April 6, 2021

By Marlene S. Neill, Baylor University & Shannon A. Bowen, University of South Carolina

In February of 2020, we started conducting personal interviews for a new study focused on organizational listening in response to a special call by the Page Center.  However, that effort was halted as everyone’s personal and professional lives were disrupted in the midst of a global pandemic. We were able to resume interviews at the end of April, but by then everyone’s lives had… More

March 18, 2021

By Yen-I Lee, Washington State University; Xuerong Lu, University of Georgia; and
Yan Jin, University of Georgia

Narratives, as powerful approaches to storytelling, have exerted strong influences in driving public discourse about social issues. Various stakeholders, either directly experiencing an event or observing how the event evolves, are able to create their own narratives and contribute to how others make sense of the event.

Social media platforms, with their easy access and popularity, have further facilitated… More

March 10, 2021

By Linda Hon, University of Florida, and Leping You, Miami University (Ohio)

Given that Consumer Political Advocacy (CPA) is a vital yet underexplored area, this project examined the antecedents and outcomes of CPA with three studies.

The first study conceptualized and developed measurements for the behavioral outcomes of CPA among consumers. The study conceptualized consumer digital engagement (CDE) and political consumerism as two consequential behavioral outcomes of CPA.

CDE revealed two types of outcomes, activities that… More

February 4, 2021 • Stephanie Madden

One of the many challenges of being a university-level educator during the COVID-19 pandemic is watching our prepared and motivated students face an uncertain professional future. While canceled internships and potentially lackluster job prospects are a very real challenge, one opportunity provided by our Zoom-based reality is the enhanced access available to professional events that were once financially or geographically out of students (and professors!) ability to attend.

An event that I, let alone my students, have never… More

January 27, 2021

By Marlene S. Neill, Baylor University & Juan Meng, University of Georgia

Being an ethical person is not synonymous with being an ethical leader. In fact, we found significant reasons for concern when we asked more than 500 female public relations and communication professionals to evaluate the highest ranked communication leader in their organization based on several key outcomes.

Our findings are published in the newly released book “PR With Influence: Breaking through the Ethical and… More

January 6, 2021

By Holly Overton, associate professor at the University of South Carolina

Is corporate social advocacy (CSA) the new corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Do stakeholder expectations vary for companies’ CSR vs. CSA efforts and how they should communicate about them? Do company motives matter any more or less for CSR or CSA?

These are some research questions that I explored in a recent study with co-authors Joon Kyoung Kim, University of Rhode Island; and University of South Carolina… More