764 research outputs found

    Disinformation and Fact-Checking in Contemporary Society

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    Funded by the European Media and Information Fund and research project PID2022-142755OB-I00

    The impact of digital communication on Luxury Fashion Brands’ Reputation

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    The luxury market, more specifically in the fashion sector, has experienced many deep changes throughout the last years, provoked by the rise and dissemination of social media. The popularity of luxury fashion brands on social media has continually stimulated demand for newer items at an unprecedented pace, making collections become obsolete much faster than ever before. Digital communication strategies deployed by luxury brands have contributed to the cycle of fashion being sped up to a pace never seen before and the implications for that remain unknown. The present study aims to explore the importance that social media has in luxury brands and analyze how the different communication strategies that rely heavily on social media can impact the brands’ digital reputation. To do so, this investigation resorts to an array of qualitative methods that range from interviews with nineteen consumers of luxury fashion brands and two communications experts, as well as case studies about three brands that have very different approaches to social media marketing and external endorsement strategies. The results of this analysis demonstrated that while it is not required for luxury brands to have an online presence in order to maintain a good reputation, it is very advantageous. Also, it was understood that luxury brands must have a careful and meaningful approach to external endorsers to optimize their social media presence, without harming their reputations. All in all, this research articulates and deepens the understanding of relationships between the luxury industry, content strategies, and social media.O mercado de luxo, mais especificamente no setor da moda, tem experimentado muitas mudanças profundas ao longo dos últimos anos, provocadas pela ascensão e disseminação das redes sociais. A popularidade das marcas de moda de luxo nas redes sociais tem estimulado continuamente a demanda por novos produtos a um ritmo sem precedentes, fazendo com que as coleções se tornem obsoletas mais rapidamente que nunca. As estratégias de comunicação digital utilizadas pelas marcas de luxo têm vindo a contribuir para que o ciclo da moda seja acelerado a um ritmo nunca antes visto, e as implicações disso permanecem desconhecidas. O presente estudo pretende explorar a importância que as redes sociais têm nas marcas de luxo e analisar como as diferentes estratégias de comunicação, que dependem fortemente das redes sociais, podem afetar a reputação digital das marcas. Para isso, esta investigação recorre a uma série de métodos qualitativos como entrevistas com dezanove consumidores de marcas de moda de luxo e com dois especialistas em comunicação, bem como estudos de caso sobre três marcas que têm abordagens muito diferentes para o marketing digital e estratégias de marketing de influência. Os resultados desta análise demonstraram que, embora não seja necessário para as marcas de luxo ter uma presença online para manter uma boa reputação, é muito vantajoso. Além disso, entendeu-se que as marcas de luxo devem ter uma abordagem cuidadosa e significativa ao trabalhar com marketing de influência para otimizar sua presença nas redes sociais, sem prejudicar as respetivas reputações. Em suma, esta pesquisa articula e aprofunda a compreensão das relações entre a indústria do luxo, estratégias de conteúdo e redes sociais

    Trauma-Informed Educational Leadership: A Case Study

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    This research study offers an exploratory examination into the lived experiences of educational leaders managing the implementation and facilitation of Trauma-Skilled Schools (TSS) in the post-COVID-19 pandemic context. This study details the unique challenges and opportunities experienced while planning and executing TSS, aiming to equip school staff to better address trauma-affected behaviors. Utilizing case study methods, including in-depth interviews and document analysis, this research uncovers practices, strategies, and challenges, offering an insider\u27s perspective on leading TSS initiatives. Findings indicate a necessity for comprehensive, job-embedded professional learning, continuous support from educational leadership, and organizational change in school policy, practice, and mindset, contributing to the growing body of literature on trauma-informed practices in education. The study features the pivotal role of educational leaders in effectively incorporating trauma-skilled interventions, illuminating the complexities involved, and offering guidance for future applications. This case study serves as an example of the potential of TSS in shaping resilient educational communities, thereby shaping the future trajectory of education in the face of global crises

    Workaholism: how does it impact on people’s lives?

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    Although there appears to be considerable popular interest in workaholism, scientific understanding of the construct is very limited. Paradoxically, although many argue that the personal cost of workaholism to workers, families and friends is enormous, these people’s perspectives do not appear to have been analysed using formal scientific paradigms (Scott, Moore, Miceli, 1997). The present research considers the construct of workaholism in its impact on people’s lives. The thesis comprises six chapters that outline data from three separate studies. The theoretical perspective involves interaction theory, where workaholism is hypothesised to arise from a personal tendency toward workaholic behaviour that is activated and maintained by reinforcing stimuli. The epistemological perspective involves applied research in a naturalistic setting, using triangulated, quantitative data within a contrasted-group design (i.e., workaholics, non-workaholics). Time diaries were used to assess the impact of workaholism on the allocation of time to ‘outside-work’ activities such as sleeping and exercising. Together, the data validated the two-factor measure of workaholism, corroborated the theoretically based definition, and showed that workaholism was distinct from four generic ethics (work, achievement, leisure, and time) and three specific constructs (obsessive thinking, compulsive finishing and delayed gratification). Workaholism scores were stable across time and held a consistent temporal relationship to work and leisure behaviours and intrapersonal and interpersonal well-being. Additionally, while workaholics evidenced differing work and leisure patterns to non-workaholics, they experienced similar health status, pleasure and relationship satisfaction. Thus, workaholism impacted on peoples’ choices about time allocated to work and non-work activities, but it was not necessarily harmful. These data are congruent with interaction theory, support the inductively generated definition of workaholism, and thereby provide a conceptual springboard for evolving future research designs. In sum, the research advances contemporary knowledge about workaholism in five ways (a) by providing one of the first systematic analyses of workaholism using data from multivariate sources, (b) by generating longitudinal New Zealand data from contrasted groups, (c) by analysing significant others’ perceptions of workaholism, (d) generating an empirically based operational definition, and (e) by adapting innovative measurement methods from other fields (e.g., time diaries) for use in workaholism research

    A Case Study On How HBCUs Use Social Media To Reduce Uncertainty Of COVID-19

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    This case study aims to understand how HBCUs use social media to deliver crisis communication messages to students about COVID-19 and how the HBCU culture impacts student perspectives. The theory guiding this study is uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1974), as it explains the communication strategies used to reduce uncertainty during a crisis. Data collection was conducted using semi-structured interviews and content analysis. Data analysis strategies included deductive and inductive coding and directed content analysis. The study results provide insight into how the HBCU culture impacts the perspective of an HBCUs response to COVID-19 and overall crisis communication messaging from a university

    Reinterpret 4As framework of energy security from the perspective of human security – an analysis of China’s electric vehicle (EV) development

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    This research addresses two issues: expanding the understanding of human security with the case of China’s electric vehicle (EV) development and examining the human security implications of China’s EV development. This research adopts an online ethnographic method to record very personal driving forces and barriers to China’s EV uptake through the experiences shared by ordinary Chinese people. From a theoretical perspective, this research provides more evidence for the applicability of the broad human security approach in energy security analysis through the case of China’s EV development. By reinterpreting the 4As framework (availability, affordability, accessibility, and acceptability), which is one of the most frequently adopted frameworks in the analysis of energy security on the state level, (Cherp & Jewell, 2014, p. 416), this research challenges the current understanding of human security by demonstrating that threats to human security exist at all levels of development and touch not only the most vulnerable but also people living in well-developed regions in the face of the lasted technological transformation. The analysis of China’s EV development as a strategic energy security consideration sheds some light on the complicated relationship between state and individual security within China’s security discussion. It enriches the understanding of human security by exploring how it has been adapted to the Chinese social and political context. Meanwhile, drawing on the insights from ontological security through the lens of some key indicators (protection, autonomy, and social acceptance), this research emphasises the necessity of incorporating the subjective dimension in human security analysis to capture subjective feelings and psychological factors in everyday security. This research contributes empirically to identifying human security implications of EV development based on the real-life experiences shared by the Chinese people, which may constitute barriers to China’s EV uptake. Informed by the flexible interpretation of security agency offered by the broad human security approach, this research demonstrates that apart from the state’s dominant position as the main security provider, other players, such as carmakers, also play an important role in shaping people’s perceptions of how secure EVs are. Recognising that the misoperation of an automobile can cause serious physical harm to both those on board and other road users, this research argues that ordinary people should not be only considered as the object of protection but also as the agent with the power to exert influence on the security implications of the new technology

    Information Communication Technology for Crisis Management and Shared Situational Awareness: Social Media Public Health Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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    This comprehensive study analyzes the role of social media, specifically Facebook, in crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted through a longitudinal netnography approach, the research scrutinizes the communication strategies of Australian public health agencies from 2019 to 2020 and their impact on shared situational awareness (SSA). Drawing on the Seppänen et al. (2013) model for crisis communication, the study looks at three key aspects - link content (information), link type (communication), and link quality (trust) - and evaluates how they influence SSA during a crisis. The application of Chaos Theory further enhances the research's depth by identifying patterns and transformations in Facebook communications before and after the COVID-19 disruption. The study reveals that the pandemic significantly disrupted typical health communication strategies, leading to new emergent patterns, and it also underscores the critical role of secondary communication and emotional factors in the public's decision to share crisis information. Moreover, it identifies issues such as misinformation and inconsistency in messaging as significant obstacles to the public's trust in official health communications, ultimately impeding the creation of adequate SSA. The research emphasizes the need to develop consistent, clear, and reliable messaging strategies for effective crisis communication. The findings expand existing knowledge on social media utilization in crisis communication, offering valuable insights to enhance public health agencies' communication strategies, thereby aiding in the creation of trusted SSA. Unlike prior studies focusing on crisis response teams, this research concentrates on shared situational awareness among the general public, providing practical recommendations to improve social media crisis communication for more effective response and management in a health crisis

    Tattoos on Instagram : how the platform connects professionals and consumers

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    The object of study of this dissertation is the relationship created through Instagram between tattoo artists and consumers. This investigation emphasizes how the relationship allows artists to position themselves in this social network, its advantages, and the reasons that lead a consumer to get a tattoo. The relevance of the same is because few studies investigate the consumption of tattoos in Portugal, the connection that followers create on Instagram with tattoo artists and the impact that this has on the consumption of tattoos. As for the methodological choice, it is a mixed study. That involved the qualitative analysis of the data collected from content analysis and interviews with 6 tattoo artists, as well as the quantitative analysis of the data collected from a questionnaire answered by 567 tattoo consumers on Instagram. It is concluded that tattoo artists connect with their followers on Instagram by sharing personal content that allows identification by consumers. The reasons for consumers to follow tattoo artists are entertainment search and identification, and they interact with them mainly through private messages, answering polls on Instagram stories, comments and likes.O objeto de estudo desta dissertação é a relação criada através do Instagram entre tatuadores e consumidores. Esta investigação explora como a relação permite que os artistas se posicionem nesta rede social, as vantagens que a mesma tem e quais as razões que levam um consumidor marcar uma tatuagem. A pertinência da mesma é justificada por serem poucos os estudos que investigam o consumo de tatuagens em Portugal, sobre a conexão que seguidores criam no Instagram com os tatuadores e o impacto que isso causa no consumo de tatuagens. Quanto à escolha metodológica, trata-se de um estudo misto. Este envolveu a análise qualitativa dos dados recolhidos a partir de uma analise conteúdo e entrevistas feitas a 6 tatuadores, bem como a análise quantitativa dos dados recolhidos a partir de um questionário respondido por 567 consumidores. Conclui-se que os tatuadores conectam-se com seus seguidores no Instagram através da partilha de conteúdo pessoal que permite uma identificação por parte dos consumidores. As razões para os consumidores seguirem os tatuadores são a busca de entretenimento e a identificação, sendo que interagem com os mesmos principalmente através de mensagens privadas, responder a sondagens nas histórias do Instagram, comentários e gostos

    Fatal and Non-Fatal Police Shootings in the United States, 2015: An Examination of Open-Source Data

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    Purpose and Significance: Police shootings do not always result in death. This fact raises a question of what distinguishes fatal and non-fatal police shootings (FNFPS). However, no existing database is available to address how often and under what circumstances civilians have died from or survived police shootings in the United States. To fill the gaps, this dissertation research uses open sources to create a crowdsourced national database on FNFPS in the United States in 2015. The creation of this database provides researchers insights into the suitability and sustainability of open-source research applied for studying police shootings and offers practitioners a guideline to develop a use of deadly force data reporting and collection system. Using this database, the study aims to identify incident-, context-, and agency-level factors that distinguish FNFPS. Findings can help us better understand how selected features of police agencies, situations, and contexts interact with key parts of police shootings: officers, civilians, and places. Methods: A police shooting problem-solving framework was adopted to guide the coding and collection of incident-, context-, and agency-related information. This study identified eligible police shootings (N=1,907) from the GunViolenceArchive.org. A research team was built to code incident attributes described mainly by local media reports. After examining intercoder reliability and missing values of incident attributes, this study appended additional situational, contextual, and organizational information obtained from multiple publicly available databases. After descriptive analysis of the relative incidence of FNFPS by selected incident-, context-, and agency-level variables, this study performed a series of logistic regression models to identify dangerousness-related and life-saving-related factors that impacted the relative odds of fatal and non-fatal police shootings. When modeling with organizational covariates, a random intercept was specified to control for the observed significant heterogeneity among agencies. Multiple imputation by chained equations was used to handle missing data that largely existed on civilian race and age. Multiple-imputation estimates were used to complement the interpretations of the results from complete case analyses. Findings: The observations and results through this open-source data collection confirm that open sources, particularly local media outlets, can constitute a more complete universe of police shootings nationwide. But the newsworthiness-driven media coverage restricts the content and amount of information that can be used for theory testing. The results, based on the data complied, support the notion that police shooting does not always kill, and add evidence to the ongoing debates on whether or not police shootings are just urban problem. More importantly, the results demonstrate that conventional scholarly accounts of police decision to shoot may not further explain police shooting fatality. There may exist divergent mechanisms underlying the occurrence and outcome of police shootings. Conclusion: Reducing fatality differs from reducing police shootings. A more complete understanding of police shooting fatality requires considering factors facilitating or precluding life-saving interventions that could be implemented in the post-shooting stage. This also requires a research agenda on systematically integrating data from law enforcement, public health, academia, and the media
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