Journal of Public Relations Research

Bortree, Denise Sevick

2010 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/10627260902949421

This article reports on a study of the adolescent volunteer–nonprofit organization relationship. The study identified three key relationship maintenance strategies that influence an adolescent public: guidance, assurances, and shared tasks. In addition, it identified the relationship quality outcome of control mutuality as playing a key role in the adolescent volunteer–nonprofit relationship. Control mutuality was more influenced by maintenance strategies than any other outcome, and it asserted the most influence on other relationship quality outcomes (trust, commitment, and satisfaction). The study also found that the level of quality that teens experienced in their volunteer–organization relationship predicted their intention to volunteer in the future. Implications are discussed.

Stokes, Ashli Q.; Rubin, Donald

2010 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/10627260903150268

Litigation has forced tobacco companies like Philip Morris to disclose more than 7 million internal documents, including previously confidential public relations plans. We draw from this archive, as well as from activist materials, to demonstrate that, despite vigorous industry efforts to thwart them, activists in this case employed strategies of values advocacy and inoculation and capitalized on economic benefits to persuade publics. This watershed case poses continued challenges for the 2-way symmetrical or mixed-motive theoretical model of public relations. Accounting for public relations activism and understanding its voice in influencing contemporary public debate requires that scholars move beyond this widely accepted model that stresses compromise between activists and organizations. An alternative rhetorical theory of activist public relations is posited to account for groups that refuse to accommodate opponents.

Connolly-Ahern, Colleen; Grantham, Susan; Cabrera-Baukus, Maria

2010 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/10627260903150276

The executive branch practice of issuing video news releases (VNRs) without attributing them to government agencies has been sharply criticized by the Government Accounting Office. However, the effects of attribution on VNR viewers are not understood. This article reports the results of an experiment testing the relative credibility of two different government agencies by viewers of a VNR attributed to an agency, compared with viewers who saw the VNR without attribution. This article also examines how one's predisposition toward a domain-specific risk identified in the VNR influenced the perceived credibility of the message. Results indicate that partisanship impacted perceptions of credibility of the VNRs.

White, Candace; Vanc, Antoaneta; Stafford, Gena

2010 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/10627260903170985

This study examined how employees of a multi-campus university view information flow from top administrators in positions of personal influence, employees' communication preferences (amount, channels, types of information), their sense of community within the organization, and the relationship between those perceptions and their willingness to advocate for the university. Open-ended interviews with 147 employees found the personal influence of the chancellor and top administrators has an effect on information satisfaction. Employees who have a relationship with the chancellor are more satisfied with the information they receive and feel a greater responsibility to advocate for the organization. Even the perception of a relationship with top administrators leads to satisfaction. The direction dimension of internal communication, as well as the channel dimension is important. Although e-mail is efficient for information exchange, the preference for communication among all groups of employees is face-to-face, interpersonal, dialogic interactions. Meetings, despite being acknowledged as time-consuming, were valued as a channel for feedback and providing face time with top managers. Electronic channels, if used thoughtfully, can flatten the traditional, hierarchical structure of internal communication and give employees at all levels of the organization the sense of hearing things first-hand, from the top.

Miller, Barbara M.

2010 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/10627260903170993