Journal of Public Relations Research

Sha, Bey-Ling

2021 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2021.2037197

Dhanesh, Ganga Sasidharan; Picherit-Duthler, Gaelle

2021 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2021.2011286

Based on theories of relationship management and job demands and resources, this study offered a conceptual framework, the Remote Internal Crisis Communication (RICC) framework, and empirical data to examine the antecedents of employee engagement during remote work in a crisis. Based on an online survey with 304 employees who worked remotely during the Novel Coronavirus pandemic that began in 2019 (i.e., COVID-19), findings revealed that two-way communication and internal crisis communication content predicted employee engagement the most among all the predictors, which included two-way communication, internal crisis communication content and objectives, and new ways of working. The study also found that social connection mediated the relationship between new ways of working and employee engagement.

Lee, Yeunjae; Li, Jo-Yun; Sunny Tsai, Wan-Hsiu

2021 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2021.2007388

Based on a sample of 633 racial minority employees in the United States, the current study examined the effectiveness of diversity-oriented leadership on internal communication and key employee outcomes. Using the normative model of internal communication and organizational justice theory, this study advances the theoretical links among leadership, communication, and organizational justice, and their resulting effects on employee outcomes. The survey results showed that diversity-oriented leadership enhances symmetrical internal communication and racial minority employees’ perceived fairness of the organization, thereby increasing employee engagement and advocative behaviors. Theoretical implications for public relations and internal communication are discussed.

Kang, Minjeong

2021 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2021.2023020

Rumors of a toxic workplace can create a negative organizational reputation among external stakeholders. Based on the theoretical framework of narrative transportation, the current study tests how exposure to employees’ dissenting testimonials of the workplace might increase hypocrisy perception and negatively influence organizational reputation via the experience of transportation. A classic experiment design with a control group tests the between-subjects and within-subject effects of employees’ dissenting voices on study variables. The results support the influences of employees’ dissenting testimonials on transportation, perception of organizational hypocrisy, and damage to organizational reputation on both moral/affective and ability dimensions. Additionally, this study finds that the level of transportation differently influenced assessments of organizational reputation, suggesting a spillover effect on the ability dimension by moral transgressions.

Qin, Yufan Sunny; Men, Linjuan Rita

2021 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2022.2034631

This study examined whether and how listening in the internal communication context may influence the quality of employee-organization relationships. This study proposed employee psychological need satisfaction as the potential underlying mechanism that mediates the relationship between internal listening and employee relational outcomes. An online survey was conducted with 443 employees across various industries in the United States. The key findings of this study showed that employee perceptions of internal organizational listening were positively associated with employees’ perceived relationships with their organization. In addition, employee psychological need satisfaction positively mediated the effects of both organizational and supervisory listening on the quality of employee-organization relationships. This study advances the theorizing of listening from an internal communication perspective and contributes to the growing body of knowledge in relationship management.

Lee, Yeunjae

2021 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2022.2034630

Integrating relationship management theory and internal crisis communication literature, this study aimed to understand employees’ affective and behavioral responses toward their organization during an organizational crisis. Focusing on a crisis caused by allegations of gender discrimination practices in the workplace, the current study investigated how employees’ exchange–communal relationships lead to their negative affect, communication behaviors, and activism intentions. Results of an online survey with 401 full-time employees in the United States suggested that employees’ exchange relationship is positively associated with negative affective response, and communal relationship is positively associated with their active communication behaviors. Furthermore, negative affective response significantly increased employees’ active communication behaviors and activism intentions. Theoretical implications for public relations and internal crisis communication scholarship are provided.