This blog is provided by the IPR Behavioral Insights Research Center. Anyone working in public relations or corporate communication knows that words matter. Behavioral scientists have amassed considerable evidence that even small wording changes can sometimes have surprisingly large effects on people’s attitudes, judgments, and behaviors. Some of this work has focused on wording that contains … Continue reading The Cure Effect: Choosing Your Words Carefully in Health Care Communications
This blog is based on the original journal article in the Public Relations Journal. The concept of American democracy has conventionally been structured around voters receiving political information from government institutions, political parties, and news media sources. Today, corporations play a major role in a democratic society by taking public stances on controversial social-political issues, … Continue reading The Impact of Corporate Social Advocacy on Stakeholders’ Issue Awareness, Attitudes, and Voting Behaviors
Author, Title and Publication Agerdal-Hjermind, A. (2014). Organizational blogging: a case study of a corporate weblog from an employee perspective. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19 (1), 34 – 51. Summary This study examined the usage and implications of blogging in a corporate communication context from an employee’s perspective. The author considered the blog as … Continue reading Organizational Blogging: A Case Study of a Corporate Weblog from an Employee Perspective
Summary When Lowe’s pulled its advertising from the TLC program All-American Muslim, critics from both sides responded. Some organized a boycott of the home improvement giant, and others applauded the decision. Lowe’s posted a response and apology on Facebook to only step further into a heated controversy as thousands of comments, many vitriolic, were posted … Continue reading Pulling Ads, Making Apologies: Lowe’s Use of Facebook to Communicate with Stakeholders
Topic: Internal Communication Author(s), Title and Publication Welch, M. (2012) Appropriateness and acceptability: Employee perspectives of internal communication. Public Relations Review, 38(2), 246-254. Summary Internal communication is effective when appropriate messages reach employees in formats useful and acceptable to them. This study explored employees’ perceptions of the formats of internal communication (i.e., print, electronic, and … Continue reading Appropriateness and acceptability: Employee perspectives of internal communication
Bowen, Shannon A. (2013). Using classic social media cases to distill ethical guidelines for digital engagement. Journal of Mass Media Ethics: Exploring Questions of Media Morality, 28(2), 119-133. Summary Through systematic case analyses of much-discussed social media cases, both negative aspects and best practices of social media use are revealed. Ethical theory is applied to … Continue reading Using Classic Social Media Cases to Distill Ethical Guidelines for Digital Engagement
Men, Linjuan Rita, & Tsai, Wan-Hsiu Sunny (2011). How companies cultivate relationships with publics on Social Network Sites: Evidence from China and the United States. Public Relations Review, 38(5), 723-730. Summary The popularity of Social Network Sites (SNSs) has become a worldwide phenomenon. Organizations are now building and maintaining SNS public pages to improve their … Continue reading How companies cultivate relationships with publics on Social Network Sites: Evidence from China and the United States
Fröhlich, Romy & Schöller, Clarissa. (2012). Online brand communities: New public relations challenges through social media. In Sandra C. Duhe (ed.), New media and public relations (2nd ed., pp. 86-95). New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. Summary With the advent of the social web, online brand communities (BCs) have spread rapidly. But, what exactly is … Continue reading Online brand communities: New public relations challenges through social media
Does academic research matter to public relations practitioners? Do not be afraid. Come into the light with me, a non-PhD practitioner who finds value in academic research. In the weeks ahead, I will seek out quality academic and other research, drawing insights for communications practitioners. When activists target an organization, typically the corporate communications function … Continue reading Research for Public Relations: Is Transparency Good for Business?