Search results

Consumers tend to form their perceptions about a company via two associations: corporate ability (CA) that centers on expertise in producing quality products and corporate social responsibility (CSR) that focuses on societal obligations. To date, investigations on the adoption of such association-based corporate communication strategies are yet to address the interactive and multi-source features of social media. Drawing theoretical insights from corporate associations and the warranting principle, the purpose of this paper is to fill the gap and examine the joint effect of association-based corporate posting strategy and corresponding electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) comment valence on social media.

A three (corporate posting strategy: CSR vs CA vs hybrid (CSR + CA)) by two (eWOM comment valence: positive vs negative) between-subjects experiment (n=193) was conducted.

The effect of corporate posting strategy on consumers’ CSR associations was found to be significant only when eWOM comment valence was positive. Significant main effects of both posting strategy and eWOM comment valence were found on CA associations, perceived corporate reputation, and purchase intention.

This study extends the theoretical framework of corporate associations to the interactive context on social media and provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of association-based posting strategies when they are jointly presented with eWOM comments at different valence levels. Findings of this study also provide implications for business and communication professionals to communicate with consumers on social media more effectively.

This study focused on the impact of misinformation on social networking sites. Through theorizing and integrating literature from interdisciplinary fields such as information behavior, communication and relationship management, this study explored how misinformation on Facebook influences users' trust, distrust and intensity of Facebook use.

This study employed quantitative survey research and collected panel data via an online professional survey platform. A total of 661 participants in the USA completed this study, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the theoretical model using Amos 20.

Based on data from an online questionnaire (N = 661) in the USA, results showed that information trustworthiness and elaboration, users' self-efficacy of detecting misinformation and prescriptive expectancy of the social media platform significantly predicted both trust and distrust toward Facebook, which in turn jointly influenced users' intensity of using this information system.

This study contributes to the growing body of literature on information and relationship management and digital communication from several important aspects. First, this study disclosed the underlying cognitive psychological and social processing of online misinformation and addressed the strategies for future system design and behavioral intervention of misinformation. Second, this study systematically examined both trust and distrust as cognitive and affective dimensions of the human mindsets, encompassed the different components of the online information behavior and enriched one’s understanding of how misinformation affected publics' perceptions of the information system where it appeared. Last but not least, this study advanced the relationship management literature and demonstrated that a trustful attitude exerted a stronger influence on the intensity of Facebook use than distrust did.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2020-0130

Drawing on theoretical insights from the persuasion knowledge model (PKM), this study aims to propose and test a model that maps out the antecedents, process and consequences to explain how consumers process and respond to fake news about brands on Facebook.

Contextualizing the fake news about Coca-Cola’s recall of Dasani water, an online survey was conducted via Qualtrics with consumers in the USA (N  =  468). Data were analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling.

Results showed that self-efficacy and media trust significantly predicted consumers’ persuasion knowledge of the fake news. Persuasion knowledge of the fake news significantly influenced consumers’ perceived diagnosticity of the fake news and subsequent brand trust. Furthermore, persuasion knowledge of the fake news mediated the effects from self-efficacy on perceived diagnosticity of the fake news and brand trust, respectively.

This study contributes to the literature of brand management by examining how consumers process and respond to fake news about a brand. It also extends the persuasion knowledge model by applying it to the context of fake news about brands on social media, and incorporating antecedents (self-efficacy and media trust) and consequences (perceived diagnosticity and brand trust) of persuasion knowledge in this particular context. Practically, this study provides insights to key stakeholders of brands to better understand consumers’ information processing of fake news about brands on social media.

Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from stakeholder theory, relationship management and organizational justice, the purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) from an internal and relational perspective. Specifically, it examines the effects of CSR in overall as well as the discretionary, ethical, legal and economic CSR dimensions on organization–employee relationships, respectively. The moderating role of employees’ perceived CSR-culture fit on these effects was also explored.

An online survey was conducted with 303 participants from the USA who were full-time employees at for-profit organizations.

Results indicate that CSR performance in overall positively influences organization–employee relationships, and such effect is amplified as employees’ perceived CSR-culture fit increases. Discretionary and ethical CSR positively influence organization–employee relationships, but perceived CSR-culture fit only amplifies the influence from ethical CSR. For legal and economic CSR, the effects on organization–employee relationships are only significant when perceived CSR-culture fit is high.

This study extends the body of knowledge of CSR and internal relationship management. However, the limitations regarding the factors from culture, business sectors and organizational setting should be addressed in future studies through both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the effects from four different CSR dimensions on organization–employee relationships as well as how such effects were moderated by employees’ perceived CSR-culture fit. Integrating interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, this study offers insights for corporate communications and public relations professionals on how to effectively build and cultivate relationships with employees through different dimensions of CSR.

This study aims to propose a model that delineated the diffusion process of product-harm misinformation on social media. Drawing on theoretical insights from cue diagnosticity and corporate associations, the proposed model mapped out how consumers' information skepticism and perceived content credibility influence their perceived diagnosticity of the product-harm misinformation and corporate ability (CA) associations with the company being impacted, which in turn influenced their trust toward the company and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) intention.

A survey was conducted with 504 US consumers to empirically test the proposed model. Following the survey, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 communication professionals regarding the applicability of the model.

When exposed to product-harm misinformation on social media, consumers' perceived diagnosticity of misinformation was negatively impacted by their information skepticism and positively impacted by perceived content credibility of misinformation. Perceived diagnosticity of product-harm misinformation negatively impacted consumers' CA associations, which then led to decreased trust and increased NWOM intention. Findings from the interviews further supported the diffusion process and provided insights on strategies to combat product-harm misinformation. Strategies shared by the interviewees included preparedness and social listening, proactive outreach and building strong CA associations as preventative measures.

This study incorporates the theoretical frameworks of cue diagnosticity and corporate associations into the scholarship of misinformation and specifically addresses the unique diffusion process of product-harm misinformation on social media. This study provides insights and tangible recommendations for communication professionals to combat product-harm misinformation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Strategists long have advocated for incorporation of SMART objectives into communication campaigns but have failed to consider diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as essential components. While the five elements of specificity, measurement, audience, realism, and time provide direction for the organization's success, non-DEI thinking often leads to unidirectional messaging which harms stakeholders and ultimately, organizations. By adopting SMART + IE objectives, campaign planners can ground the five SMART components with conversations about inclusion and equity so that the organization–public relationship does not become one-sided. Shifting from organization-centric efforts to socially responsible ones not only recognize traditionally marginalized community stakeholders, but it lifts their voices and participation in public relations programming. Incorporating DEI thinking as an organic element of the SMART + IE mindset could result in authentic action for moving public relations practice forward.

The chapter develops a typology of eight different expected employee communication roles based on literature in public relations (PR), corporate communication and related fields. As PR professionals are increasingly taking on a coaching and training role, and communication technology has made employees more visible and approachable, employees more and more take on active roles in the communication with external publics. While PR professionals’ roles are conceptualized fairly well, no framework exists that describes the many communication roles that employees play in contemporary organizations. In the chapter, it is found that employees externally (1) embody, (2) promote, and (3) defend the organization. In addition, employees use communication to (4) scout for information and insights about environmental changes, and (5) build and maintain relationships with stakeholders. Internally, employees use communication to (6) make sense of information, (7) initiate and stimulate innovation, and (8) criticize organizational behaviour and decisions. The typology highlights that employees increasingly fulfil the tactic communication roles as producers and executers of corporate communication as social media have made them more visible and approachable. The communication roles require considerable tactical skills and resources on the part of employees, which they may not always possess sufficiently. PR professionals can play a coaching role in terms of helping employees frame content and communicate in a manner appropriate for the organization, the context and the media. The chapter can help PR professionals and scholars understand the changed role of PR professionals, as well as the changed relationships between organizations and their environment, in the context of dissolving organizational boundaries.