level of purchase intention and issue advocacy. This study also found that message strategies (i.e. informativeness, factual tone, no promotional tone) are core factors leading to a high level of trust and issue advocacy. Practical implications: With the theoretical guidance, this research contributes to strategic communication practice for various entities involved in advocacy communication by enabling an improved understanding of advocacy communication factors and triggering different communication outcomes. Originality/value: As CSA communication involves multiple strategies, conventional research agenda focusing on correlational and path analysis approaches provide limited understanding of communication practice. To fill this void, this study adopts a configurational approach to understand current CSA communication practices holistically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to conceptualize, rethink and systematize methods used for measurement and evaluation (M&E) corporate communication. Design/methodology/approach: The reflection is based on 462 key English-language books and papers devoted to M&E in the fields of corporate communication and public relations from the 1970th to 2023. Keywords in the titles and abstracts found the necessary materials. A critical analysis of the central concepts, models and methods described in the literature was conducted. As a result, a new model that unifies and structures the M&E toolkit is proposed for discussion. Findings: Despite the significant contribution to developing a wide range of M&E models, they are still not perfect and universal. In addition, this system of approaches is continuously self-evolving and changing under the influence of digital innovations, so it requires steady rethinking and updating. On the other hand, most previous studies focused on communication management processes, losing focus on communication aspects. This led to the need for an alternative view based on proven theories to fill this gap. The proposed model combines quantitative and qualitative M&E methods for the five main components of corporate communication (communicator, audience, content, channels and result), covering a wide range of tools, from statistical and sociological research to big data analysis and neuro research. Originality/value: This work contributes to developing the M&E theory of corporate communication, systematizing existing methods and opening new research perspectives. From a practical point of view, companies can use the presented approach for a more accurate and objective internal evaluation of the main components of corporate communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines the interplay between media-induced emotional crisis framing (anger vs sadness) and message sidedness of crisis response on publics' attribution of crisis responsibility as well as subsequent company evaluation and supportive behavioral intention. Design/methodology/approach: A 2 (emotion: anger vs sadness) x 2 (crisis response: one-sided vs two-sided) online experiment was conducted among 161 participants in the USA. Findings: Results showed that anger-inducing media framing of the crisis elicited higher levels of crisis responsibility attribution and more negative company evaluation, compared with sadness-inducing media framing. One-sided message response was more effective than two-sided message response in lowering attribution of crisis responsibility when sadness was induced, but no difference was found under the anger-induced condition. Attribution of crisis responsibility fully mediated the effects of emotional crisis framing on company evaluation and supportive behavioral intention toward the company. Originality/value: This study is among the first to examine the interaction effect between emotional media framing and response message sidedness in an ambiguous crisis. Drawing on the interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, this study integrates the situational crisis communication theory, appraisal-tendency framework and message sidedness in persuasion literature. As such, it contributes to theoretical development in crisis communication and offers communication managers guidance on how to effectively address emotionally framed crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although existing research has extensively explored corporate disclosure, a very little is known about why corporate organisations may remain silent while communicating with their external audiences. This study offers a definition of corporate silence and develops a conceptual framework for the study of silence in the narrative communication of corporate organisations. We develop a typology based on the forms and motivations for corporate silence in written corporate documents. Data was gathered from 26 interviews with senior managers from regulatory bodies, audit firms and listed companies in Pakistan and a grounded theory approach was used for data analysis. We postulate that self-protection from fear and discomfort, cooperation, managerial opportunism, apathy, and resistance are the prime motivators of corporate silence. The analysis also leads to the development of five different forms of silence: (1) defensive; (2) prosocial; (3) opportunistic; (4) authoritative; and (5) counteractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a paper on social media postings by a publishing company focusing on issues of humane qualities of a diverse society, Sage Publishing (Sage). Part of a global academic community, Sage developed uniquely positive messaging for social media and is a model for other organizations. Starting with a background of Sage, this study includes a brief history of publishing in the United States and world, and continuing with the history of social media, with a focus on LinkedIn. Sage's communication approach is not to sell products and services via social media, but to educate its followers and stakeholders on the important issues of the day. The research methods used are Historical and Descriptive Research, Content Analysis, and Elite and Specialized Interviewing. The result is a model for communication via social media for organizations wanting to communicate effectively to its publics. A Content Analysis looks at four broad categories, 14 specific categories, and 90 topics. The study covers the people behind the Sage LinkedIn postings; purpose of the postings; Sage corporate morals, ethics, social responsibilities, values, and philosophy; Sage today and prospects for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies' communications about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have become increasingly prevalent yet psychological reasons for why those communications might lead to positive reactions of the general public are not fully understood. Building on theories on impression formation and social evaluation, we assess how CSR communications affect perceived morality and competence of a company. We theorize that the organization's CSR activities would positively impact on perceived organizational morality rather than on perceived organizational competence and that this increase in perceived organizational morality leads to an increase in stakeholders' support. Two experimental design studies show support for our theorizing. We cross-validated the robustness and generality of the prediction in two countries with different business practices (UK (N = 203), Russia (N = 96)). We demonstrated that while the general perceptions of companies and CSR differ between the UK and Russia, the underlying psychological mechanisms work in a similar fashion. By testing our predictions in western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) and in non- WEIRD countries, we also extend current socio-psychological insights on the social evaluation of others. We discuss theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an expectation management policy, central bank communication can affect corporate market expectations, thus effectively guiding corporate investment and financing behavior. Based on the quarterly data of non-financial listed enterprises from 2007 to 2020, this paper analyzes the relationship between central bank communication and non-financial corporate leverage differentiation. The results show that central bank communication can reduce corporate leverage differentiation. The increase in the degree of bank credit discrimination can further amplify the inhibitory effect of central bank loose communication on the leverage differentiation of non-financial enterprises. The mechanism analysis shows that central bank communication can affect the leverage differentiation of non-financial enterprises by reducing financial mismatches, stabilizing the market expectation mechanism, and reducing managers' myopia. The results of the extended analysis show that the central bank's loose communication can inhibit the degree of leverage differentiation between zombie firms and non-zombie firms, and improve the dynamic adjustment speed of corporate capital structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos.info is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Facultad de Comunicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Greenwashing is more virulent than ever. A profusion of environmental, social, and governance and net zero commitments are becoming fraught with questionable and misleading claims. At the same time, we are no closer to solving the pressing environmental and social issues of our time. In this review, we seek to examine this shift and summarize changes in greenwash research into three key phases: (a) 1.0 Static Communication; (b) 2.0 Dynamic Management; and (c) 3.0 Narratives about the Future. We analyze current key areas of developing literature and point to numerous open questions for future research. Next, we go beyond much of the published work to examine emerging tactics and lay out a forward-looking agenda for future research. We also propose a model of Corporate Miscommunication, integrating various streams in greenwash research. In doing so, we seek to lay a pathway for greenwashing researchers to finally find that elusive "end" to greenwashing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chief marketing officers (CMOs) engage with their stakeholders on social media platforms to create a digital impact. CMO communication on societal issues is understudied despite heightened global attention to brands' social practices. This poses three research questions: (1) How central is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sociopolitical activism in the communication of global brands' CMOs?, (2) Does CMOs' communication about CSR or sociopolitical activism have a digital impact?, and (3) How do brand origin (i.e., geographic location of headquarters) and CMO nationality (U.S. vs. non-U.S.) moderate the CSR/sociopolitical activism–digital communication impact? Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this research (Ntweets = 17,468 over NCMOs = 81) finds that CMOs rarely publish CSR or sociopolitical activism communication on Twitter (5.3% and 3.2%) and demonstrates a higher digital impact of retweets for CSR and a lower impact for sociopolitical activism tweets than regular communication. Furthermore, non-U.S. headquarters and CMO nationality strengthen the positive effect of CSR communication and weaken the negative effect of sociopolitical activism communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare the communication practices of Chinese and US companies on YouTube and explores the effectiveness of different communication strategies at the topic level. Design/methodology/approach: The author selected 22 Chinese companies and 22 US firms and compared the content of their English language corporate YouTube channels through content analysis, sentiment analysis and cluster analysis. Findings: The results revealed that the three communication strategies (information, response and involvement) in general were not significantly different regarding their engagement rates, but they generated different comment scores when communicating topics of corporate social responsibility. The results also showed that Chinese companies were more likely than American firms to display the speeches of corporate leaders, use collectivistic references and present human interest messages in YouTube videos. Research limitations/implications: This study sheds light on how national institutional environment shapes corporate communication on YouTube. Practical implications: This study challenges the infatuation with the involvement strategy and offers some advice for practitioners on topic selection and user comment function management. Originality/value: This study makes a novel contribution to the literature of corporate communication on YouTube by adopting a cross-national comparative approach. A conceptual framework of major factors influencing stakeholder responses on YouTube was presented. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2023-0061 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines the effects of a bottom-up CSR approach, as compared to a top-down CSR approach, on consumer publics' evaluation of CSR practices. By applying dialogic communication as a theoretical lens, this study also investigates the mediating effects of perceived dialogic organizational – employee communication in such relationships. Through a between-subject online experiment, the results showed that when a CSR program was implemented with a bottom-up approach (vs. a top-down approach), consumer publics perceived a higher level of organization – employee dialogic communication. Such perception, in turn, results in consumer publics' favorable attitude toward the company, purchase intentions, and supportive behavioral intentions of CSR practices. In addition, the positive effects of the bottom-up CSR approach on consumer publics' corporate evaluations via the mediation of perceived dialogic organization – employee communication were greater for individuals with higher levels of corporate distrust than those with lower levels of corporate distrust. The study extends our understanding of the value of dialogic communication in public relations and CSR communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to review corporate fraud, as a concept, and the emerging research trends in corporate fraud research from 1957 to 2022 using bibliometric analysis techniques. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 7,750 publications from the Scopus database were first assessed using performance analysis to explore the descriptive nature of the bibliographic data, and subsequently, citation, co-citation, co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling analyses were conducted using the VOSviewer software. Findings: The results indicate there has been increasing growth in fraud research over the years, especially since the global corporate scandals of 2008. Although fraud is a global issue, the results suggest that most extant studies originate from developed economies, with a high level of collaboration amongst scholars in these countries. In addition, the co-occurrence analysis indicates that research into corporate fraud has largely focused on its determinants and corruption. The determinants identified are further clustered in the paper as individual, organizational and national-level factors. Practical implications: The findings should inform practitioners and policymakers of the state of knowledge on corporate fraud which could be useful in developing strategies and policies to mitigate its occurrence. Social implications: The study points to the need for research collaborations among scholars in developing economies to increase investigations into the occurrences of fraud. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to holistically assess the intellectual structure of corporate fraud studies from its inception and the trends over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how perceptions of corporate responsibility influence policy preferences and the effectiveness of corporate communication when agents have imperfect memory recall. Using a new large-scale survey of U.S. citizens on their support for corporate bailouts, we first establish that the public demands corporations to behave better within society, a sentiment we label "big business discontent." Using random variation in the order of survey sections and in the exposure to animated videos, we then show that priming respondents to think about corporate responsibility lowers the support for bailouts. This finding suggests that big business discontent influences policy preferences. Furthermore, we find that messages which paint a positive picture of corporate responsibility can "backfire," as doing so brings attention to an aspect on which the public has negative views. In contrast, reframing corporate bailouts in terms of economic tradeoffs increases support for the policy. We develop a memory-based model of decision-making and communication to rationalize these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic led hospitals to work differently regarding legal procedures and eHealth services and brought a changing and fluctuating healthcare environment that affected communication among clinicians, patients, and families. These organizations were forced to make their corporate communication initiatives more efficient and interact with stakeholders differently, especially with patients and media companies. This paper aims to understand better hospitals' main corporate communication initiatives during the Covid-19 pandemic. We show that the most important communication initiatives implemented by hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak were related to the following main areas: a) professional management of corporate communication, b) transparency, c) human values, d) hospital's brand, and e) online corporate communication. During the pandemic, there was a lack of professional corporate communication in hospitals and the need to execute more than merely conservative communication strategies. There is a solid need to make hospitals' corporate communication initiatives more professional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]