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Social media and organizational visibility: A sample of Fortune 500 corporations
... The concept of intensity is related to the level of visibility, impact, and responsiveness of a product, service, brand, or company in online channels and social media communication. The concept of visibility is related to the public presence of a product, service, brand, individual, or company in the media [66]. In this model, visibility is regarded as the positioning obtained by a good, service, or brand on the Internet through the implementation of actions aimed at obtaining a relevant presence in different social media and online channels, as well as the extent to which a search carried out on related topics leads to its appearance at the top of browsers or specialized pages. ...
... Moreover, the customers' appropriate selection of the keywords used to perform their online searches is essential in obtaining competitive visibility. These actions represent a competitive advantage that produces a higher level of sales, loyalty, and impact in attracting potential clients [66]. ...
... The definition of visibility proposed in this model is different from the one formulated by Yang and Kent [66] (p. 563), who consider that "social media visibility refers to how frequently social media users discuss an individual, organization, or related issue". ...
Online reputation is a strategic element of firms’ competitiveness. Companies need to manage their reputations and the image that they communicate through the Internet. This paper proposes a model to determine the main aspects that define a competitive online reputation: coherence, veracity, and intensity. The traditional methods that have been used to determine service quality must be adapted to new digital developments and their effects on customers’ behavior. Therefore, a gap analysis is performed to define the key aspects that must be managed in order to create and maintain a powerful reputation and image in the companies’ communication. Since this subject is too complex to be implemented in distinct sectors and ambits, different lines of research are proposed to expand this new critical line of study.
... Organizational medial visibility refers to an organization's public presence in the media (Yang & Kent, 2014). To be competitive, nonprofits need to be visible in traditional media such as newspapers but also in the increasingly crucial social media space. ...
... Overall, an organization's presence in mainstream and social media facilitates a flow of information about the organization to the public (Baker, Powell, & Weaver, 1998), enhancing public awareness of its activities. Although media visibility alone may not provide enough knowledge for the public to form an opinion, an organization with a high level of media visibility tends to be on the minds of the public (Yang & Kent, 2014). In this way, people develop a sense of familiarity with the organization, which has been shown to increase people's helping behaviors (Macaulay, 1975). ...
A nonprofit’s reputation is a crucial intangible asset that can bring significant benefits to the organization. Using a multidimensional framework, this study tested the effects of three dimensions of nonprofit reputation—financial efficiency, media visibility, accreditation status—on charitable giving behavior. The findings of this 2 × 2 × 2 full-factorial survey experiment show that each of the reputation dimensions has a significant individual effect on giving behavior. Furthermore, financial efficiency and accreditation status have an interaction effect on giving behavior. The findings also demonstrate the cross-level interaction between financial efficiency and the real-life giving behavior of individuals and between accreditation and the real-life volunteering behavior. This study provides implications for our understanding of the components of nonprofit reputation and their impact on charitable giving.
... In Li et al. (2019), the term "social visibility" refers to the visibility of the product's consumption or usage to one's interpersonal networks online or offline. In Yang and Kent (2014), "Visibility refers to the public presence of an individual or organization in the media, and has an influence on organizational perceptions in times of crisis, buying preferences, and trust." In Shmargad and Watts (2016), the visibility is that one's actions are visible to other users in the media. ...
... Secondly, it is conducive to social media visibility research. Visibility on social networks has been discussed largely in literature, but is mostly qualitative research (Yang and Kent, 2014;Osch and Steinfield, 2018). For this, we extracted the basic elements for conceptualization. ...
Application of artificial intelligence is accelerating the digital transformation of enterprises, and digital content optimization is crucial to take the users' attention in social media usage. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate how social media content reaches and impresses more users. Using a sample of 345 articles released by Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on their official WeChat accounts, we employ the self-determination theory to analyze the effects of content optimization strategies on social media visibility. It is found that articles with enterprise-related information optimized for content related to users' psychological needs (heart-based content optimization, mind-based content optimization, and knowledge-based content optimization) achieved higher visibility than that of sheer enterprise-related information, whereas the enterprise-related information embedded with material incentive (benefits-based content optimization) brings lower visibility. The results confirm the positive effect of psychological needs on the diffusion of enterprise-related information, and provide guidance for SMEs to apply artificial intelligence technology to social media practice.
... On the one hand, social media may present challenge for organizations to identify potential stakeholders due to the affordances of social media that allow for easy connection building and communicative behavior among individuals (Sedereviciute & Valentini, 2011). On the other hand, numerous research has shown organizations' growing adoption of social media use in engaging with publics (Briones, Kuch, Liu, & Jin, 2011;Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010;Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009;Yang & Kent, 2014). Such relationship building efforts entail organizations' investment of cognitive and emotional efforts to not only present themselves well but also to involve publics through social media activities (e.g., composing and responding to messages) (Kim & Yang, 2017;Smith & Gallicano, 2015). ...
... Such relationship building efforts entail organizations' investment of cognitive and emotional efforts to not only present themselves well but also to involve publics through social media activities (e.g., composing and responding to messages) (Kim & Yang, 2017;Smith & Gallicano, 2015). Invariably, these efforts also reflect the ways of how publics perceive the presence (visibility) of an organization (Yang & Kent, 2014). Yet most of the studies so far showed that organizations used social media mostly for one-way communication or with limited functions Svensson, Mahoney, & Hambrick, 2015), even during crisis (Ki & Nekmat, 2014). ...
... Therefore, it is of utmost importance to assess how this new digital cultural context impacts companies in high-risk sectors. Given that information and communication technology, and social media in particular, have affected the way that companies communicate CSR issues to their stakeholders Sriramesh, 2015;Kent;Taylor, 2016), this study examines whether the PR strategies applied by companies in the energy sector demonstrate a dialogic principle in terms of engagement and interaction (Watkins, 2017;Xiong; Cho; Boatwright, 2019) from the semantic perspective using a cluster analysis applied to PR (Javed; Lee, 2018) and content-based research on Twitter (Xifra;Grau, 2010), by means of a meaningful sustainability-focused discourse (Lovejoy; Water; Saxton, 2012). Twitter is one of the universal social media platforms that enables the effective creation of a dialogic dialogue with stakeholders (Saffer; Sommerfeldt; Taylor, 2013; Etter, 2013; Watkins; Lewis, 2014; Grover; Kar; Ilavarasan, 2019; Monfort; Villagra; López-Vázquez, 2019). ...
... First, the results of the present research expand the dialogical perspectives in public relations by the use of social media (Kent;Taylor, 2016) and provide a new semantic insight into the theorizing and operationalization of dialogical PR strategies via social media (Ao; Huang, 2019), because of its linguistic approach to CSR communication models. This study tried to move the focus from a purely reporting or disclosure-focused approach of CSR towards interactive and dialogical perspectives. ...
Social media have opened up new opportunities for the creation of innovative public relations strategies focused on establishing and cultivating relationships with stakeholders on the basis of meaningful dialogue. Consideration of the interrelation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public relations highlights new areas for exploration and engagement. Both the dialogical and semantic perspectives reveal the performative and conversational aspects of social media. In general, both the linguistic panorama of CSR and digital media as part of a PR strategy open new possibilities for a dialogical, interactive, meaningful relationship strategy for corporate image management. Based on the linguistic approach to CSR and the Communication Management Approach, this paper explores the linguistic use of Twitter as a primary dialogical strategy to effectively enhance interactive dialogue-based relationships with the stakeholders of the top 50 companies in the energy sector based on tweet data from 2016. Semantic analysis was conducted by advanced text mining and clustering techniques on 3042 tweets monitored in 2017 that contained the leading CSR-related hashtags and keywords. The results demonstrated that the top energy companies apply a defensive and symbolic perspective, mainly for branding purposes. The corporate discourse dominates over a meaningful conversational strategy to foster interaction with stakeholders around sustainability issues on Twitter. The study reveals a homogenized interrelation between CSR, social media, and public relations. The results reveal a tendency for isomorphy in the communication models applied by the companies in the energy sector. Furthermore, similarities in semantics and thus strong tendencies to mutually mimic dialogical strategies are also observed. The semantic narrative built around the brand indicates a limited orientation towards CSR and sustainability. As such, it does not contribute to the creation of a dialogical interaction and meaningful relationships with multiple stakeholders on Twitter, in the high-risk sector represented by the energy industry.
... On the one hand, social media may present challenge for organizations to identify potential stakeholders due to the affordances of social media that allow for easy connection building and communicative behavior among individuals (Sedereviciute & Valentini, 2011). On the other hand, numerous research has shown organizations' growing adoption of social media use in engaging with publics (Briones, Kuch, Liu, & Jin, 2011;Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010;Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009;Yang & Kent, 2014). Such relationship building efforts entail organizations' investment of cognitive and emotional efforts to not only present themselves well but also to involve publics through social media activities (e.g., composing and responding to messages) (Kim & Yang, 2017;Smith & Gallicano, 2015). ...
... Such relationship building efforts entail organizations' investment of cognitive and emotional efforts to not only present themselves well but also to involve publics through social media activities (e.g., composing and responding to messages) (Kim & Yang, 2017;Smith & Gallicano, 2015). Invariably, these efforts also reflect the ways of how publics perceive the presence (visibility) of an organization (Yang & Kent, 2014). Yet most of the studies so far showed that organizations used social media mostly for one-way communication or with limited functions Svensson, Mahoney, & Hambrick, 2015), even during crisis (Ki & Nekmat, 2014). ...
Highlights A multidimensional network view is employed to examine relief organizations' social media use. Representational networks reflecting organizations' use of Twitter and Facebook were analyzed. Multiple interorganizational representational networks are correlated during the disaster. Organizations' positional advantages are maintained across interorganizational networks. Circumstances for organizations' cross-platform strategic communication are revealed. Abstract In response to the call in the public relations research to examine organizations' relationship building beyond dyadic organization-public ties, this study employs a multidimensional network approach to understand relief organizations' relationship building through different features of social media. Unlike the organizations studied in the existing public relations research, relief organizations often incorporate emergency or disaster response as part of their mission operations. Specifically, this study focuses on the organizations involved in the response actions after Typhoon Haiyan. Analysis of 66 relief organizations' network data on Twitter and Facebook shows that organizations' multiple types of relationships in the form of interorganizational representational networks constructed through different features of social media are closely linked during and immediately after Typhoon Haiyan. However, organizations' positional centrality stays persistent across these networks over time, which suggests both constraints and opportunities for organizations to build relational advantages through distinct features of social media. Findings of this study show the usefulness of a multidimensional network approach in revealing the hidden patterns behind organizations' communication behavior on social media. In doing so, this study offers more comprehensive explanations for organizations' relationship building and relational outcomes through social media use.
... In practices, instead of creating "dialogues," oftentimes social media is treated as a one-way, sender-to-receiver, "public forum" kind of advocacy tool to sell ideology and goods (Kim & Gambino, 2016). Existing empirical research has found that many organizations failed to achieve the dialogic potential of new media (Huang & Yang, 2015;Yang & Kent, 2014). A content analysis of Fortune 500 corporations and large activist organizations' CSR communication on 32 different social media platforms found that most of them barely use their social media platforms to engage the publics, but rather utilize them as a one-way "information provider" type of communication tool (Yang & Kent, 2014). ...
... Existing empirical research has found that many organizations failed to achieve the dialogic potential of new media (Huang & Yang, 2015;Yang & Kent, 2014). A content analysis of Fortune 500 corporations and large activist organizations' CSR communication on 32 different social media platforms found that most of them barely use their social media platforms to engage the publics, but rather utilize them as a one-way "information provider" type of communication tool (Yang & Kent, 2014). ...
Scarce research has focused on the technological aspects of social media in CSR communication. Many public relations practitioners are reluctant to interact online although social media platforms such as YouTube provide two-way communication interface. Using the MAIN model, this study explored how bandwagon cues (more likes/dislikes) and interaction cues (enable/disable commenting) influence the perceived source credibility assessment (trustworthiness, goodwill, and competence) of CSR information on YouTube. Through a 2 × 2 factorial experiment (N = 204), no interaction effects were found in general; but a main effect of the enabling comment interface existed toward the perceived trustworthiness of the company regardless of likes/dislikes received on the CSR video, which further leads to individual’s attitudes toward the company’s CSR efforts. The finding paves a way for an explanation of the effectiveness of enabling the commenting function of using YouTube to enhance CSR communication.
... While visibility once had the primary goal of positioning and power-seeking through presence, recent research has linked this concept with public relations, branding, and relationship-building -essentially organizational dynamics. With new technology, communication has more options for two-way discourse, thus visibility becomes as much about association as it does about presence (Yang and Kent 2014). For the purposes of this study, visibility is defined with respect to use of digital technology: "[visibility] uses organizational behavior to present content communally" (Brunner and Boyer 2008, p. 152). ...
With prior research indicating the most successful college media programs, as judged against their peers, tend to be housed in academic departments with advisors who have faculty status, this study examines these academic departments for how college media outlets are presented, promoted, and used as recruiting tools within their home organizations. Primarily housed in political science arena, visibility has expanded as a research interest with the advent of social media. After examining the top 35 award-winning programs for their visibility at home, the study results indicate low levels not only of presence and visibility, but also of self-promotion. Awards, events, recruitment, and campaigns can promote college media within the campus community and to the readership. These results suggest room for growth in branding, promotion, and public relations.
Keywords: College Media, Visibility, University, Internet, Social Media
... The results propose a conceptual, threedimensional approach that integrates a business's strategic orientation with its digital marketing strategy and its social media tactics. This approach also includes specific evaluation criteria to measure the impact on the business's strategic objectives Yang and Kent (2014) This study explores the factors that drive organizational social media visibility ...
Social media has become a new way of life that allows for real-time interaction among businesses (B2B) and consumers (P2P/C2C) as well as between business firms and consumers (B2C). Customers are increasingly accessing and using social networking sites (SNS), making it imperative for businesses and organizations to have a presence on these platforms to enhance visibility. The main purpose of this chapter is to provoke an agenda on the study of social network brand visibility (SNBV). We developed and proposed a definition of SNBV and report findings from a preliminary study. We further discuss implications for theory, research, and practice as well as the limitations and options for future research.
... Media visibility can be understood as media attention, which is "mostly advantageous" to movement organizations (Vliegenthart et al., 2005, p. 370). An organization's media visibility is the presence of an organization in the media, which often affects the public's perceptions of the organization (Yang & Kent, 2014). Therefore, media visibility is an important condition for NGOs to achieve advantageous outcomes. ...
This study was conducted to examine the factors that affect the media visibility of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGO) in China. Specifically, we examine the ways in which environmental advocacy and media use behaviors are related to the level of attention an ENGO receives from news media. Using data derived from a content analysis of 2158 media reports by 171 ENGOs across China and other sources, the results showed that ENGOs that have an official website and use Weibo garner more media attention than those who do not have a website or use Weibo. Most importantly, the results indicate differences between environmental activism and environmental consumerism in facilitating the media visibility of different types of ENGOs. Compared to government-organized ENGOs, grassroots ENGOs benefit more from participating in environmental consumerist advocacy and having an official website. The findings demonstrate the importance of using various strategies to increase organizational visibility in news media and highlighting the differences between using websites, Weibo, and WeChat in facilitating the media visibility of ENGOs in China.
... As technology advances and communications media embrace new tools, new pathways are created for visibility; digital communication creates many options for two-way discourse. Once seeking positioning and power through presence, the concept of visibility in recent research is examined in relation to public relations, branding, and relationship-building -essentially organizational dynamics (Yang and Kent 2014). Thus, visibility in an organization can be as much about association as about presence. ...
This study aims to examine communication
practices and messages of universities and
academic departments that promote these
college media outlets using social
media tools. The
posts – whether celebratory, recruiting,
spotlighting an alum, or introducing editors
– enhance not only visibility for the college
media program, but also produce a level of association between student media and their home
institutions.
... In this regard, Kent and Taylor (1998) argue that an organization's use of technologies influences its relationship with its publics. However, research by Yang and Kent (2014) reveals that organizations do not take advantage of the dialogic potential of new media, or in the case of this study, the dialogic potential of social media crisis communication. ...
This qualitative study investigates through a case study how dialogic content, which is shared on social media, facilitates stakeholder support and builds relationships to advance a discourse of
renewal. Prior research on crisis communication in social media thoroughly investigated crisis response theories relating to reputation management and image restoration. To date, however, a
paucity of research has considered how content could facilitate stakeholder support and relationships in crisis communication.
The findings show that when an organization commits to transparent, interactive dialogue during a social media crisis on a social media platform, stakeholders are pulled to authentic content because they are interested and actively seeking for relevant information. Dialogic
content may also boost stakeholder support and encourage relationship building to help move the organization forward after the crisis with dialogic communication. The insights gained from this
study create value for wider audiences in terms of how dialogic content can be used for social media crisis communication, to move beyond reputation and image repair to become meaningful
to stakeholders.
... The results propose a conceptual, threedimensional approach that integrates a business's strategic orientation with its digital marketing strategy and its social media tactics. This approach also includes specific evaluation criteria to measure the impact on the business's strategic objectives Yang and Kent (2014) This study explores the factors that drive organizational social media visibility ...
Social media has become a new way of life that allows for real-time interaction among businesses (B2B) and consumers (P2P/C2C) as well as between business firms and consumers (B2C). Customers are increasingly accessing and using social networking sites (SNS), making it imperative for businesses and organizations to have a presence on these platforms to enhance visibility. The main purpose of this chapter is to provoke an agenda on the study of social network brand visibility (SNBV). We developed and proposed a definition of SNBV and report findings from a preliminary study. We further discuss implications for theory, research, and practice as well as the limitations and options for future research. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.
... As well as the identification and selection of the relevant stakeholders, the dialog comprises the exchange of perspectives as well as a confrontation of different positions (Cuppen 2012). Particularly social networking sites such as Facebook seem to enable the utility to such a dialog with its stakeholders (Manetti et al. 2016;Yang and Kent 2014;Assmussen et al. 2013;Korschun and Du 2013;Bortree and Seltzer 2009). To encourage a dialogue, the utilities should predominantly post information which is perceived as interesting and relevant (Bonsón et al. 2015, p. 58). ...
As the leading social media tool, Facebook is increasingly becoming an important channel for two-sided stakeholder communication in the energy sector. Even though public utilities more and more all relying on such virtual communication, little is known regarding the communication-related factors and their interdependencies. This study aims to reduce this research gap by analysing correlations between a public utility’s specifications, communication interactivity, the resources spent and the outcome of the Facebook conversation. In 2016, an online questionnaire was sent to German, Austrian and Swiss utility companies. The empirical data of the 139 utilities that responded fully support relationships between the communication interactivity and the invested resources as well as the outcomes of a communication. In this way, the results provide new insights for scholars and practitioners into the Facebook conversations of public entities.
... After Pearson, Kent and Taylor are the leading theorists on dialogue in public relations, having proposed a theory of public relations dialogue (Kent & Taylor, 2002), as well as conducted empirical studies of dialogue (cf., Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003;Taylor & Kent, 2004;Taylor, Kent, & White, 2001). As discussed earlier in this essay, Kent and Taylor (2002) suggested that dialogue had five features: risk, mutuality, propinquity, empathy, and commitment, and was a process that involved the same Later scholarship included research by Kent, Taylor, and others, on Blogs (Kent, 2008), Social Media (Kent, 2013;Kent & Taylor, 2016;Yang & Kent, 2014), activism (Sommerfeldt, Kent, & Taylor, 2012), and other areas. Kent and Taylor's work on dialogue has been cited thousands of times and is the most widely cited research on dialogue in public relations. ...
The published chapter will be in Chinese. This is the english manuscript upon which it is based. This was a chapter, so there was no abstract, but here is the preview: In order to clarify dialogic theory and the process of dialogic public relations, this chapter will divided into seven sections covering the following issues (1) an overview of the basic principles of dialogic theory; (2) a brief discussion of what is not considered dialogue, to help clarify dialogic theory; (3) an overview of several of the central dialogic theorists whose work has influenced scholars and philosophers of dialogue; (4) a review of the key public relations perspectives on dialogue; (5) an overview of current dialogic scholarship and trends in public relations; (6) a discussion of approaches to studying dialogue; and (7), a conclusion section reviewing some of the key issues for public relations scholars and practitioners.
... The current research on social media has not lived up to this thirty-year-old call. The number of scholars who have looked at social media critically-not assuming that social media are inherently great but trying to understand how to actually use them effectively-is quite small (Carim & Warwick, 2013;Kent, 2013;Kent & Saffer, 2014;Kent & Taylor, 2016;Valentini, 2015;Yang & Kent, 2014;Yoo & Kim, 2013), and largely revolves around the work of a few scholars. ...
Nursing home administrators are caught in a "perfect storm" of rapidly increasing health care
costs, decreasing reimbursement, and increasing competition. This paper documents how these
pressures create cascading misalignments resulting in compromises of the quality of comfort
care. These problems are inevitable, given the increase in unfunded mandates, where
performance evaluation is decoupled from actual performance. Ambient technologies are
explored as a means of tracking actual care versus reported care. Independent quality of care
tracking and documentation of ambient data, coupled with best practice research and rewards,
are explored to promote quality care as a marketing advantage. Implications are discussed.
... Recent research tells us that public relations is making use of the advantages of social media both as a tool to communicate organizational messages and to develop stakeholder relations (Verhoeven et al., 2012;Wright and Hinson, 2010). Within this context, social media tools and platforms are enabling public relations practitioners to directly communicate with their stakeholders (Wright and Hinson, 2013); to develop dialogue and relationships (Kelleher, 2009); to increase the visibility of the organizations and brands they represent (Yang and Kent, 2014); and to influence opinions (Men and Tsai, 2013). Duhé's (2015) review of the prevailing themes in new media research published in public relations journals over the last 34 years provides a comprehensive picture of how the practice of public relations has been impacted by and has reacted to the digital revolution. ...
... Social media enable not only interaction among organizations and publics but also interaction among members of the public who consume, produce and share online information and become co-creators of meanings (Ariel & Avidar, 2015). Nevertheless, Yang and Kent (2014) note that "traditional" media and mainstream coverage still play an important part in raising the social media visibility of organizations. ...
Public relations is usually practiced within three clearly defined organizational settings: the public or governmental sector, the private or business sector and the social nonprofit sector. Over the past few decades, the boundaries between the three sectors have blurred, and new types of organizations and initiatives that combine environmental aims with business approaches have emerged. These new organizations and initiatives create a challenge for public relations practitioners: practitioners need to raise awareness among various publics to a new type of organization that combines both societal and business-like characteristics, and they need to promote dialogue and engagement with these publics.
... The public presence of organizations in the mass media varies widely. Three aspects are generally recognized to characterize an actor's media visibility: The intensity by which it is covered, the tone that is used, and the topics that are subject of the coverage (Carroll & Deephouse, 2014;Yang & Kent, 2014). ...
The aim of this study is to assess the mass media orientations of communication professionals: Is past media coverage for their organization related to the way communication professionals currently evaluate the importance of the media for their organizations? Following the debates on mediatization and reciprocal effects of media coverage, we assume that the amount and the tone of media coverage matter for the media orientations of communication professionals. In our analysis, we discern between actual and perceived characteristics of media attention. A quantitative content analysis was used to analyze the actual characteristics of media coverage for public and for-profit organizations as well as non-profit organizations. A survey was conducted to analyze the perceptions of coverage and mass media orientations of Dutch communication professionals working for those organizations. For public organizations, actual media favorability and perceived visibility turned out to be important predictors of the media orientation 'attention seeking'. The organizations were rather homogeneous in their relations between actual and perceived media coverage and the media orientation 'strategic impact'. This orientation was best predicted by volume of coverage, the substantiality of issues that were covered, and perceived visibility. Our results point at the importance of taking perceptive data into account when predicting media orientations.
... The current research on social media has not lived up to this thirty-year-old call. The number of scholars who have looked at social media critically-not assuming that social media are inherently great but trying to understand how to actually use them effectively-is quite small (Carim & Warwick, 2013;Kent, 2013;Kent & Saffer, 2014;Kent & Taylor, 2016;Valentini, 2015;Yang & Kent, 2014;Yoo & Kim, 2013), and largely revolves around the work of a few scholars. ...
This paper examines the state of social media theory and research by conducting a longitudinal,
meta-analysis of public relations research about social media. The current study examines the
most recent four years of Public Relations Review, extending a 2011 study that examined social
media articles in Public Relations Review from 1998–2011. The essay considers three topics: a
brief review or the history of social media technology, a report of data from the longitudinal,
meta-analysis, and a discussion about the inconsistency between social media potential and
social media practice. The essay also offers public relations professionals and scholars
suggestions for moving forward in this research area.
... On the other hand, the studies on companies and social media deal with issues such as the application of dialogic principles to the public of interest (Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010), the visibility reached through the use of these channels (Yang & Kent, 2014) However, despite the expectations generated, the publications in the last years denounce that the promise of dialogue has not been fulfilled. Organizations continue to communicate in the 2.0 environment within a unidirectional approach, in most cases limiting themselves to disseminating content instead of encouraging participation, maintaining, this way, that spirit of control in accordance with the traditional kind of relationship with the public, as we will see in the next section. ...
Social media offer an opportunity for corporate communication in the context of Web 2.0, where image and reputation are affected by the delogue/conversations within virtual communities. Previous research on this issue, based on content analysis, points out the interest of companies to have a corporate presence in social networks, but at the same time they emphasize the lack of harnessing of the interactive and dialogical potential. In this article, we have conducted a survey to know the opinion of the most important Spanish companies about social network sites. With this method, we pretend to find out which professional profiles are in charge of the planning and management of the corporate presence in social media, to understand their uses and relevance and to study how the big companies are answering to the possibility of having dialogue relations with their publics. The results show that the IBEX 35 companies consider of great relevance their corporate profiles on social networks, as well as their frequent updating and professionalized management. Also, the respondents understand the conversational nature of social networks, however, they are using these channels mainly for informative goals. The findings allow us to see the lack of consistency between the understanding of the dialogical context, the importance given to social networking and the informational purposes that prevail in most of the cases.
... This entity is an NPO set up to further best practices in the NPO sector. The selection of the "Top NPOs on the web" was made according to Yang and Kent (2014) who consider this database a good "benchmark" to observe the behavior of the NPO sector in issues related to social media. ...
Purpose
In view of the increased impact of social media, non-profit organizations (NPOs) should review their management model for stakeholder relationships. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of factors on the use of Twitter by NPOs as a mechanism for disclosing information and dialogue with their stakeholders, and in particular: “donor dependence,” “fundraising expenses,” “organizational age,” “organizational size,” “online community size,” “network activity” and “board size.”
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis of Twitter use as a strategic communication tool was conducted and a multivariable linear regression analysis was performed.
Findings
Smaller organizations and those with a larger online community are the most interested in implementing Twitter as a one or two-way communication strategy. Likewise, the NPOs with the highest degree of donor dependence strive most in the use of contents of Twitter as one-way communication mechanism.
Social implications
This study contributes to a better understanding of social media implementation in the NPO sector and advances the identification of the main causes that motivate NPOs to improve their accountability through social media.
Originality/value
The paper’s subject is relatively innovative due to the scarce studies focussing on social media used by NPOs. In spite of the advantages offered by Twitter, few studies have specifically addressed NPOs’ current use of this platform, and fewer still have analyzed the factors that motivate them to use this tool.
... The nature of social media lends itself to two-way communication, seemingly supporting relationship management theories. Research demonstrates, however, that practitioners often use social media as one-way forms of communication instead (Bortree & Seltzer, 2009;Carim & Warwick, 2013;O'Neil, 2014;Yang & Kent, 2014), which then support marketing objectives (Avidar, Ariel, Malka, & Levy, 2013;Carim & Warwick, 2013;DiStaso, McCorkindale, & Wright, 2011;McCorkindale, 2010). ...
... While visibility once had the primary goal of positioning and power-seeking through presence, recent research has linked this concept with public relations, branding, and relationship-building -essentially organizational dynamics. With new technology, communication has more options for two-way discourse, thus visibility becomes as much about association as it does about presence (Yang and Kent 2014). For the purposes of this study, visibility is defined with respect to use of digital technology: "[visibility] uses organizational behavior to present content communally" (Brunner and Boyer 2008, p. 152). ...
With prior research indicating successful college media programs, as judged against their peers, tend to be housed in academic departments with faculty-level advisers, this study examines how college media outlets are presented, promoted, and used for recruiting within departments and home institutions. How visible are they?
Primarily housed in political science, visibility has expanded as a research interest with the advent of social media. For this study, visibility is “organizational behavior to present content communally” (Brunner and Boyer, 2008). After examining the top 35 award-winning programs, results indicate low levels not only of presence and visibility,
but also self-promotion: college media references are two clicks from department home page (46 percent) and 3-4 clicks from university home page (57 percent). Media outlets most often post recruitment information (33 percent). These results suggest a need for growth in promotion, public relations, and associations.
... It is an essential requirement for greater interaction and engagement with the potential customers (De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang, 2012). Further, it can also be beneficial for increasing the visibility in various online communities subsequently leading to a greater outreach (Yang and Kent, 2014). ...
... Whilst new technologies enable self-expressing of users in real time, establish network ties and develop new relationships, satisfying the needs of traditional electronic media, radio listenership is predicted to run into significant drops in public patronage especially among the youthful class (Yang & Kent, 2014). This new change in technology has disrupted the nature and dynamics of radio practice which demands, that traditional radio firms adapt corporate credibility profiles to meet the new media environment. ...
The study focus was to examine audience perception of corporate visibility of radio stations, and its impact on the image and credibility of radio stations in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Based on quantitative approach, data was collected from 385 respondents (managers of radio stations and radio listeners), and analysed based on both descriptive and inferential statistical tests. The results revealed that most of the radio stations had in place corporate visibility strategies. Though some respondents could not attest to the link between such strategies and visibility, corporate visibility was found to influence corporate image and credibility positively and in a statistically significant relationship. The results suggest a linear dependence of corporate image and credibility on corporate visibility. The implication is that increasing and improving corporate visibility has potential to strengthen corporate image and credibility. Recommendations include the development of customer-oriented service which stresses on good corporate visibility and image-building to influence public perception and choice.
... Social media helps corporations analyze how much general public talks about them and what is the perception of them. Greater presence at social media brings greater attention, which means there is greater brand recognition and loyalty (Yang & Kent, 2014). Brand psychology argue that the brand value is in the perception of another person. ...
Google is the most dominant search engine in the world. Due to its monopoly, it is often targeted by regulators, accused of imposing its services, platforms and bias algorithm. The paper aims to determine whether a presence on Google-owned platforms improves the website visibility on the search engine, expressed through the search engine optimisation (SEO) score. For this purpose, the web presence of eight private universities in Serbia on Google My Business, Google Maps, YouTube and Google Images were analysed with software screening and observation of the search engine result page. The research results confirmed that Google favours its platforms, as universities with a symbiotic presence on all of them recorded the highest SEO score. Furthermore, Google gives the highest priority to a verified Google My Business listing, as it signals the authority of the university web presence. Since Google uses more than 250 factors in website ranking, the findings should be interpreted with caution.
... Therefore, businesses and organizations want to take the advantage of online reviews to improve their reputation in the online space by means of ethical or unethical. Fake reviews are the most popular among unethical methods which are used by many organizations to make the product valuable to the customers ( Yang and Kent, 2014 ). Further, doctored and planned misinformation is often used to change general perceptions in social discussions ( Gallaugher and Ransbotham, 2010 ). ...
The importance of text mining is increasing in services management as the access to big data is increasing across digital platforms enabling such services. This study adopts a systematic literature review on the application of text mining in services management. First, we analyzed the literature on which has used text mining methods like Sentiment Analysis, Topic Modeling, and Natural language Processing (NLP) in reputed business management journals. Further, we applied visualization tools for text mining and the topic association to understand the dominant themes and relationships. The analysis highlighted that social media analysis, market analysis, competitive intelligence are the most dominant themes while other themes like risk management and fake content detection are also explored. Further, based on the analysis, future research agenda in the field of text mining in services management has been indicated.
... Apart from the two-level model of public relations value (Huang, 2012), the past literature has discussed public relations effects in relation to digital media usage and interactivity. It has been argued that the usage of digital technologies, in particular social media, contributes to various public relations effects, including developing direct communication with the organization's stakeholders without being mediated by the news media (Kent, 2013;Linke and Zerfass, 2013;Valentini and Kruckeberg, 2012;Wright and Hinson, 2009), providing dialogs and building relationships with stakeholders (Kelleher, 2009;Macnamara and Zerfass, 2012) and enhancing organizational image and visibility (Gilpin, 2010;Yang and Kent, 2014). In addition, the usage of digital media enhances organizational capacity of symmetrical and two-way communications (Coombs and Holladay, 2018;Kelleher, 2009;Macnamara and Zerfass, 2012), and hence illustrates the significant contribution of interactivity in public relations practices. ...
Market-oriented relations has been regarded as a kind of public relations practices widely performed by the practitioners of public relations and marketing. This study attempts to discuss market-oriented relations in the digital era in which public relations and marketing practitioners’ involvement in managing market-oriented relations was simultaneously related to their perceptions of interactivity effects, value of public relations and benefits of digital media usage in public relations practices.
A self-administrated online survey targeting 241 practitioners engaged in coordinating public relations activities in Hong Kong was conducted in 2017. Structural equation modeling analysis showed that practitioners’ involvement in market-oriented relations practices had significant positive effects on their perceptions of interactivity effects, value of public relations, and benefits of digital media usage. Practitioners’ perceptions of interactivity effects and benefits of digital media usage were positively affected by their perceptions of public relations value, particularly public relations effectiveness. Clients’ profitability and business intelligence, as well as interactivity effects in terms of involvement and perceived customization were practitioners’ key concerns in managing market-oriented relations.
This study explores how practitioners of public relations and marketing perceived and practiced public relations in the digital era. Specifically, the conception of market-oriented relations in regard to the use of digital media was discussed in the proposed structural model.
... Broadly speaking, PR supports the following two functions: a rhetorical function that focuses on establishing one-way communication from the stakeholders to the public, and a relational function that focuses on building mutual relationships between the stakeholders and the public [34,62]. Social media is an extremely valuable information and communication tool as it is capable of facilitating both of these functions [65]. To study how exactly social media facilitates the rhetorical and relational PR functions in the context of this case study, we turned to social media listening techniques (also known as social media analytics or monitoring). ...
... Apart from the two-level model of public relations value (Huang, 2012), the past literature has discussed public relations effects in relation to digital media usage and interactivity. It has been argued that the usage of digital technologies, in particular social media, contributes to various public relations effects, including developing direct communication with the organization's stakeholders without being mediated by the news media (Kent, 2013;Linke and Zerfass, 2013;Valentini and Kruckeberg, 2012;Wright and Hinson, 2009), providing dialogs and building relationships with stakeholders (Kelleher, 2009;Macnamara and Zerfass, 2012) and enhancing organizational image and visibility (Gilpin, 2010;Yang and Kent, 2014). In addition, the usage of digital media enhances organizational capacity of symmetrical and two-way communications (Coombs and Holladay, 2018;Kelleher, 2009;Macnamara and Zerfass, 2012), and hence illustrates the significant contribution of interactivity in public relations practices. ...
Purpose
Market-oriented relations has been regarded as a kind of public relations practices widely performed by the practitioners of public relations and marketing. This study attempts to discuss market-oriented relations in the digital era in which public relations and marketing practitioners' involvement in managing market-oriented relations was simultaneously related to their perceptions of interactivity effects, value of public relations and benefits of digital media usage in public relations practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administrated online survey targeting 241 practitioners engaged in coordinating public relations activities in Hong Kong was conducted in 2017.
Findings
Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that practitioners' involvement in market-oriented relations practices had significant positive effects on their perceptions of interactivity effects, value of public relations and benefits of digital media usage. Practitioners' perceptions of interactivity effects and benefits of digital media usage were positively affected by their perceptions of public relations value, particularly public relations effectiveness. Clients' profitability and business intelligence, as well as interactivity effects in terms of involvement and perceived customization were practitioners' key concerns in managing market-oriented relations.
Originality/value
This study explores how practitioners of public relations and marketing perceived and practiced public relations in the digital era. Specifically, the conception of market-oriented relations in regard to the use of digital media was discussed in the proposed structural model.
... Vargo, Guo, and Amazeen (2018), for instance, indicated that emerging media were responsive to the agendas of fake news, but to a lesser degree compared to legacy media. Yang and Kent (2014) found that mainstream media coverage significantly affected the visibility of social media. Through big data analysis, Ceron, Curini, and Iacus (2016) suggested that the online version of traditional media keeps the power of first-level agenda setting even though a significant difference between the slant of traditional news and the Twitter sentiment appeared. ...
Anchored by the network agenda setting (NAS) model, this study uses a supervised machine learning approach to analyze the agendas of major newspapers in China, Japan, and the United States, and discussions in Twittersphere, on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute, as well as their intermedia effects. Network analyses suggested that Chinese media portrayed the dispute in a more biased way, whereas Twitter’s discussions were overwhelmingly negative. Time-series analyses revealed reciprocities between newspapers and Twitter, while the relationship was asymmetrical where Twitter exerted a stronger bottom-up impact. Moreover, most reciprocities emerged between the U.S. and Chinese media, and Twitter.
... Media visibility. Since Yang and Kent (2014) reported that organizational visibility in mass media significantly affected its visibility in social media, we also included news media visibility as a predictor. In detail, we searched each ENGO's name for media reports in Factiva news database over a 7-year period (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017), and collected news articles mentioning those ENGOs. ...
This study examines Chinese environmental nongovernmental organizations’ (ENGO) use of a microblogging platform Weibo and the factors that contribute to sharing of their messages. By employing the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing and through a content analysis of ENGOs’ Weibo posts, the study finds that the posts that have more followers and followees and those charged with negative emotions and containing dialogic content are more likely to be shared. More importantly, the results show that government-organized NGOs (GONGOs) and grassroots NGOs differ significantly in the application of Weibo strategies. The study suggests that GONGOs garner more reposts when releasing dialogic content, while grassroots NGOs benefit more from informational content and messages advocating environmental activism and consumerism. The results shed light on understanding social media strategies of Chinese ENGOs, and provide practical implications for the strategic use of Weibo in future environmental campaigns.
... Social media are collaborative technological tools that have penetrated and altered workspace activities and interactions, allowing user generated content to be circulated and exchanged on an insurmountable scale (DiStaso, McCorkindale, & Wright, 2011;Qin & Men, 2019;Yang & Kent, 2014). Since the late 1990s, studies (Coombs, 1998;Kent & Taylor, 1998) have examined the application of digital technologies to the public relations practice and have extolled the interactive capability of the Internet. ...
Social media has enhanced integration between marketing and public relations. As such, public relations professionals have had to adapt and grow their knowledge and skillsets to stay relevant and current throughout the evolution of the digital landscape (Gesualdi, 2019). One of the growing areas of focus for public relations professionals has been customer service skills online. This specialization, often referred to as social care or social customer service, has been promoted and discussed heavily in industry circles and publications, but not in academic research. This study focuses on the survey results from 396 employers exploring the social media skills they most prefer university graduates to possess when entering the workforce. The results indicate that public relations and customer service are the social media skills most sought after by employers of university graduates ahead of proficiency in areas such as social media content production, strategy development and analytics. The potential implications of these findings to the public relations profession are examined and future research is also discussed.
... Online media are of greater importance for global discourses due to their reach and wide application in strategic communication than offline channels (Valentini, 2015). Regarding these different channels, organizational visibility in earned and shared media is interlinked: public presence of organizations in earned media predicts visibility in shared media (Yang & Kent, 2014). While shared media are not the focus of this study, here, instead, the visibility of organizations in online coverage including earned online media such as traditional news media, specialist news, and owned online media such as blogs is addressed (Stephen & Galak, 2012) to understand the communicative behavior of actors in issue arenas. ...
Stakeholders debate issues of public interest in global online issue arenas, but political decision makers decide on these macro issues at national and supranational levels. A better understanding of the role of organizations in forming and monitoring such issue debates is necessary, given the influence of public affairs activities and media debates on politicians’ and public opinion. However, such a macro perspective is largely missing. This study analyzes the debate around the use of the pesticide glyphosate when the European Union decided on a license renewal in 2017. To uncover emerging salient topics and their relations with organizations, the online global coverage of the issue from the GDELT database (N = 1677) was analyzed using inductive automated content analysis (LDA topic modeling). Only three topics were salient in the arena, most prominently the carcinogenicity of glyphosate, thereby sidelining other relevant aspects. Furthermore, online issue arenas reach globally and are converged communicative spaces where a variety of media participate. Thus, the article develops and tests a typology of online news media for issue arena research. Advancing theory on organizations’ roles and strategies in these online issue arenas, a new classification of actors based on their visibility and communication strategy is proposed.
... However, many scholars still have substantiated the conventional "traditional-to-social" pattern even in today's digital age (Guo, Mays, and Wang 2019, 567). For instance, Yang and Kent (2014) found traditional media significantly influenced the visibility of social media. Idid and Elawad (2015) found newspapers played a significant role in shaping the agenda of Sudanese blogs. ...
The months-long anti-extradition bill movement in Hong Kong has gained worldwide attention. Grounded in the network agenda-setting (NAS) model, this study utilizes a machine-learning approach to analyze the related coverage of mainstream newspapers in Hong Kong, Mainland China, the U.S. and the U.K. (N = 2118), as well as discussions on Twitter (N = 152,509). Network visualizations showed that each media utilized a unique approach to highlight and connect the substantive and affective attributes. Time-series analyses revealed an overall reciprocal whilst asymmetrical association between the newspapers and Twitter, in which the latter exhibited a stronger influence on the former, particularly in terms of substantive attribute agendas. Yet, Twitter’s impact shrank in terms of the affective attribute agendas and the NAS models. Newspapers, though exerted rather limited impact on Twitter, maintained a certain extent of independence in setting their affective attribute agendas and NAS models. This study enriches the NAS literature through combining substantive and affective attributes in semantic networks.
... The ongoing shift of power to the consumer as a result of the proliferation of social media is not a new finding (Yang and Kent, 2014;Brown, 2008). However, the shift has transformed consumerism from being driven by social factors, such as self-appointed activists, consumer groups, and coalitions of interest-based groups, to a more individual crusade and decentralised movement. ...
Consumerism was defined and studied as protection and active participation in negative business issues that directly affect the consumer. The consumerism model is based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) using social media (Twitter) to determine any significant differences between two divergent cultures and economies: Saudi Arabia and the USA. Our results suggest a partial fit to the model. The equivalent significant findings for both samples are as follows: 1) Consumers with negative perceptions of government regulatory practices have a more positive attitude towards consumerism; 2) Both countries have a positive subjective norm, intention, and behavior for consumerism. Our findings found that Saudi consumers have a higher level of intent to engage in consumerism behaviors via Twitter than American consumers. Finally, Saudi consumers have a negative perception of government regulatory practices that can be attributed to its restricted civil society relative to the USA.
... Social media helps corporations analyze how much general public talks about them and what is the perception of them. Greater presence at social media brings greater attention, which means there is greater brand recognition and loyalty (Yang & Kent, 2014). Brand psychology argue that the brand value is in the perception of another person. ...
... For nonprofits, visibility is one of the most regarded affordances for promoting, fundraising, knowledge sharing, and problem-solving activities (Raja-Yusof et al. 2016). It resonates with promoting their mission, transparency, image, and reputation to stakeholders; but, strongly correlates with mainstream media visibility (Seo and Vu 2020;Yang and Kent 2014). Besides visibility, social media allows users to know the standing of others (Kietzmann et al. 2011). ...
This paper explains how social media drives organization-public collaborative outcomes such as social media-enabled service co-creation in non-profit organizations (nonprofits). We assume a technology affordances perspective to identify social media structures enacted through discovering functional affordances, managing constraints through privacy preferences, and constructing meaning and values, We explain how these structures relate to service co-creation. We surveyed 73 nonprofits on social media and collected 289 usable responses. We apply structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Our findings suggest that symbolic constructed meaning and values together with the organization’s privacy preferences on social media are positively related to socialization, visibility, and information sharing affordances. Unlike information sharing, socialization and visibility affordances are, in turn, positively related to service co-creation. This study advances our theoretical understanding of how social technology structures produce collaborative outcomes and offers practical insights into the cumulative value of social media.
In an attempt to curtail and prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection, social distancing has been adopted globally as a precautionary measure. Statistics shows that 75% of appointments most especially in the health sector are being handled by telephone since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently most patients access health care services in real time from any part of the World through the use of Mobile devices. With an exponential growth of mobile applications and cloud computing the concept of mobile cloud computing is becoming a future platform for different forms of services for smartphones hence the challenges of low battery life, storage space, mobility, scalability, bandwidth, protection and privacy on mobile devices has being improved by combining mobile devices and cloud computing which rely on wireless networks to create a new concept and infrastructure called Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC). The introduction of Mobile cloud computing (MCC) has been identified as a promising approach to enhance healthcare services, with the advent of cloud computing, computing as a utility has become a reality thus a patient only pays for what he uses. This paper, presents a systematic review on the concept of cloud computing in mobile Environment; Mobile Payments and Mobile Healthcare Solutions in various healthcare applications, it describes the principles, challenges and opportunity this concept proffers to the health sector to determine how it can be harnessed is also discussed.
Social media platforms are being used to shift the balance of power, functioning as tools of resistance for activist publics on social justice issues. This article uses a postmodern approach to public relations with the purpose of clarifying the role of dissensus in social media contexts, connecting it to the principles of the ethics of care that promote dialogue but not necessarily with the aim of achieving consensus. Scholars and practitioners can claim a broader role for public relations in society by considering and analyzing conflicting perspectives in digital communication as a way to engage with activist struggles in social justice and human rights causes. By applying critical discourse analysis (CDA) to a case study that articulates interdisciplinary concepts, this research analyzes the first national weekly Portuguese newspaper Expresso support for the anti-racist cause through its promotion of a manifesto and a Facebook post against racist intimidation. In a contemporary society characterized by fragmentation, taking a public stance on important social and political issues, as in the case analyzed, demands moving beyond consensus-driven communication. The data confirm that social media platforms are not necessarily dialogic spaces and that conflicting communicative perspectives may be a useful way to analyze social change in public relations theory and practice. By taking a public stand against racist intimidation, assuming the possible alienation of specific publics –and “Facebook bullying”– this private newspaper also demonstrated the practical application of the assumptions of the ethics of care.
This study examines the patterns and trends of social media-related public relations research published in 14 journals from 2006 to 2020. It analyzes the theoretical trends (i.e., research topics, theories and theoretical models, hypotheses, and research questions), methodological trends (i.e., types of sample, sampling methods, and research methods), and social media platforms used in 445 published journal articles. The findings are compared with the publication trends of social media-related public relations articles by journals in interdisci-plinary areas, which include communication, public relations, and new media. The results reveal the trends of public relations research across three stages of social media development. In addition, this study provides directions for future public relations research involving social media and calls for more studies on fake news on social media, artificial intelligence on social media apps, and social media influencers. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.
The growth of Internet and social media have substantially changed how customers engage, interact, and communicate with brands and marketers. Individuals with strong personal appeal and influence play a key role in facilitating greater brand outreach and better performance of online ads. Influencers convey similar or distinct persona to match different atmosphere of social media platforms and types of products and services that they intend to promote. Simultaneously, influencers constantly produce textual and visual narrations of their lives and experiences to enhance consumer trusts and foster consumer responses. However, little is known about the role of influencer personal image establishment on driving online consumer engagement. Besides, there are lack of researches that consider the consolidated effect of influencer persona and narratives during the persuasion process. Instagram, Facebook, Sina Weibo and Twitter have been the most examined social media platforms. However, short video-based social media platforms such as TikTok that embed distinct product and content structures still lack academic attention. In light of the significant role of influencers on consumer attitudes and behaviors, and as this research domain is still developing, a research from a new research perspective is needed. This study derives practical implications across various domains, such as social media marketing, digital advertising, and video advertisement in which identification of key factors of information propagators is essential. Taken together, the findings highlight the critical interplay of influencer persona, expressions of the posts and consumer psychological factors in driving consumer engagement and purchase intention, especially for short-form video-based ads.
Public relations (PR) plays a dynamic role in any organization, and it aspires to maintain the mutual long-term between the organization and the beneficial public relationships through achieving a balance between the interests of each party. in addition, PR have an influential role in improving relations between countries and global organizations. As has become known, the Internet has changed not only the world radically but also the practices of pr. Especially that two-thirds of the world's population use networking sites. Indeed, online PR restructuring of the radical practices of public relations. Due to the increasing popularity of the online PR role, this article intends to discover the research gaps that effect on the online PR practice in the world. Review of the literature found that there are a lot of gaps, researchers must discovered in the future to enhance the global online PR practice , such as: conceptualize online PR among practitioners, the technical skills that PR practitioner should have, the antecedent factors influencing the practice, the consequences of the ability to adequately utilize online PR, the current use of online PR tools, Mechanisms for the development the performance and additional qualitative research that offers potential contributions to an increased understanding of social media's role in PR and organizational communication.
Purpose
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use social media for communicating information with stakeholders with minimal cost. The ability to access and share information influences the SMEs' performance, but there is little scholarship on the association between the adoption of social media and SMEs' performance. This study aims to investigate the effects of technology-organizational-environmental (TOE) factors on the adoption of social media and SMEs’ performance in developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed the TOE framework as determinants affecting the adoption of social media and SMEs' performance. The paper used a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire to gather data, from July 2019 to December 2019, from randomly selected respondents from SMEs operating in Pakistan. Partial-least- squares structural equation modeling was used for the path analysis of 423 responses from SMEs' owners, executives, and managers. It also examines the mediating role of social media between TOE characteristics and SMEs’ performance.
Findings
The findings revealed a direct positive relationship between TOE constructs, the adoption of social media, and SMEs' performance. Full mediation was found between technological factors and SMEs performance, and partial mediation was found between organizational and environmental factors and SMEs’ performance. Complementary mediation among the variables was also examined.
Originality/value
This paper has implications for practitioners and researchers interested in investigating social media adoption in SMEs. It builds an empirical, multi-dimensional hypothesized model, including several determinants that may influence the adoption of social media.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts via social media are increasingly common and are often key to achieving organizational CSR objectives. Concerns exist about potential damage caused by negative user comments and effects of user feedback to CSR efforts are mostly unknown. Exploring the effects of positive and negative comments to social media CSR statements and subsequent organizational response, this work reports the results of an online experiment (N = 257) that manipulated both user-generated feedback to organizational CSR statements and subsequent organizational responses. Results demonstrate that negative user comments are less of a concern than commonly thought, and call into question the value of organizational response to user feedback.
As social media continues to transform firm–customer interactions, firms must leverage customer reactions to generate actionable insights, especially in contexts (e.g., crisis events) where customer reactions are critical. Using the justice theory, we categorize customer reactions of two firms, Home Depot and Target, during the time-frame of a security hack to understand key themes/topics. We then map the themes/topics to customer sentiments in those reactions. We found that customers associate justice with simple procedures than the experience of dealing with the firm. In addition, it is critical for firms to carefully assess and control customer sentiments on social media during crisis events.
This is a quasi-experimental study comparing three modes of communication during crisis to examine whether they lead to differences in perception of relational maintenance. Crisis communication by an airline company was marginally modified to mask the organization’s identity, following which participants were exposed to crisis communication through a Facebook page (n = 47), corporate blog entry (n = 58) or corporate media release (n = 50). Contrary to the existing literature, the study did not find any significant differences based on participants’ exposure to different mediums. However, participants relying on Facebook for information about the crisis reported a better understanding of the crisis. The study underscores the importance of perceived user control and familiarity with the medium in determining stakeholder perceptions. It also calls for additional empirical studies to investigate the effectiveness of social media vis-à-vis conventional communication routes, especially when the same information is presented through different mediums.
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between brands' social media visibility, brand strength and brand value. In this context, Social Visibility, Web Visibility and Search Visibility indices which are calculated by BrandWatch in order to determine the social media performance of brands are considered as independent variables. The dependent variables of the study are the Brand Strength Index (BSI) and Brand Value calculated by BrandFinance. In the study, the relationship between the variables was tested by path analysis including 148 Global brand data. As a result of the analysis, it has been shown that social media visibility has a statistically significant positive effect on the strength and brand value of the brand.
This article examines one issue in how public relations students are socialized in their understanding of the value and power of social media in the practice of public relations. The public relations academic research about social media is explored, as well as the professional claims about the value of social media as a public relations tactic. The researchers conducted a content analysis of 1 year of Public Relations Tactics issues. The data are viewed through the theoretical frame of the socialization literature (Jablin, 1987). The results suggest that claims of social media power far outweigh evidence of social media effectiveness as a communication tool. A disconnect exists between what authors of Public Relations Tactics pieces view as the potential for social media and the research findings about the effectiveness of social media. The final section of the article discusses the implications for public relations educators, professional associations, and practitioners as they consider social media tactics in public relations strategy.
Previous studies of advocacy groups’ Web sites suggest that the use of dialogic strategies could lead to greater dialogic communication. This study examined whether dialogic strategies utilized by environmental advocacy groups via their social networking profiles lead to greater dialogic engagement between organizations and visitors. This study offers the first examination of the relationship between the creation of an online space for dialogue and actual dialogic engagement by identifying and measuring six dialogic outcomes.
There is growing interest about the ways in which the public relations field can contribute to democratization and civil society initiatives. Some scholars see enormous potential for public relations by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help get important social issues on the public agenda in transitional nations while other scholars have critiqued the practice of public relations in newly formed nations as a form of hegemony that privileges Western ideas, values, and standards of practice. One thing is certain: more scholarly attention is required if the field of public relations is to truly understand its evolving role in civil society. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the public relations–media relationship contributes to civil society development in Kosovo. The researcher interviewed media professionals, public relations/organizational spokespersons, and civil society experts about the opportunities and challenges of the public relations function in building civil society in Kosovo. The findings suggest that “protocol journalism” is the guiding metaphor for explaining and critiquing the public relations–media relationship in Kosovo. The implications of protocol journalism for media development and public relations credibility are discussed.
As social media moves from “buzz word” status to strategic tool, more practitioners are developing skills related to this online communication technology. This study surveyed working public relations practitioners about their adoption of 18 social media tools and their perception on the growth of social media trends in public relations practice. Results provide an overview of the adoption of social media, as a whole, in the industry.