Social Media Management Strategies for Organizational Impression Management and their Effect on Public Perception

With the growing importance of social media, companies increasingly rely on social media management tools to analyze social media activities and to professionalize their social media engagement. In this study, we evaluate how social media management tools, as part of an overarching social media strategy, help companies to positively influence the public perception among social media users. A mixed methods approach is applied, where we quantitatively analyze 15 million user-generated Twitter messages containing information about 45 large global companies highly active on Twitter, as well as almost 160 thousand corresponding messages sent from these companies via their corporate Twitter accounts. Additionally, we conducted interviews with six social media experts to gain complementary insights. By these means, we are able to identify significant differences between different social media management strategies and measure the corresponding effects on the public perception. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

“Too good to be true!”: The effectiveness of CSR history in countering negative publicity

Corporate crises call for effective communication to shelter or restore a company’s reputation. The use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims may provide an effective tool to counter the negative impact of a crisis, but knowledge about its effectiveness is scarce and lacking in studies that consider CSR communication during crises. To help fill this gap, this study investigates whether the length of company’s involvement in CSR matters when it uses CSR claims in its crisis communication as a means to counter negative publicity. The use of CSR claims in crisis communication is more effective for companies with a long CSR history than for those with a short CSR history, and consumer skepticism about claims lies at the heart of this phenomenon

Is there Still a PR Problem Online? Exploring the Effects of Different Sources and Crisis Response Strategies in Online Crisis Communication Via Social Media

This study examined the effects of source and crisis response strategy on crisis communication outcomes in the context of social media. A 3 (source: organization, CEO, or customer) × 2 (strategy: accommodative or defensive) × 2 (crisis type: airline crash or bank hacking) mixed experimental study was conducted with 391 participants. The organizational sources were more likely to be perceived as more credible than the non-organizational sources. In particular, the CEO appeared to be the most trustworthy and credible source in delivering crisis messages. The path analysis indicated that perceived source credibility mediated the effect of source on reputation and behavioral intentions. This mediation appeared to be contingent on the type of crisis response strategy

Cover Images of Inflight Magazines as Airlines' Methods of Impression Management: Alitalia's Ulisse Magazine and Finnair's Blue Wings Magazine

AbstractThis research examines the cover images of two inflight magazines—Ulisse (Alitalia) and Blue Wings (Finnair)—as a method for airlines to manage their impression. Drawing on concept of impression management, the study focuses on the visual strategies the cover images employ in order to shape the audience's perception of the airlines. The data consists of 90 cover images published between January 2016 and February 2020. A visual rhetorical analysis was applied to examine the visual construction of the cover images and their functions. The findings show that the cover images of Ulisse and Blue Wings employed different strategies of visual rhetoric as part of their impression management. Whereas Alitalia seemed to strive for the image of a luxury airline, Finnair endeavored to create an image of an airline for ordinary people. Theoretically, this study contributes to the current knowledge of rhetorical approach to visual impression management in corporate communications. Methodologically, the study advances the research on corporate impression management by applying an analysis of visual rhetoric

Strategic Communications and Corporate Branding: a Study of Jebsen & Jessen Indonesia Group

Corporate communications hold a vital function to maintain the company's positive image and reputation in front of stakeholders. A corporate communications practitioner must be able to handle a variety of communication processes in an organization, including to determine the right strategy to reach its communications goal. The purpose of this research is to analyze the corporate communications strategy of Jebsen & Jessen Indonesia Group to create its corporate branding and reflect it with public relations strategic planning process. The researcher gathered the primary data from in-depth interview with key informant and combine it with secondary data from other relevant data. Afterwards, it was verified by triangulation to strengthen the credibility of data and continue with analysis process. This research concluded that Jebsen & Jessen Indonesia Group has implemented its corporate branding strategy accordingly to public relations strategic planning process. Some of the targets have been achieved in one year period, however there have been suggestions to improve the future corporate branding strategy formation

The impact of face-to-face street fundraising on organizational reputation

Although many stakeholders perceive face-to-face street fundraising as unpleasant, nonprofit managers encourage it as a way to attract donors. To understand the long-term effects of this fundraising method, we used a mixed-methods experimental design to investigate how face-to-face street fundraising affects organizational reputation and stakeholder support intentions in comparison with letter fundraising. The findings reveal that face-to-face street fundraising has a significant negative influence on the stakeholders' perceptions of an organization. Further, qualitative datashow that the negative perception originates primarily from perceived pressure, distrust, and obtrusion, which are triggered by face-to-face street fundraising. Our studythus reveals long-term reputational consequences that nonprofit organizations should consider before deciding on fundraising methods

Addressing Concerns about Legitimacy: A Case Study of Social Responsibility Reporting in the Australian Banking Industry

This paper investigates the relationship between social responsibility reporting and reputation at an industry rather than organisational level through a case study of the Australian banking industry. Since deregulation, the legitimacy of the social impact of the Australian banking industry has been questioned particularly through extensive media coverage. This case study investigates how the four major banks have responded to industry level legitimacy concerns through social responsibility reporting. Despite theoretical claims that organisations within an industry will respond to legitimacy concerns in a similar way, this paper shows that the banks in the study have responded in differing ways resulting in a disparity of approval rankings between organisations. Reputation rankings of the banks examined in this paper show varying levels of acceptance of individual organisations, despite ongoing media questioning about the legitimacy of the industry as a whole

Message and Medium: The Role of Social and Individual Factors in Using Computer Mediated Communications

The proliferation of computers and technology has resulted in increased use of computer mediated communications. However, the effective use of technology like bulletin boards and e-mail based communications can only be obtained if we understand how to enhance employee usage. Although human-computer interface has been a topic of considerable studies, most research has been done with students and under controlled conditions. In addition, field research has been limited in its inclusion of both social and individual factors that affect usage. In order to expand this research we report the results of a longitudinal study conducted within an entrepreneurial software company that used an innovative bulletin-board communication system. Our study uses employee survey data to measure social and individual factors that encompass attitudes toward the computer system. In addition, we obtained actual employee usage (copies of all postings to the bulletin board system) for the 12-month period of time following our survey. In addition to reporting the results of our study, we discuss implications of this work for other forms of computer mediated communications

Attracting applicants through the organization’s social media page : signaling employer brand personality

The purpose of this study is to examine how potential applicants’ exposure to an organization’s social media page relates to their subsequent organizational attractiveness perceptions and word-of-mouth intentions. Based on signaling theory and the theory of symbolic attraction, we propose that potential applicants rely on perceived communication characteristics of the social media page (social presence and informativeness) as signals of the organization’s employer brand personality (warmth and competence), which in turn relate to organizational attractiveness and word-of-mouth. Data were gathered in a simulated job search process in which final-year students looked for an actual job posting and later visited an actual organization’s social media page. In line with our hypotheses, results show that the perceived social presence of a social media page was indirectly positively related to attractiveness and word-of-mouth through its positive association with perceived organizational warmth. Perceived informativeness was indirectly positively related to these outcomes through its positive association with perceived organizational competence. In addition, we found that social presence was also directly positively related to organizational attractiveness. These findings suggest that organizations can use social media pages to manage key recruitment outcomes by signaling their employer brand personality