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The term strategic communication has become firmly established in recent years. The emergence of the term was associated with the hope of finding a more fitting description for overlapping communication processes, since existing approaches can hardly fulfill these expectations. To date, the research has been dominated by communication-focused and, in particular, organization-focused approaches that show little interest in the alternative perspective. An integrating perspective can overcome the wall that exists between the communication level and the organizational level.

The integrating communication and organizational theory framework is developed on the basis of Niklas Luhmann’s “Theory of Social Systems” (TSS), which can be attributed to the “Communication Constitutes Organization” (CCO) perspective. This perspective seems appropriate because its communication theory integrates the sender and addressee perspectives, and its extended organization theory can be used to describe in detail the organizational structures of strategic communication.

The communication theoretical framework states that one of the functions of strategic communication is to reduce complexity to a single follow-up option. From the sender’s perspective, strategic communication can be defined as an attempt to encourage acceptance of a follow-up option proposed out of self-interest. The organizational theory framework that both builds on this and is linked to it first shows the diversity of strategic organizational communications before explaining their formal and informal structures.

This paper is the first to offer a comprehensive framework that integrates concrete strategic communication activities as well as the (in)formal organizational structures that lead to their emergence. On the one hand, this enables a more differentiated description of all relevant aspects of communication theory (e.g. tonality, clarity vs. ambiguity and technical dissemination medium). On the other, the organizational theoretical framework offers a systematization that can be used to describe various formal and informal structures comparatively. Above all, this kind of inclusive, integrating framework is the prerequisite for research that relates the diverse concrete strategic communication activities to an organization’s formal and informal rules and thus understands them as (primarily) the result of organizational decisions.

The purpose of the study is to examine the relevance and application of green communication in management of the risks associated with moral outrage inducing crises. The study aims to identify how green communication mitigates both crisis risks and moral outrage. Additionally, the research discusses ethical and unethical green communication practices in the context of their impact on relationships between organizations and stakeholders during the crisis.

The study is designed as exploratory research. Available English-language journal articles and conference proceedings have been examined to investigate the role of green communications in crisis response contexts. The application of the search criteria and initial filtering yielded a total of 139 publications for further analysis. Following a detailed review and subsequent filtering, the final sample of 66 unique cases has been selected and analyzed in the context of Situational Crisis Communication Theory.

The systematic review and document analysis indicated multitude of significances of green communications in the context of the updated Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Moreover, a novel phenomenon has been identified: greenbleaching is exaggerated or fabricated usage of green communication to mitigate risks in the organizational crises caused by ESG-unrelated factors or events.

This study offers greenbleaching as a novel concept. Moreover, this is the first research that examines unethical green communication in the context of moral outrage inducing crises. Insights for researchers and practitioners regarding sustainability communication, green communication, and crisis communication ethics are also incorporated.

Consumers send billions of messages with high ephemerality each day, yet the effects of this type of communication are relatively unknown. Online ephemeral communication refers to sending and receiving information with a predetermined, finite lifespan in computer-mediated environments. The purpose of this paper is to conceptually understand online marketing communications with high ephemerality relative to messages with low ephemerality within a consumer’s goal system.

This paper is an attempt to conceptually understand how high ephemerality differs from low ephemerality, particularly as online ephemeral communication has emerged and is widely used by consumers and firms. Goal systems theory is applied to understand how ephemerality is a means for consumers to reach their communication goals.

Consumers are more likely to use messages with high ephemerality to impress with narrowly relevant content, regulate emotions, build social relationships, persuade others through peripheral cues and protect privacy, but messages with high ephemerality are less likely to help consumers manage their impression, acquire or share useful information or present strong arguments. It is also proposed that messages with high ephemerality can help marketers increase interest through frequent peripheral cues, including fun and friendly content, drive sales by creating a sense of urgency and increase loyalty, but are less likely to increase awareness, build interest through flattering or informative content or drive sales through transactional messages.

This study primarily advances the goal systems literature by introducing ephemerality. The defining feature of ephemerality, lifespan, also has research implications for studies of word-of-mouth marketing. The propositions in this study are ready for empirical investigation as to when consumers and firms choose to send messages with low or high ephemerality.

Firms need to understand how consumers are using messages sent with low and high ephemerality in order for firms to best move consumers through the sales funnel.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to differentiate messages with low and high ephemerality, identify the presence and effects of ephemerality in offline and online communication and explain how and why sending messages with low or high ephemerality can help consumers and firms reach their communication goals. There is only one other paper in marketing on ephemerality in online marketing communications and no other conceptual work.

This conceptual article provides a basis for designing leader development programs that assess and train leaders to recognize demands for communication and how their personality affects the ways they transmit information, influence others and form positive relationships.

Adult attachment theory, Big Five personality dimensions (extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience and neuroticism) and pro-social and social sensitivity personality traits are proposed to shape the extent to which leaders enact relational, transmission and manipulative models of communication. These personality dimensions and communication models are the basis for assessment and training leaders to use in-person and various electronic media in ways that promote listeners’ attention, understanding and psychological safety.

Secure attachment leaders who are extraverted, prosocial and socially sensitive are proposed to use high touch media to communicate in ways that establish positive relationships. Avoidant and anxious attachment leaders use low-touch media that are manipulative or mitigate accountability.

The behaviors associated with transmitting information, influencing others and forming relationships can be a basis for assessing leaders’ attachment styles. Leaders can learn to diagnose situations to determine the best mixes of communication models to meet the demands of the situation.

Leaders who are promoted to higher levels of responsibility need to learn how to communicate with multiple stakeholders often during times of challenge and stress. How they communicate is likely to be a function of their comfort with interpersonal relationships, which in turn affects their use of personal and impersonal media.

Social networking sites have become breeding grounds for the spread of fake news and misinformation. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the spread of fake news intensified, causing complications for health communicators by drowning authentic information from verifiable official sources. Looking at the impact of this growing phenomenon on people’s attitudes and behaviour during the pandemic, research in the area must be populated to help governments, supranational organisations, non-governmental organisations as well as civil society organisations to formulate policies to curb the menace. This study was therefore undertaken to unravel current gaps and future research avenues to empower academia in achieving the desired scholarly impact.

The study adopted the systematic review approach, relying on 56 peer-reviewed articles on social media, fake news and misinformation in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study found that the use of social media during the height of the pandemic led to unhelpful information creation and sharing behaviours such that people’s self-awareness reduced drastically, thereby impeding the fight against the pandemic. The study also established that Entertainment motives, Ignorance and Altruism motives were the dominant factors that influenced the spread of fake news. There was evidence of the marginalization of research on the subject matter from contexts such as Africa, South America and Oceania.

This study has established existing gaps in issues and evidence, methodology, theory and context and consequently discussed future research avenues for social media use and the spread of fake news. The study has also provided practical implications for both governmental and non-governmental organisations in curbing the phenomenon of fake news and misinformation.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-07-2022-0366.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of how discursive practices shape the promotion of public relations undergraduate programmes in the context of market-driven UK higher education.

Research combines a descriptive analysis of the UK universities offering public relations undergraduate degrees and a critical discourse analysis of the online prospectus entries of 25 public relations undergraduate programmes (often called “courses” in the UK), focussing on the course/programme overview and career path sections.

This wide-ranging review of UK universities’ communication of their public relations provision demonstrates that although the student as consumer has choice, the presentation of the programmes is sometimes “headline grabbing” and often positions public relations as a tactical subject, emphasising promotion and practical skills. Overall, public relations is taught alongside subjects such as marketing, journalism and advertising, and these subjects are foregrounded in promotional material when discussing teaching and potential career paths. Public relations is a difficult subject to explain within the confines of a university prospectus, with the result that it is frequently presented as a promotional practice with little connection to management, leadership or academic research.

To the best authors' knowledge, this is the first study exploring the discursive practices that shape the promotion of public relations undergraduate programmes in UK universities.

This study aims to explore the foundations and current research streams of sustainability communication (SC) within the marketing field through a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature. Furthermore, it identifies promising areas, gaps, and guides for future contributions in SC literature.

This study relies on a sample of 103 articles published in high-ranked marketing journals. Through co-citation and qualitative thematic analyses, it examines a network over the foundations and central themes in current literature.

In the marketing field, the foundations of SC rest on institutional and stakeholder theories, corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and its effectiveness, green advertising, ethical consumerism and marketing strategies, and social marketing for sustainable consumption. Additionally, the analysis reveals four core current themes: reporting sustainability, sustainability advertising, consumer reactions, and promoting pro-sustainable behaviour.

This paper defines the foundations and boundaries of SC in marketing based on a comprehensive evaluation of existing research. By doing so, it offers a valuable reference for future research, enabling scholars to understand better the past and current state of SC in marketing and to identify areas for further investigation.

Businesses and marketers can use the findings to develop more effective SC strategies and to focus on the main topics that require their attention.

This research is of societal importance because it deepens our understanding of SC in marketing. It illuminates uncharted territory and helps decision-makers across sectors create a more sustainable future. In essence, this research enriches society by promoting sustainability awareness and guiding the development of practices that emphasize the value of SC.

This study advances previous literature reviews on SC in the marketing field by providing a roadmap for researchers to delve deeper and contribute to the field of SC in marketing, advancing our understanding of the importance of organizations effectively communicating their sustainability strategies to stakeholders.

This study aims to develop and validate the scales on the dark side of internal communication (IC) that capture a more nuanced perception of ineffectiveness, manipulation and miscommunication from the employee perspective. This study also examines this scale's effects on employee outcomes (such as employee loyalty and quiet quitting).

The authors developed the dark side of the IC scale through qualitative interviews and a review of relevant literature. Statistical techniques such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity and nomological validity were performed on the newly produced scales. The authors also examined the predictive validity effects of these scales on employee loyalty and quiet quitting using participants from Hungary.

The scale development resulted in a 15-item measuring three dimensions of the dark side of IC. After several statistical examinations, the scale exhibited robust psychometric properties and is reliable and valid.

This study empirically supported the new phenomenon of studying the dark side of IC, and the scale can be used to measure employee outcomes, the effectiveness of organizational communication, etc.

The purpose of this article is to critically analyze the existing literature on internal social media (ISM) within the context of internal communication, aiming to provide a more nuanced understanding of the roles of ISM and its potential implications for communicative practices.

Drawing on a problematizing review methodology, the article conducts a critical analysis of a selected body of literature with the aim of problematizing assumptions that form the foundation of existing theories and constructs in the literature on ISM communication.

The article points out two interrelated critical issues that might constrain our understanding, scholarly conversation and theoretical development of the roles of ISM communication in organizations: (1) Philosophical inexplicitness; (2) Ontological inconsistency.

Assuming a communication perspective, the article contributes suggestions for future research on ISM in the context of internal communication, calling for research to: (1) explicitly consider the epistemological implications of philosophical positions, including the view of technology; and (2) foreground meaning creation processes as the analytical point of interest.

The main purpose of the study is to identify the differences and similarities in the communication between B2B participants in cross-cultural environments.

The research methods used in the study are two-fold: the literature analysis is complemented by primary qualitative research conducted in small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in Poland and doing business internationally. The research was focused on two culturally different markets: China and the United States. In the empirical research, the authors used one of the qualitative methods – Individual Depth Interview (IDI).

General findings showed that the strongest influence of culture was identified among older (+50 years old) business partners. The younger ones are eager to adapt and try to understand others' viewpoints. The research results may be used in creating business communication models in the countries researched for companies that plan to enter both American and Chinese markets.

The results of the study may have useful applied managerial value and be used in cooperation between SMEs' B2B business partners, not only from Poland but also from the whole region of Central and Eastern Europe and the United States and China.

The findings may help to understand and communicate with culturally different social groups such as co-workers, students, teachers, etc.

The research presented in the paper covers the gap in the literature because it relates to some new factors (like cultural heritage, age and type of industry) which determine the effectiveness of personal business communication between partners in the international marketplace.