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The effects of media reputation on third-party funding of Swiss universities

Daniel Vogler (Research Center for the Public Sphere and Society, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland)

Journal of Communication Management

ISSN: 1363-254X

Article publication date: 16 March 2020

Issue publication date: 18 August 2020

405

Abstract

Purpose

This study analyzed the effects of the visibility and evaluation of universities in news media coverage on the development of their private and public third-party funds.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the concept of media reputation to investigate the effects of news media coverage on the outcome of funding decisions by firm managers and scientific experts. Extensive news media data from 2011 to 2017, collected with manual content analysis, were combined with economic data on Swiss universities.

Findings

The results show that a more positive evaluation in the news media leads to the positive development of private, but not public, third-party funding. Surprisingly, visibility in the news media has a negative effect on private third-party funding.

Research limitations/implications

The effects of media reputation are dependent on the stakeholders under review. However, this study's design does not yield evidence on direct causal effects. Further studies could, therefore, use surveys to analyze the decision-making processes of individuals regarding their relative dependency on news media consumption.

Practical implications

This study demonstrates that positive evaluation in the news media represents an asset for universities when striving for more private third-party funding. Public relations (PR) activities aimed at the news media, therefore, can help universities attract additional funding.

Social implications

The paper shows that in a digitized media environment, the news media still represent an important source for information about scientific organizations.

Originality/value

The study was the first to analyze the effects of media reputation on the third-party funding of universities.

Keywords

Citation

Vogler, D. (2020), "The effects of media reputation on third-party funding of Swiss universities", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 285-298. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-04-2019-0059

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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