It is all in the name:Toward a typology of public relations professionals’ ethical dilemmas

Although scholarship discussing public relations professionals’ ethical dilemmas has been abundant, a theoretically-derived typology explaining the origin of these dilemmas and categorizing them into distinct profiles has been so far lacking. We address this lacuna by utilizing role theory to elucidate the origin of public relations professionals’ ethical dilemmas and employ a deductive approach to extricate them from each part of the name “public relations professional.” Specifically, we portray public as the midpoint on a continuum, with the organization at one end and society at the other; relations as the midpoint between transactions and bonds; and professional as the midpoint between employee and citizen. This leads to the development of a multidimensional typology that includes three categories of ethical dilemmas: organization-versus-society, transactions-versus-bonds, and employee-versus-citizen. We advance extant scholarship by explaining the origin of public relations professionals’ ethical dilemmas and unifying such dilemmas in an exclusive-inclusive typology

The impact of interactive corporate social responsibility communication on corporate reputation

__Abstract__ Companies increasingly communicate about corporate social responsibility (CSR) through interactive online media. We examine whether using such media is beneficial to a company's reputation. We conducted an online experiment to examine the impacts of interactivity in CSR messages on corporate reputation and word-of-mouth intentions. Our findings suggest that an increase in perceived interactivity leads to higher message credibility and stronger feelings of identification with the company, which also boost corporate reputation and word-of-mouth. This result implies that using interactive channels to communicate about CSR can improve corporate reputation. Our results also show that the detrimental impacts of negative user evaluations on corporate reputation are much higher than the favorable impacts of positive evaluations. This finding suggests that, despite the effectiveness of interactive communication channels, firms need to carefully monitor these channels

Pride and fear during major organisational change

Organisational behaviour experts have known for a long time that when employees identify closely with their company, the company functions better. People quit less often, they work harder, and they tend to be more supportive of their employer. And in a volatile time, such as during a merger, corporate success may depend on nurturing employees’ pride and alleviating their fears

Corporate Twitter Channels: The Impact of Engagement and Informedness on Corporate Reputation

We examine communication via a corporate Twitter channel and its effects on corporate reputation. We identify the importance of user engagement and informedness in explaining corporate reputation and examine three design factors that likely affect user engagement in a corporate Twitter channel. We conduct an exploratory 2 x 2 x 2 experiment among Twitter users to collect data. We find that the depth of the relationship among users, the level of corporate involvement, and the purpose of the channel interactively influence user engagement. Our findings suggest that deeper relationships among users of a corporate Twitter channel lead to higher user engagement when the level of corporate involvement with the channel is high and when the channel has a specific purpose, but not when the level of corporate involvement is high and the channel has a generic purpose. Surprisingly, when the channel has a generic purpose, a high degree of corporate involvement actually decreases user engagement. This finding implies that, under certain circumstances, a lower degree of corporate involvement in a social media channel may be more desirable. We also find that channel credibility positively influences user informedness. This is the first study that examines the dynamics of communication through a corporate Twitter channel. It contributes to the previous research related to social media by identifying engagement and informedness as two major factors that influence firms' reputation. Our research can help marketing and social media managers to decide on channel design aspects, such as whether to require users to register with an identity or to allow anonymous participation, whether to allocate dedicated employees to respond to user requests, and whether to set up different channels for different purposes

Corporate Twitter Channels: The Impact of Engagement and Informedness on Corporate Reputation

We examine communication via a corporate Twitter channel and its effects on corporate reputation. We identify the importance of user engagement and informedness in explaining corporate reputation and examine three design factors that likely affect user engagement in a corporate Twitter channel. We conduct an exploratory 2 x 2 x 2 experiment among Twitter users to collect data. We find that the depth of the relationship among users, the level of corporate involvement, and the purpose of the channel interactively influence user engagement. Our findings suggest that deeper relationships among users of a corporate Twitter channel lead to higher user engagement when the level of corporate involvement with the channel is high and when the channel has a specific purpose, but not when the level of corporate involvement is high and the channel has a generic purpose. Surprisingly, when the channel has a generic purpose, a high degree of corporate involvement actually decreases user engagement. This finding implies that, under certain circumstances, a lower degree of corporate involvement in a social media channel may be more desirable. We also find that channel credibility positively influences user informedness. This is the first study that examines the dynamics of communication through a corporate Twitter channel. It contributes to the previous research related to social media by identifying engagement and informedness as two major factors that influence firms' reputation. Our research can help marketing and social media managers to decide on channel design aspects, such as whether to require users to register with an identity or to allow anonymous participation, whether to allocate dedicated employees to respond to user requests, and whether to set up different channels for different purposes

The CSR-Quality Trade-off: When Can Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Ability Compensate Each Other?

This paper investigates under what conditions a good corporate social responsibility (CSR) can compensate for a relatively poor corporate ability (CA) (quality), and vice versa. The authors conducted an experiment among business administration students, in which information about a financial services company’s CA and CSR was provided. Participants indicated their preferences for the company’s products, stocks, and jobs. The results show that for stock and job preferences, a poor CA can be compensated by a good CSR. For product preferences, a poor CA could not be compensated by a good CSR, at least when people thought that CA is personally relevant to them. Furthermore, a poor CSR could be compensated by a good CA for product, stocks, and job preferences

Characteristics and Motivations of Environmental Volunteers at Episodic Events

As climate change disrupts our lives and environmental awareness and concerns rise within society, more individuals invest time contributing to activities and projects that help preserve the environment. This study uses a recent international database containing data on 1,383 environmental event volunteers in 13 different countries, composed of both developed and developing nations. A profile of the volunteers was created, exposing their demographic characteristics and preferences. This profile shows a decrease in the average age of participants compared with studies conducted over 10 years ago. Then, a comparison was analyzed of individuals who volunteered in the event individually with those who did so as part of a group of recruits. The latter constitutes a new challenge to volunteer participation, highlighting the emergence of new actors in the recruitment process of volunteers, such as businesses and educational institutes, changing the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from recruitment to proper volunteer placement. The motivations behind these environmental event volunteer activities were also examined, revealing that individuals volunteering as part of an organized group give more importance to utilitarian motivations than those who volunteer alone. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing an updated and less westernized perspective on environmental volunteers’ demographics and preferences. It also explains the influence of new actors in the volunteer-NGO relationship that are reshaping the management of the volunteer workforce

Characteristics and Motivations of Environmental Volunteers at Episodic Events

As climate change disrupts our lives and environmental awareness and concerns rise within society, more individuals invest time contributing to activities and projects that help preserve the environment. This study uses a recent international database containing data on 1,383 environmental event volunteers in 13 different countries, composed of both developed and developing nations. A profile of the volunteers was created, exposing their demographic characteristics and preferences. This profile shows a decrease in the average age of participants compared with studies conducted over 10 years ago. Then, a comparison was analyzed of individuals who volunteered in the event individually with those who did so as part of a group of recruits. The latter constitutes a new challenge to volunteer participation, highlighting the emergence of new actors in the recruitment process of volunteers, such as businesses and educational institutes, changing the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from recruitment to proper volunteer placement. The motivations behind these environmental event volunteer activities were also examined, revealing that individuals volunteering as part of an organized group give more importance to utilitarian motivations than those who volunteer alone. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing an updated and less westernized perspective on environmental volunteers’ demographics and preferences. It also explains the influence of new actors in the volunteer-NGO relationship that are reshaping the management of the volunteer workforce