Buzz monitoring in word space

This paper discusses the task of tracking mentions of some topically interesting textual entity from a continuously and dynamically changing flow of text, such as a news feed, the output from an Internet crawler or a similar text source - a task sometimes referred to as buzz monitoring. Standard approaches from the field of information access for identifying salient textual entities are reviewed, and it is argued that the dynamics of buzz monitoring calls for more accomplished analysis mechanisms than the typical text analysis tools provide today. The notion of word space is introduced, and it is argued that word spaces can be used to select the most salient markers for topicality, find associations those observations engender, and that they constitute an attractive foundation for building a representation well suited for the tracking and monitoring of mentions of the entity under consideration

Terminology mining in social media

The highly variable and dynamic word usage in social media presents serious challenges for both research and those commercial applications that are geared towards blogs or other user-generated non-editorial texts. This paper discusses and exemplifies a terminology mining approach for dealing with the productive character of the textual environment in social media. We explore the challenges of practically acquiring new terminology, and of modeling similarity and relatedness of terms from observing realistic amounts of data. We also discuss semantic evolution and density, and investigate novel measures for characterizing the preconditions for terminology mining

Interactive Food and Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age

Looks at the practices of food and beverage industry marketers in reaching youth via digital videos, cell phones, interactive games and social networking sites. Recommends imposing governmental regulations on marketing to children and adolescents

Face-to-Face, Buzz and Knowledge Bases: Socio-spatial implications for learning and innovation policy

While concurring with the new streams of literature in geography that highlight the importance of face-to-face and buzz in the globalizing learning economy, the article argues that this literature is misleading on three interrelated accounts. Firstly, it conflates face-to-face and buzz; secondly, it fails to distinguish between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for industries drawing on different knowledge bases, and thirdly, these conceptual inadequacies lead to an exaggeration of the importance of cities as sites for creativity and innovation, and hence regional competitiveness. By applying an industrial knowledge base approach the article seeks to reconstruct an alternative framework that allows for a systematic differentiation between the importance of both face-to-face and buzz for different industries. This provides a framework for developing a more nuanced understanding of the spatial implications of face-to face communication and buzz for learning and innovation.Innovation Policy; face-to-face; Buzz

Talents and Innovative Regions: exploring the Importance of Face-to-Face Communication and Buzz

This paper argues that face-to-face communication and buzz are becoming increasingly important in the regionalizing le arning economy. This reflects the importance of inn ovations as a means of enhancing regional competitiveness. While concurring with the new streams of literature in geography highlighting the importance of face-to-face and buzz, it is argued that this lite rature is misleading on three interrelated accounts. Firstly, it conflates face-to-face and buzz by e.g. looking at buzz as the result of positive effects of face-to-face. Secondly, it fails to distinguish between the importance of respectively face-to-face and buzz for industries drawing on different knowledge bases; being analytical, synthetic and symbolic. Thirdly, these conceptual inadequacies lead to exaggerating the importance of cities as sites for creation of innovations, hence regional competitiveness. Through unpacking the distinctions between face-to-face and buzz and applying an industrial knowledge base approach we seek to reconstruct an alternative framework that allows for a systematic differentiation between the importance of both face-to- face and buzz for industries drawing on the different knowledg e-bases. This provides a frame work for developing more realistic locational predictions, with respect to the attractiveness of cities and regions as sites for generating regional competitiveness.Face-to-Face Communication; Innovative regions

Advertising and Word-of-Mouth Effects on Pre-launch Consumer Interest and Initial Sales of Experience Products

This study examines how consumers' interest in a new experience product develops as a result of advertising and word-of-mouth activities during the pre-launch period. The empirical settings are the U.S. motion picture and video game industries. The focal variables include weekly ad spend, blog volume, online search volume during pre-launch periods, opening-week sales, and product characteristics. We treat pre-launch search volume of keywords as a measure of pre-launch consumer interest in the related product. To identify probable persistent effects among the pre-launch time-series variables, we apply a vector autoregressive modeling approach. We find that blog postings have permanent, trend-setting effects on pre-launch consumer interest in a new product, while advertising has only temporary effects. In the U.S. motion picture industry, the four-week cumulative elasticity of pre-launch consumer interest is 0.187 to advertising and 0.635 to blog postings. In the U.S. video game industry, the elasticities are 0.093 and 1.306, respectively. We also find long-run co-evolution between blog and search volume, which suggests that consumers' interest in the upcoming product cannot grow without bounds for a given level of blog volume

Public relations research priorities: a Delphi study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank the most important topics for research in the field of public relations. An associated outcome was to propose the research questions most closely linked to the prioritised topics. Design/methodology/approach – An international Delphi study on the priorities for public relations research, conducted in 2007 amongst academics, practitioners and senior executives of professional and industry bodies was used to investigate expert opinion on research priorities for public relations. This choice of qualitative methodology replicated earlier studies by McElreath, White and Blamphin, Synnott and McKie, and Van Ruler et al. Findings – The role of public relations in the strategic operation of organisations, and the creation of value by public relations through social capital and relationships were ranked most highly. Some outcomes were comparable with earlier studies; for instance, evaluation of public relations programmes ranked third in this study and was amongst the leaders in the Synnott and McKie study. Only the topic “management of relationships” was wholly new, whereas “impact of technology on public relations practice and theory” ranked much lower than a decade ago. Research limitations/implications – The Delphi study method is a small scale qualitative process which limits generalisability, unless the choice of “experts” and their active participation can demonstrate that there is validity in its outcomes. Practical implications – The research gives valuable insight into the main public relations research areas and will allow academics and practitioners to work closely together to improve understanding of public relations. Originality/value – This is the first completed Delphi study into public relations research priorities since Synnott and McKie