Relative effectiveness of bolstering and inoculation approaches in crisis communication.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of communicating to the public before a crisis occurs. Previous research on crisis communication has employed primarily atheoretical approaches that focus on strategies to be used once a crisis occurs. As suggested by previous researchers (Wan & Pfau, 2004), inoculation, a strategy designed to reinforce the public's positive attitude toward an organization, may provide an alternative strategy to crisis management. The study utilized both affective and cognitive inoculation treatments, along with bolstering, corporate social responsibility, and control messages. Dependent variables included corporate reputation, attitude and purchase intention. The study also used a real-world crisis that impacted an actual company. Results indicated that both affective and cognitive inoculation, bolstering, and corporate social responsibility messages were equally effective in protecting a corporation's reputation following crisis; however, there was no support for attitude, and only participants in the CSR condition reported greater intentions to purchase the company's products following a crisis. The study also found no downside to inoculation when a crisis does not occur. In fact, inoculated participants rated the company involved in the crisis higher on all dependent variables including corporate reputation, attitude, and purchase intention than those participants in the control condition. The study also explored the role of affect in the counterarguing process. Previous researchers have met with minimal success when attempting to capture affect during the counterarguing process (Lee & Pfau, 1997). This study attempted to capture affect by employing a recognition check-off list, an alternative method for measuring the construct, which has been used successfully in past studies (Pfau et al., 2004; 2005). In addition this study was the first to categorize counterarguments as either affective or cognitive in nature. As expected, cognitive inoculation treatments produced more cognitive counterarguments while affective inoculation treatments produced more affective counterarguments. Surprisingly, the study also found that participants rated affective counterarguments significantly stronger than cognitive counterarguments

Does Planning and Practice Make Perfect? A Study of Communication Culture, Autonomy and PR Practitioners’ Confidence in Handling Crises

The study builds on research by Marra (1998) who examined crisis communication case studies and found that organizations with crisis plans do not always manage crises well. To assess Marra’s (1998) concept of communication culture, this study looked at organizations’ use of two-way symmetrical communication (Grunig, 1992); PR professionals’ crisis confidence and communication autonomy; and the presence of a crisis plan. An Internet survey of members of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) yielded 251 valid responses. Findings revealed that PR professionals who reported they were part of the dominant coalition exhibited more confidence in their organization’s ability, their own ability and their CEO’s ability to handle a crisis. PR professionals who viewed their organizations higher on their use of two-way symmetrical communication (communication culture) displayed more confidence in their organization’s and CEO’s abilities to handle a crisis but not their own. Additionally, PR practitioners who have a crisis plan for the organization and who perceive they are part of the dominant coalition have more confidence in their organization's ability, their own ability, and their CEO’s ability to handle a crisis than those who only had a crisis plan. Research also revealed that PR practitioners who have a crisis plan for the organization and who perceive their organizations higher in their use of two-way symmetrical communication exhibited more confidence in their organization's ability and their CEO’s ability to handle a crisis than those who had only a crisis plan; however, they did not display more confidence in their own ability to handle a crisis

International validation of the EORTC QLQ-PRT20 module for assessment of quality of life symptoms relating to radiation proctitis: A phase IV study

Background: Although patients experience radiation proctitis post radiotherapy no internationally tested instruments exist to measure these symptoms. This Phase IV study tested the scale structure, reliability and validity and cross-cultural applicability of the EORTC proctitis module (QLQ-PRT23) in patients who were receiving pelvic radiotherapy. Methods: Patients (n = 358) from six countries completed the EORTC QLQ-C30, QLQ-PRT23 and EORTC Quality of Life Group debriefing questions. Clinicians completed the EORTC Radiation Therapy Oncology Group scale. Questionnaires were completed at four time-points. The module’s scale structure was examined and validated using standard psychometric analysis techniques. Results: Three items were dropped from the module (QLQ-PRT23→QLQ-PRT20). Factor analysis identified five factors in the module: bowel control; bloating and gas; emotional function/lifestyle; pain; and leakage. Inter-item correlations were within r = 0.3–0.7. Test-Retest reliability was high. All multi-item scales discriminated between patients showing symptoms and those without symptomology. The module discriminated symptoms from the clinician completed scoring and for age, gender and comorbidities. Conclusion: The EORTC QLQ-PRT20 is designed to be used in addition to the EORTC QLQ-C30 to measure quality of life in patients who receive pelvic radiotherapy. The EORTC QLQ-PRT20 is quick to complete, acceptable to patients, has good content validity and high reliability. Trial registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN1260900097222

The Influence of Corporate Front-Group Stealth Campaigns

This research examined corporate front-group stealth campaigns. An experiment was conducted to examine the influence of front-group stealth campaigns on a variety of measures. It was anticipated that corporate front-group stealth campaigns, which feature names that mask the true interests of sponsors, positively affect public opinion, unless they are exposed as intentionally misleading, in which case they boomerang against sponsors. The experiment examined the potential of the inoculation strategy to preempt the influence of corporate front-group stealth campaigns. The pattern of results supported all of these expectations. Front-group stealth campaigns proved to be effective, at least in the short term. Front-group stealth campaigns eroded public attitudes toward the issue in question and boosted perceptions of the front group, but not the corporate sponsor. However, when front-group stealth campaigns were subsequently exposed, positive effects dissipated and perceptions of corporate sponsors boomeranged. Results revealed that inoculation can protect against the influence of front-group stealth campaigns.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Music and Mass Education: Cultivation or Control?

The nineteenth century witnessed the rise of public institutions, affecting the education and welfare of people across the social classes but with most impact on the lower orders. Music was to be found throughout, whether in schools, workhouses of asylums. Its role plays an important part in investigating the balance and tensions inherent in liberal attitudes between controlling the individual and allowing for self-expression and cultural development. In this chapter I investigate examples from public institutions using music for discipline, development and rational recreation. Large pauper institutions such as the workhouse, prison and asylum form the basis for exploring the possible uses of music within the new reforming liberalism. This is followed by a more extended investigation into the role of music within the elementary educational reforms of the 1850s and 1860s, using parliamentary reports, journals and new sources to explore the varying arguments and ideals debated during this period