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Article
Publication date: 9 July 2018

Subin Sudhir

Employees often engage in informal interpersonal communication within organizations. Such communication is essential for creating a better work environment. While there are…

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Abstract

Purpose

Employees often engage in informal interpersonal communication within organizations. Such communication is essential for creating a better work environment. While there are documented advantages of such communication, often, such communication is plagued by rumors. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the menace posed by rumors, the motivations for employees to engage in rumormongering, and possible ways to manage the spread of these rumors.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws from published literature on rumor research to illustrate the menace of rumors within organizational contexts, motivation to engage in rumormongering, and possible management strategies.

Findings

The paper identifies the menace of rumors in organizations, illustrates the reasons why employees share rumors, and discusses the possible methods to manage the spread of rumors.

Originality/value

Rumor propagation in organizations is an extremely dynamic process. The key element in rumor management is the swiftness and agility in intervention and management of rumors using strategies described in this paper. HR managers can monitor conversations to identify potentially harmful rumors and tackle this menace.

Details

Human Resource Management International Digest, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-0734

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1994

Adebowale Akande and Funmilayo Odewale

Rumour behaviour is an “instinctual behaviour” elicited in the workplaceusually involving unverified information of uncertain origin that istransmitted by word of mouth. Examines…

2060

Abstract

Rumour behaviour is an “instinctual behaviour” elicited in the workplace usually involving unverified information of uncertain origin that is transmitted by word of mouth. Examines the ways in which rumours spread and how organizations can stop them. To do so requires that practical sense be made be made of a potentially chaotic and complex set of factors which interact together to produce and elaborate rumours. With a better understanding of the nature of rumours and techniques of rumour rebuttal, organizations can prevent rumour build‐up among the staff.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2000

Chris Frost

The Internet‘s email system is a fast and efficient communication method and one that has become particularly popular for rumours and hoaxes. These include virus alerts, one of…

749

Abstract

The Internet‘s email system is a fast and efficient communication method and one that has become particularly popular for rumours and hoaxes. These include virus alerts, one of the favourite types of hoax, and urban myths or contemporary legends. An interesting element of these types of rumours and hoaxes is: the apparent reduction in caution about their retransmission; the speed and ease of re‐transmission that email offers; the extensive detail that is often included at variance to standard word of mouth transmission of rumour. This paper examines a single case study in order to investigate the differences between e‐rumours and word of mouth rumours. Theory suggests that detail adds verisimilitude to a rumour and this could certainly explain why such emails often provide extensive detail. The email system eases the job of re‐transmitting and this might explain why readers are prepared to broadcast such rumours without further checking.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 52 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

Thomas Kobinah, Dick Mizerski and Katherine Mizerski

Commercial rumour can have a very negative impact on companies and products. As soon as a negative rumour begins to spread, sales often fall drastically. The major battle is not…

Abstract

Commercial rumour can have a very negative impact on companies and products. As soon as a negative rumour begins to spread, sales often fall drastically. The major battle is not only to recover sales but how to recover consumer confidence before buyers eliminate the company’s brands from their evoked set. The literature on commercial rumour implicitly assumes that consumers will react to commercial rumours in a homogenous manner. However, most marketing scholars involved in studying cultural effects suggest that the culture of the buyer will influence their reaction specifically through their acceptance/rejection of the source attempting to refute the rumour. Therefore, any attempt to address commercial rumour without regard to the buyers’ cultural backgrounds may not be effective. An experiment was developed to test the effect of cultural background on choice of spokesperson to refute commercial rumours. The results of this experiment show that consumers from Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds respond in a different manner to spokespersons addressing commercial rumours. Their cultural backgrounds and values appear to influence their belief about the veracity of the source responding to the commercial rumours and their message. It is recommended that marketing personnel consider consumers’ and buyers’ core values when developing strategies for and selecting sources for controlling commercial rumours.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 15 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Wen-Qi Ruan, Fang Deng, Shu-Ning Zhang and Yan Zhou

Negative rumors damage the destination’s image and tourist experience. This study aims to compare how rumor correction sources (government vs business vs tourist) affect user…

Abstract

Purpose

Negative rumors damage the destination’s image and tourist experience. This study aims to compare how rumor correction sources (government vs business vs tourist) affect user online citizenship behavior (UOCB).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the stimuli-organism-response framework, a hypothetical model was established from rumor correction to UOCB. Three scenario experiments (more than 1,000 valid samples) were designed. Study 1 illustrated the effects of different rumor corrections, Study 2 was designed to verify the mediating effects of sympathy and perceived information authenticity (PIA) and the robustness of results was demonstrated in Study 3.

Findings

Government correction elicited the highest sympathy and PIA. Business correction was less than tourist correction in arousing sympathy but better than tourist correction in enhancing PIA. Sympathy and PIA had a mediating effect on the relationship between rumor correction and UOCB.

Practical implications

This study helps to identify the different advantages of rumor correctors and provides insights to prevent the deterioration of negative tourism rumors or even reverse these crises.

Originality/value

This study innovates research perspective of negative tourism rumor governance, expands the understanding of the effect and process of rumor correction and enriches the research content of tourism crisis communication.

目的

负面谣言破坏目的地形象和游客体验。本研究比较谣言纠正来源(政府、企业、游客)对用户在线公民行为的影响。

设计/方法/途径

基于刺激-有机体-反应框架, 搭建谣言纠正到用户在线公民行为的假设模型, 并设计3个情境实验(超过1000个有效样本)。实验1验证不同谣言纠正来源的纠正效果, 实验2证明同情和感知信息真实性的中介作用, 实验3测试实验结果的稳健性。

研究发现

政府纠正引发最高的同情和感知信息真实性。企业纠正在唤起同情时不足于游客纠正, 但在增强感知信息真实性时优于旅游纠正。同情和感知信息真实性在谣言纠正与用户在线公民行为之间发挥中介作用。

实践意义

有助于识别各个谣言纠正主体的不同优势, 为防止旅游负面谣言恶化甚至转危为安提供见解。

原创性/价值

为旅游负面谣言治理提供新的研究视角, 拓展了对谣言纠正效果和过程的认识, 丰富了旅游危机沟通的研究内容。

Propósito

Los rumores negativos dañan la imagen del destino y la experiencia del turista. Este estudio compara cómo afectan las fuentes de corrección de rumores (gobierno vs empresas vs turista) en el comportamiento cívico online de los usuarios (CCOU).

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

Sobre la base del marco estímulo-organismo-respuesta, se estableció un modelo hipotético desde la corrección de rumores hasta el CCOU. Se diseñaron tres escenarios experimentales (más de 1.000 muestras válidas). El Estudio 1 ilustró los efectos de las diferentes correcciones de rumores, el Estudio 2 se diseñó para verificar los efectos mediadores de la simpatía y la autenticidad percibida de la información (API), y la solidez de los resultados se demostró en el Estudio 3.

Hallazgos

La corrección del gobierno obtuvo la mayor simpatía y API. La corrección de la empresa despertó menos simpatía que la corrección del turista, pero fue mejor para generar API. La simpatía y la API tuvieron un efecto mediador en la relación entre la corrección del rumor y el CCOU.

Implicaciones practices

Ayuda a identificar las diferentes ventajas de los correctores de rumores y proporciona información para prevenir el deterioro de los rumores turísticos negativos o incluso revertir estas crisis.

Originalidad/valor

Proporciona una nueva perspectiva de investigación de la gobernanza del rumor turístico negativo, amplía la comprensión del efecto y el proceso de corrección de rumores y enriquece el contenido de la investigación de la comunicación de crisis turísticas.

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2022

You Wu, Xiao-Liang Shen and Yongqiang Sun

Social media rumor combating is a global concern in academia and industry. Existing studies lack a clear definition and overall conceptual framework of users' rumor-combating…

Abstract

Purpose

Social media rumor combating is a global concern in academia and industry. Existing studies lack a clear definition and overall conceptual framework of users' rumor-combating behaviors. Therefore, this study attempts to empirically derive a typology of rumor-combating behaviors of social media users.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-phase typology development approach is adopted, including content analysis, multidimensional scaling (MDS), interpreting and labeling. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods are employed.

Findings

The elicited 40 rumor-combating behaviors vary along two dimensions: high versus low difficulty of realization, and low versus high cognitive load. Based on the two dimensions, the 40 behaviors are further divided into four categories: rumor-questioning behavior, rumor-debunking behavior, proactive-appealing behavior, and literacy enhancement behavior.

Practical implications

This typology will serve as reference for social media platforms and governments to further explore the interventions to encourage social media users to counter rumor spreading based on various situations and different characteristics of rumor-combating behaviors.

Originality/value

This study provides a typology of rumor-combating behaviors from a novel perspective of user participation. The typology delves into the conceptual connotations and basic forms of rumor combating, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of the complete spectrum of users' rumor-combating behaviors. Furthermore, the typology identifies the similarities and the differences between various rumor-combating behaviors, thus providing implications and directions for future research on rumor-combating behaviors.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2022

Jian-Ren Hou and Sarawut Kankham

When the spread of online health rumors on social media causes public concerns, the public is calling for action. However, little study has investigated how Facebook reaction…

Abstract

Purpose

When the spread of online health rumors on social media causes public concerns, the public is calling for action. However, little study has investigated how Facebook reaction icons (expressing feelings function) affect online users' behavioral intentions (intention to trust and share) toward online health rumor posts. The current study addresses this gap by focusing on the effect of Facebook reaction icons in two conditions: Facebook reaction icons' presence (versus absence), and Facebook reaction icons' emotional valence (positive versus negative versus neutral). Moreover, the authors also investigated the interaction between Facebook reaction icons' emotional valence and online health rumor posts' framing headlines (gain versus loss).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a 7 (Facebook reaction icons: Love, Like, Haha, Wow, Sad, Angry and no icon) × 2 (Facebook framing headlines: gain and loss) between-subjects design, analyzing 507 samples from online users with one-way ANOVA and MANOVA.

Findings

Results show that online health rumor posts without Facebook reaction icons are more likely to negatively change online users' behavioral intentions than the posts with Facebook reaction icons; negative reaction icons (Sad and Angry) lower online users' behavioral intentions than positive reaction icons (Love and Like). Further, the incongruency effect of interaction (i.e. positive reaction icons with a negative message) would have more negative effects on online users' behavioral intentions than the congruency effect (i.e. positive reaction icons with a positive message).

Originality/value

This study has rich contributions to theoretical and practical implications for the Facebook platform and Facebook users to apply Facebook reaction icons against online health rumor posts.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 July 2021

Hailiang Chen, Chuan Ai, Bin Chen, Yong Zhao, Kaisheng Lai, Lingnan He and Zhihan Liu

The purpose of this paper is to achieve effective governance of online rumors through the proposed rumor propagation model and immunization strategy.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to achieve effective governance of online rumors through the proposed rumor propagation model and immunization strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper leverages the agent-based modeling (ABM) method to model individuals from two aspects, behavior and attitude. Based on the analysis and research of online data, we propose a rumor propagation model, namely the Untouched view transmit removed-Susceptible hesitate agree disagree (Unite-Shad), and devise an immunization strategy, namely the Gravity Immunization Strategy (GIS). A graph-based framework, namely Pregel, is used to carry out the rumor propagation simulation experiments. Through the experiments, the rationality of the Unite-Shad and the effectiveness of the GIS are verified.

Findings

The study discovers that the inconsistency between human behaviors and attitudes in rumor propagation can be explained by the Unite-shad model. Besides, the GIS, which shows better performance in small-world networks than in scale-free networks, can effectively suppress rumor propagation in the early stage.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides an effective immunization strategy for rumor governance. Specifically, the Unite-Shad model reveals the mechanism of rumor propagation, and the GIS provides an effective governance method for selecting immune nodes.

Originality/value

The inconsistency of human behaviors and attitudes in real scenes is modeled in the Unite-Shad model. Combined with the model, the definition of diffusion domain is proposed and a novel immunization strategy, namely GIS, is designed, which is significant for the social governance of rumor propagation.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2004

Grant Michelson and V. Suchitra Mouly

This paper examines an important, albeit neglected aspect of communication in the workplace, namely, rumour and gossip in organisations. Drawing on literature from multiple…

5705

Abstract

This paper examines an important, albeit neglected aspect of communication in the workplace, namely, rumour and gossip in organisations. Drawing on literature from multiple disciplines the paper provides an analysis of the role played by rumour and gossip within organisations, including, but not limited to, its meaning, hidden reasons and its management. The paper discusses both antecedent and outcome variables that are associated with organisational rumour and gossip. It is contended that the different types of rumour and gossip serve different purposes which, in turn, result in a range of outcomes. Moreover, and in spite of the tendency to ascribe rumour and gossip as morally reprehensible, not all of these outcomes are shown to be harmful within organisations. The authors use this finding to argue that scholars and managers alike should avoid making negative judgements about rumour and gossip in all such cases.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2021

Jenette Villegas Puyod and Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol

This study examines the effects of workplace rumors and organizational formalization on the degree of role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion that university employees in the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the effects of workplace rumors and organizational formalization on the degree of role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion that university employees in the Philippines are experiencing during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The interaction between the two variables is also analyzed.

Design/methodology/approach

Online survey data were obtained from 522 faculty members and staff at three public universities in the Philippines. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that both workplace rumors and organizational formalization are associated positively with role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion, and role ambiguity mediates workplace rumors' effect on emotional exhaustion. Moreover, the moderating effect analysis shows that workplace rumors and organizational formalization interact and intensify the degree of role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion that employees experience.

Originality/value

This study extends previous research by showing that employees who work in a highly formal structure can be extremely sensitive to workplace rumors during a period of uncertainty.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000