Critical pr in food communication and social media. The case of european food safety and promotion authorities

La popularitat en l’ús dels social media (mitjans socials 2.0) ha animat a les autoritats sanitàries a voler interactuar de manera online amb la ciutadania. L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi doctoral és conèixer de quina manera els social media poden ajudar a les agències de seguretat i promoció alimentària europees a comunicar els seus discursos directament amb els consumidors des de la teoria crítica de les relacions públiques. Per tal de saber l’opinió de les fonts oficials respecte l’adopció d’estratègies comunicatives online s’han realitzat entrevistes semiestructurades a 30 experts de cinc països europeus diferents (Bèlgica, Holanda, Irlanda, Itàlia i Espanya). L’estudi s’ha completat amb l’anàlisi de contingut online de totes les pàgines web i plataformes de social media de les agències oficials de seguretat i promoció alimentàries dels 28 estat membres de la Unió Europea. La recerca conclou que les autoritats alimentàries han adaptat les estratègies de social media des d’una perspectiva tècnica i que les seves organitzacions encara avui els manca les estructures comunicatives i cultura apropiades per a la negociació de significats amb les audiències creatives. Aquesta tesi s’ha desenvolupat parcialment dins el projecte FoodRisC finançat pel 7è Programa Marc de la Comissió Europea (acord núm. 245124).La popularidad de uso de los social media (medios sociales 2.0) ha animado a las autoridades sanitarias a interactuar de manera online con la ciudadanía. El objetivo de esta tesis doctoral es conocer como los social media pueden ayudar a las agencias de seguridad y promoción alimentaria europeas a comunicar sus discursos directamente con los consumidores desde la teoría crítica de las relaciones públicas. Para descubrir la opinión de las fuentes oficiales respecto la adopción de estrategias comunicativas online se han realizado entrevistas semiestructuradas a 30 expertos de cinco países europeos diferentes (Bélgica, Holanda, Irlanda, Italia y España). El estudio se ha completado con el análisis de contenido online de todas las páginas web y plataformas de social media de las agencias oficiales de seguridad y promoción alimentarias de los 28 estados miembros de la Unión Europea. La investigación concluye que las autoridades alimentarias han adaptado las estrategias de social media desde una perspectiva técnica y que sus organizaciones todavía hoy carecen de estructuras comunicativas y cultura apropiadas para la negociación de significados con las audiencias creativas. Esta tesis se ha desarrollado parcialmente dentro del proyecto FoodRisC financiado por el 7º Programa Marco de la Comisión Europea (acuerdo núm. 245124).The popularity of social media has encouraged public health authorities to interact online with citizens. The aim of the current thesis is to gain insight from the critical public relations theories perspective about to what extend social media strategies can assist European food safety and promotion authorities to communicate their discourses to lay consumers and strength relationships with them. The research has conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with food information supplier experts of five different European countries (Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands and Spain) to observe their point of view in relation to the adoption of social media into their communicative strategies. The study has been completed with an online content analysis of all the websites and social media platforms of the official food safety and promotion agencies of the 28 European member states. The research concludes that food authorities have adopted social media strategies from a technical perspective and today they still lack appropriate communicative structures and cultures in favour of negotiation of meanings among creative audiences. This thesis has been partly developed within the collaborative FoodRisC project which was funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission (grant agreement no. 245124)

Departamentos de RP de agencias de seguridad alimentaria y social media : una oportunidad incierta

La aparición de los social media ha revolucionado las relaciones públicas tanto la relación como comunicación entre consumidores finales y organizaciones. El objetivo de este estudio es conocer las implicaciones que estos medios han supuesto para los departamentos de relaciones públicas de las agencias de seguridad alimentaria europeas. Esta investigación, enmarcada dentro de un proyecto europeo del Séptimo Programa Marco, pretende descubrir los modelos de relaciones públicas con los que trabajan los responsables de los departamentos de relaciones públicas de estas institucione

Noneducational board games in University Education. Perceptions of students experiencing Game-Based Learning methodologies

In the recent years, most academic literature of Game-Based Learning (GBL) has provided in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of games that foster participative learning and that increase the level of motivation of students. In addition, most of these studies have focused on videogames. Consequently, few academic research has centred in the potentialities of noneducational board games as teaching methodologies. The current paper intends to contribute to filling this gap with an exploratory investigation with a two-stage process. The first involved three experimental interventions in six bachelor degree courses for Communication and Biochemistry studies (n=196 students). In these interventions, teachers introduced commercial board games that were related to the content of the courses and aimed students to play. The second stage gathered data-driven results from an online survey among the students who had participated in the GBL interventions (n=87). The study analyses the perceptions of students in relation to their preferences in teaching methodologies, the suitability of board games in class, their reasons for feeling motivated while playing and the skills experienced during the GBL sessions. Results reveal that the sessions generated high perception levels of engagement and motivation as well as the development of transversal skills such as teamwork and communication. Keywords: game-based learning; board games; motivation; university education

Risk communication and food safety in the 2.0 age

In recent decades, after several crises, the communication of risk has acquired special importance for those responsible for food safety. Public distrust has led the EU to base their communications strategy on scientific information. In spite of the institutionalization and professionalization of risk communication, the results have not been those foreseen in the new media environment. The explosion of social media or web 2.0 has created digital cultures with new concepts of risks and benefits. For the institutions, the social media add new problems to the traditional communication of risk: they feel obliged to participate in the virtual environment, but at the same time they are afraid to lose control of both the message and legitimacy, and they don’t know how to talk to users. Institutions still consider social media as an uncertain opportunity

The image of Barcelona in Online Travel Reviews during 2017 Catalan independence process

Since the emergence of Online Travel Reviews (OTRs), the collective co-creation of a destination brand image has been more evident than ever before. Stories and emotions expressed in these platforms by experienced tourists can significantly influence other users’ intention to visit. This study explores the extent to which political matters like the incidents that occurred during the last quarter of 2017 related with the Catalan independence process may have a negative impact on the brand image of a destination. This paper has used a specific methodology for content analysis of social media in the field of tourism to study the worst rated OTRs (one-star) of seven different attractions of Barcelona in three social media platforms that are able to geolocate places (TripAdvisor, Google Maps and Facebook) to determine the nature, discourses and the emotions raised. Although most complaints refer to the intrinsic problems of the attractions like high entrance prices and long queues due to tourism overcrowding, results reveal that OTR platforms also include tourists’ personal opinions on such issues as politics and religion. The originality of this research paper is that it delves into users’ co-creation of destination brand image through the analysis of negative OTRs and the emotions expressed in their comments

YouTube usage by Spanish tourist destinations as a tool to communicate their identities and brands

Videos are influential image creators and video-sharing sites like YouTube offer new opportunities to DMOs to communicate the identity and the brand of the destinations they represent. The aim of this article was to gain an insight into how Spanish DMOs use YouTube to communicate their promotional videos and to study whether these videos communicate brands through two main elements: attraction factors and emotional values. The research methodology combined an analysis of two important communicative variables of the official YouTube channels (interactivity and visibility) of the analysed destinations with a content analysis of the last 25 videos uploaded to those channels by the DMOs. On the one hand, results showed that the usage of YouTube by Spanish tourist destinations was widespread but with some limitations. The contents of the videos were mainly informative, and this helped to communicate attraction factors rather than emotional values. On the other hand, the presence of brand values is usually related to good results in terms of visibility and interactivity. The article contributes to good practices and recommendations to communicate territories’ brands via YouTubeMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. CSO2012-3482

The image of Barcelona in Online Travel Reviews during 2017 Catalan independence process

Since the emergence of Online Travel Reviews (OTRs), the collective co-creation of a destination brand image has been more evident than ever before. Stories and emotions expressed in these platforms by experienced tourists can significantly influence other users’ intention to visit. This study explores the extent to which political matters like the incidents that occurred during the last quarter of 2017 related with the Catalan independence process may have a negative impact on the brand image of a destination. This paper has used a specific methodology for content analysis of social media in the field of tourism to study the worst rated OTRs (one-star) of seven different attractions of Barcelona in three social media platforms that are able to geolocate places (TripAdvisor, Google Maps and Facebook) to determine the nature, discourses and the emotions raised. Although most complaints refer to the intrinsic problems of the attractions like high entrance prices and long queues due to tourism overcrowding, results reveal that OTR platforms also include tourists’ personal opinions on such issues as politics and religion. The originality of this research paper is that it delves into users’ co-creation of destination brand image through the analysis of negative OTRs and the emotions expressed in their comments

YouTube usage by Spanish tourist destinations as a tool to communicate their identities and brands

Videos are influential image creators and video-sharing sites like YouTube offer new opportunities to DMOs to communicate the identity and the brand of the destinations they represent. The aim of this article was to gain an insight into how Spanish DMOs use YouTube to communicate their promotional videos and to study whether these videos communicate brands through two main elements: attraction factors and emotional values. The research methodology combined an analysis of two important communicative variables of the official YouTube channels (interactivity and visibility) of the analysed destinations with a content analysis of the last 25 videos uploaded to those channels by the DMOs. On the one hand, results showed that the usage of YouTube by Spanish tourist destinations was widespread but with some limitations. The contents of the videos were mainly informative, and this helped to communicate attraction factors rather than emotional values. On the other hand, the presence of brand values is usually related to good results in terms of visibility and interactivity. The article contributes to good practices and recommendations to communicate territories’ brands via YouTubeMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. CSO2012-3482