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1 – 10 of over 54000Sining Kong, Weiting Tao and Zifei Fay Chen
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…
Abstract
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.
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Honglei Li and Eric W.K. See-To
This study aims at building a framework for the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) response under the social media environment. The elaboration likelihood model was adopted to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at building a framework for the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) response under the social media environment. The elaboration likelihood model was adopted to explain how message source credibility and message appeal jointly influence the eWOM response process, while source credibility provides a central route and message appeal plays a peripheral route for information processing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a scenario design to test the decision behavior in the Facebook environment through message content manipulation. A convenience sampling method was adopted in this study. We collected 203 valid questionnaires and tested this research model with LISREL 8.8. This study used a two-stage structural equation modeling data analysis method with LISREL 8.8, by which the measurement model was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis for the reliability and validity of the research model, and the causal relationship among factors was assessed through exploratory factor analysis .
Findings
The results showed that 53% variance of eWOM responses could be explained by message source credibility and emotional message appeal from the elaboration likelihood model perspective. Message source credibility plays a central role in the social media environment. The model was further tested with a demographic profile analysis for both gender and age. It is found that a female user is influenced by both source credibility and emotional appeal, but a male user is only influenced by message source credibility. The mature age group is more responsive to eWOM messages.
Research limitations/implications
The sample might not represent all social networking sites (SNS) users. The participants represent a small segment of the Facebook population around the globe. Secondly, this research design could be improved by using more recreational messages to test the effects of message appeal and message source credibility. Thirdly, the mobile phone is a type of physical product rather than an experiential product. Future studies could try to identify the same eWOM determinants with different SNS functions, for example, the inbox message function. Similarly, Facebook users are allowed to use both text and pictures to disseminate promotional messages.
Practical implications
This study provides an insight for SNS administrators regarding the determinants of driving more customer responses toward a message. Message source credibility and message appeal are identified as the antecedents for eWOM responses in SNS. Companies could make use of this finding to improve their marketing communication strategy in SNS. The finding can inform administrators of the importance of focusing on both customers’ psychological state and message attributes during the dissemination of promotional messages to improve the efficiency of the promotional effort. Companies aimed at receiving different types of eWOM responses in SNS may need to consider other factors for creating their promotional messages.
Originality/value
Previous studies have mainly identified factors influencing eWOM responses from the people-centered variables such as personal traits and social relationships. This study proposes that the eWOM response is a dual information processing process that can be explained by the ELM. When a user processes information in SNS, he follows both the central route and the peripheral route (i.e. source credibility and message appeal) which can influence the eWOM response. It is the first time that the source credibility is investigated as the central route in ELM model.
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Ping Wang, Luping Sun and Luluo Peng
Word‐of‐mouth (WOM) has been found to significantly influence consumers' decision making. Much attention has been paid to the effect of WOM characteristics such as the number of…
Abstract
Purpose
Word‐of‐mouth (WOM) has been found to significantly influence consumers' decision making. Much attention has been paid to the effect of WOM characteristics such as the number of postings, the dispersion of online conversations, the reputation of the reviewers, and the review quality on product sales. Little research, however, has examined the interaction process of online reviews. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumers' product attitude formation process in online WOM. Three research questions will be addressed in this paper, i.e. the effect of prior responses on the following repliers' product attitude, the negativity effect and the role of main messages in shaping consumers' product attitude formation process.
Design/methodology/approach
The product attitude formation process of online WOM is investigated using the data of product reviews (main messages) and their corresponding responses. The paper collected 26 product reviews from various web sites and kept the first 40‐50 responses for each review, which resulted in 26 main messages and 1,173 observations (i.e. responses) in total. A hierarchical Bayesian ordinal choice model is then specified and estimated with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to address the research questions and to capture the main message heterogeneity.
Findings
The paper finds that the impact of prior responses (e.g. the proportion of positive and negative responses) on the product attitudes of the following responses differs significantly across products. This heterogeneity can be well explained by the characteristics of the main messages at the second‐level specification. Thereby, factors that influence consumers' product attitudes in the interaction process of online WOM include prior responses and main message characteristics. Another interesting finding is that positive responses have larger impacts on product attitudes than negative ones.
Originality/value
This research contributes to both academic research and the firms' online WOM management. Theoretically, this research is the first attempt to examine the formation process of attitudes toward new products in online communications. This research contributes by modeling how the dynamic process of online WOM influences new product attitudes. Furthermore, inconsistent with the “negativity effect” proposed by researchers (e.g. Skowronski and Carlston), the paper finds that positive responses matter more than negative ones in online communications. In addition, the way the paper configures the data for online communications is innovative and provides a perspective to quantitatively model the communication process. Managerially, this research provides implications for firms to intervene in the online communication process and influence consumer attitude of new products.
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Naresh Kumar Agarwal, Tenbit Mitiku and Wenqing Lu
People are living in a world where they maintain connectivity through sending and receiving messages and calls. Yet, almost daily, people choose not to respond to certain messages…
Abstract
Purpose
People are living in a world where they maintain connectivity through sending and receiving messages and calls. Yet, almost daily, people choose not to respond to certain messages or calls, which can make the sender anxious, and adversely affect their communication. The aim of this study was to investigate the receivers' reasons for not responding.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used theories related to information avoidance, power, interpersonal deception and emotions and conducted interviews of smartphone users.
Findings
The study found that the receiver’s physical and psychological state, the time of the day and the content of the message impacted non-response. The findings suggest that the non-response behavior is moderated by the power relationship between the sender and the receiver. The receiver’s state of mind will determine the likelihood of non-response, while the sender’s state of mind will determine how the sender deals with non-response.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to research in mobile information behavior, and the wider fields of information science, sociology and communication.
Practical implications
The process of interviewing itself helped raise awareness about these issues with the people who were interviewed.
Social implications
The findings shed light on the current communicative practices and ways to overcome the disconnectedness and stress suffered by people regularly using smartphones.
Originality/value
The study provides recommendations for healthy communication between the sender and the receiver using their smartphones.
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Xuebing Dong, Yaping Chang and Xiaojun Fan
Marketers recognize that the internet is crucial in the lives of consumers; thus, they invest money on online advertisements. Using multiple online media primarily influences the…
Abstract
Purpose
Marketers recognize that the internet is crucial in the lives of consumers; thus, they invest money on online advertisements. Using multiple online media primarily influences the message acceptance of consumers. The synergistic effect of online multimedia relies on form, content, and sources of information, and time. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A model that reflects the influence of the characteristics of online multimedia on message response through message acceptance is established based on theories of information persuasion, encoding variability, and multiple-source assumption. Based on a survey of 411 online media users, the study applies partial least-squares regression to test the research model.
Findings
The results show that variety of forms, complementary of contents, diversity of sources, and time interval influence message response via message strength. Complementary of contents and diversity of sources affect message response via perceived credibility. Synergy type moderates the relationship between variety of forms and perceived credibility and between diversity of sources and perceived credibility.
Research limitations/implications
The current study mainly tests the effect of these characteristics on message response and the moderating effect of synergy type. Future research can examine the effect of these characteristics on information seeking and consumption behavior and the moderating effect of the cognitive mode of consumers.
Practical implications
This study provides insight into the characteristics of synergy and contributes to the literature on integrated marketing communication. The results provide guidance for practitioners to effectively plan online multimedia practices.
Originality/value
This study explored the influence of the characteristics of online media synergy on message response through message acceptance. The study also discussed the moderating effect of the type of online multimedia synergy.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine multinational corporations’ (MNCs) response strategy in social media to effectively communicate their international CSR practices.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine multinational corporations’ (MNCs) response strategy in social media to effectively communicate their international CSR practices.
Design/methodology/approach
An experiment was conducted by adopting a case of an MNC’s globalized CSR campaign in United Arab Emirates. The interaction effects of corporate communication strategy and company’s response sidedness were examined as well as a mediating role of the perceived altruism.
Findings
The current study suggests how two-sided response strategy can be applied and benefits MNCs’ international CSR campaigns. The findings demonstrate that a company’s two-sided response helps to increase people’s attitude toward the company and word-of-mouth intention through enhanced perceived altruism when the company has no prior CSR experience in a host country.
Practical implications
The current study provides insights on how to respond to negative publicity in social media. MNCs are suggested to use different response strategies based on their prior CSR experience in a host country.
Originality/value
The success of CSR depends on how consumers take the message and perceive a company’s motive of CSR. The current study examines how to best respond to the consumers’ criticism by utilizing message sidedness strategies depending on the company’s presence of CSR.
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Michail Vafeiadis, Denise S. Bortree, Christen Buckley, Pratiti Diddi and Anli Xiao
The dissemination of fake news has accelerated with social media and this has important implications for both organizations and their stakeholders alike. Hence, the purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
The dissemination of fake news has accelerated with social media and this has important implications for both organizations and their stakeholders alike. Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the effectiveness of the crisis response strategies of denial and attack in addressing rumors about consumer privacy when non-profit organizations are targeted on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypotheses, a 2 (response type: denial vs attack) × 2 (privacy concerns: low vs high), between-group online experiment was conducted via Qualtrics.
Findings
The results indicated that one’s involvement level in the issue determines the effectiveness of the crisis response strategy. Data showed that attacking the source of fake news (as a crisis response) reduces the message’s credibility more than denying fake news. Furthermore, highly involved individuals are more likely to centrally process information and develop positive supportive intentions toward the affected non-profit brand. High issue involvement also predicted organizational and response credibility. Conversely, an attack rebuttal message increased the credibility of the circulated malicious rumors for low involved individuals.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that issue involvement plays a key role in message perceptions of false information regarding consumer privacy in social media.
Practical implications
Practically, this study offers insights for organizations that are developing response strategies in the current environment of fake news. Findings from this study suggest that organizations need to consider the degree to which audiences are currently involved in an issue before deciding how aggressively to respond to perpetrators of fake news.
Originality/value
The present study examines the intersection of fake news and crisis management in the non-profit sector, with an emphasis on various response strategies and issue involvement. This is one of the first attempts to experimentally investigate how social media strategies can defend and protect non-profit reputation in the fake news era.
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Danielle LaGree, Douglas Wilbur and Glen T. Cameron
Using the National Football League (NFL) concussion crisis context, the purpose of this paper is to provide sports marketers with a strategic approach to sports crisis management…
Abstract
Purpose
Using the National Football League (NFL) concussion crisis context, the purpose of this paper is to provide sports marketers with a strategic approach to sports crisis management through consideration of crisis media coverage and organizational reputation.
Design/methodology/approach
An online experiment assessed the impact of two crisis response strategies, fan involvement and exposure to crisis media coverage on emotional response, corporate message credibility, crisis perception and perceived corporate reputation.
Findings
The accident response strategy was associated with more favorable perceptions of the NFL and corporate message credibility. Sports fan involvement facilitated more favorable perceptions of the NFL’s reputation, while exposure to media coverage of the NFL’s crisis created negative perceptions of the NFL’s reputation. Exposure to media coverage of the NFL concussion crisis increased feelings of anger, which in turn decreased perceptions of corporate message credibility.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation for this study is the specific crisis scenario that was used. The NFL concussion crisis is different from other crisis types in that it does not directly impact the audience’s well-being, but instead affects their perceptions of an iconic institution.
Practical implications
In light of study findings, it is suggested that sports marketers consider the following when dealing with crises: carefully determine proper framing methods when crafting a crisis response as different response types affect consumers in different ways; leverage public relations (PR) practices by engaging in media monitoring to inform an appropriate crisis response to control the narrative; and examine forces exernal of the organization that influence consumer emotions, paying special attention to feelings of anger as anger negatively impacts consumer perceptions of corporate credibility.
Originality/value
This paper addresses sports crisis strategy from both marketing and public relations perspectives. It describes how strategic efforts protect a sports organization’s reputation, thus increasing marketing effectiveness.
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W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry Jean Holladay
The purpose of this paper is to provide a rationale and framework for examining stakeholder reactions to crisis communication messages in various social media channels…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a rationale and framework for examining stakeholder reactions to crisis communication messages in various social media channels. Stakeholders can become crisis communications by entering various sub-arenas of the larger rhetorical arena. The concept of sub-arena is presented and a case analysis used to illustrate the application and value of examining stakeholder crisis communicators during a crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis was used to evaluate publicly available social media messages posted on the Livestrong blog and the Huffington Post online news site.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that monitoring reactions of stakeholders can reveal how individuals can act as crisis communications in social media messages can serve as barometers the effectiveness of an organization's crisis response. The importance of examining multiple sub-arenas is considered due to the influence of supportive stakeholders in organizational social media.
Research limitations/implications
Only two sub-arenas were analyzed using one crisis response during a crisis that extended over a number of months.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for the examination of social media messages from supportive stakeholder and neutral sub-arenas. The results provide indicators of the effectiveness of an organization's crisis response and how stakeholder messages in social media may contribute to or undermine the crisis response.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates the value of monitoring social media comments to gauge reactions to organizational crisis responses and demonstrates how stakeholders can function as informal crisis managers. It also begins the discussion of the value and conceptualization of sub-arenas.
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Organizations are communicating with the public about their thoughts and behaviors relevant to the environment via social networking sites. The purpose of this paper is to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations are communicating with the public about their thoughts and behaviors relevant to the environment via social networking sites. The purpose of this paper is to explore for-profit and nonprofit organizations' Twitter messages to understand their environment-related messages and their influences on the publics' responses.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted a content analysis adopting four message classification systems: environmental message orientation, message specificity, message framing, and environmental issue. Guided by attribution theory, this study also explored how the organization's environmental messages influence social media (Twitter) user responses, likes, retweets, and replies.
Findings
The analysis showed that for-profits' messages tend to discuss their green products and manufacturing processes with specific numeric evidence, while nonprofits are disposed to describe a severely degraded environment. In addition, the study revealed that tweets yield a high number of likes and replies when the organizations are for-profits and the messages emphasize green products.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study showed that the green message categorization systems are applicable to the social media context. But, this study focused on Twitter only. Future studies need to examine various social media platforms.
Practical implications
The study findings recommend communication practitioners use substantive green messages highlighting actual pro-environmental performances. Also, practitioners might need to make a linkage between the discussed environmental issue and the organization (e.g. a water issue by a wildlife-related nonprofit, an energy issue by a home appliance manufacturer, an air pollution issue by a bicycle company). In addition, regarding the message specificity, infographics can be present specific information that audiences can readily understand because it is described visually.
Originality/value
Scholars investigated environmental messages in advertising and cautioned that environmental messages that are not substantive or specific can cause audiences to perceive the messages as greenwashing. However, these previous studies focused on conventional media, and they have not been replicated in the age of social media. Thus, it is important to explore the current status of organizational environmental messages on social media.
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