Journal of Communication Management

Imesha Dharmasena, M.K. Gayadini; Toledano, Margalit; Weaver, C. Kay

2020 Journal of Communication Management

doi: 10.1108/jcom-11-2019-0144

The paper identifies a role for public relations in disaster management by analysing disaster and communication managers' understanding of community resilience and their use of communication in the context of two different cultural environments.Design/methodology/approachThe research study comprised 51 in-depth qualitative interviews with disaster managers in Sri Lanka and New Zealand, which were thematically analysed using the software programme NVivo 10.FindingsThe study identified cultural differences in Sri Lanka and New Zealand that impact on how managers' communicate in natural disaster situations. The findings indicated that public relations’ understanding of communities’ cultures, their communication, networking and lobbying skills could further enhance the effectiveness of efforts to build community resilience to disasters.Research limitations/implicationsNations are complex multicultural realities; the findings cannot be generalized to make claims about how natural disasters are managed in different national contexts.Practical implicationsThe paper identifies the unrealized potential of public relations’ expertise in communication, community relations, networking and lobbying to contribute to building community resilience to natural disasters.Social implicationsBy supporting efforts to build community resilience to disasters, public relations practitioners can contribute to social well-being in times of catastrophic natural disasters.Originality/valueThe paper adds an innovative perspective to public relations crisis literature by identifying the potential contribution of public relations’ concepts and practices to build community resilience to natural disasters. It demonstrates how sociocultural differences may affect disaster communication strategies.

Kim, Sungsu; Jin, Yan; Reber, Bryan H.

2020 Journal of Communication Management

doi: 10.1108/jcom-11-2019-0148

The purpose of this study is to elaborate on the notion of crisis distance and to investigate its influence on publics' crisis responses (i.e. crisis severity, crisis emotions, organizational reputation and supportive behavioral intentions). In addition, this study aims to unearth the underlying mechanisms behind the effects of crisis distance.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted an online survey by recruiting a representative US sample to examine the proposed research questions.FindingsThis paper offers empirical evidence that each dimension of crisis distance (i.e. temporal, social and hypothetical crisis distance) is associated with publics' crisis responses. Furthermore, by investigating distance-crisis-organizational sequence models, the ways in which crisis distance ultimately motivates publics' supportive behavioral intentions was revealed.Originality/valueAs an explorative study to propose a crisis distance model, the current research provides a springboard for expanding the existing scholarly literature on the nature of crisis.

Syvänen, Salla; Valentini, Chiara

2020 Journal of Communication Management

doi: 10.1108/jcom-11-2019-0145

The purpose of this study is to review the extant literature on chatbots and stakeholder interactions to identify major trends and shed light on knowledge gaps.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was conducted combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. A code book based on early systematic literature reviews was developed and used to extract information from 62 discrete peer-reviewed English articles. An inductive approach was used to analyse definitions of chatbots, topics, metrics, perspectives and implications.FindingsChatbots have been studied by many different disciplines, but not much from organizational, stakeholder and corporate communication perspectives. Existing studies focus on the technical developments of chatbots and chatbot language and conversations skills. Research has remained anchored at the micro-level understanding of the phenomenon, that is, the nature of chatbots, but has not yet taken into consideration the meso (organizational) or macro (societal) levels.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused only on academic peer-reviewed papers in English and excluded conference proceeding, books, book chapters and editorials that may have offered other important and relevant reflections. The limited number of studies in communication-related disciplines shows that corporate communication scholars could contribute more to the discussion of chatbot–stakeholder interactions.Originality/valueThis is the first research in the field of corporate communication that examines organizational chatbot–stakeholder interactions. Results of this review offer important information on chatbots' organizational capabilities and affordances, which, arguably, must be taken into consideration when stakeholder engagement strategies are set.

Sinčić Ćorić, Dubravka; Pološki Vokić, Nina; Tkalac Verčič, Ana

2020 Journal of Communication Management

doi: 10.1108/jcom-11-2019-0146

The study explored the relationship between the two concepts—internal communication satisfaction (ICS) and life satisfaction. Additionally, the study analyzed the link between eight internal communication dimensions (satisfaction with feedback, satisfaction with communication with immediate superior, satisfaction with horizontal communication, satisfaction with informal communication, satisfaction with information about the organization, satisfaction with communication climate, satisfaction with the quality of communication media and satisfaction with communication in meetings) and life satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachTo exclude the potential impact of contextual factors, we conducted a quantitative field research on a homogeneous sample of 507 respondents, employed in a multinational organization. For the assessment of ICS, we used the Internal Communication Satisfaction Scale (UPZIK), developed by Tkalac Vercic et al. (2009). For the assessment of life satisfaction, we used the satisfaction with life acale (SWLS) developed by Diener et al. (1985).FindingsResults showed a very high, statistically significant correlation between ICS and life satisfaction. All dimensions of ICS are highly correlated with life satisfaction, but this relationship proved to be the strongest between life satisfaction and two dimensions of ICS (satisfaction with informal communication and satisfaction with communication climate).Research limitations/implicationsOur study has three general limitations: (1) the dataset is of cross-sectional nature, which prevents inferring causality between variables; (2) a common source bias is present (ICS and life satisfaction are measured from the same source) and (3) we used self-reports [given the subjective nature and others’ reports of life satisfaction yield weaker but similar results (Erdogan et al., 2012)].Originality/valueWe identified satisfaction with internal communication, as a work domain that has not yet received attention in the management literature, to have an important role in life satisfaction. Among others, we found satisfaction with informal communication and satisfaction with communication climate to be especially relevant ICS dimensions, implying that organizations should primarily cultivate non-formalized dimensions of internal communication—a positive communication environment.

Zerfass, Ansgar; Hagelstein, Jens; Tench, Ralph

2020 Journal of Communication Management

doi: 10.1108/jcom-10-2019-0137

Artificial intelligence (AI) might change the communication profession immensely, but the academic discourse is lacking an investigation of the perspective of practitioners on this. This article addresses this research gap. It offers a literature overview and reports about an empirical study on AI in communications, presenting first insights on how professionals in the field assess the technology.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative cross-national study among 2,689 European communication practitioners investigated four research questions: RQ1 – How much do professionals know about AI and to what extent are they already using AI technologies in their everyday lives? RQ2 – How do professionals rate the impact of AI on communication management? RQ3 – Which challenges do professionals identify for implementing AI in communication management? RQ4 – Which risks do they perceive?FindingsCommunication professionals revealed a limited understanding of AI and expected the technology to impact the profession as a whole more than the way their organisations or themselves work. Lack of individual competencies and organisations struggling with different levels of competency and unclear responsibilities were identified as key challenges and risks.Research limitations/implicationsThe results highlight the need for communication managers to educate themselves and their teams about the technology and to identify the implementation of AI as a leadership issue.Originality/valueThe article offers the first cross-national quantitative study on AI in communication management. It presents valuable empirical insights on a trending topic in the discipline, highly relevant for both academics and practitioners.

Topić, Martina; Cunha, Maria Joäo; Reigstad, Amelia; Jelen-Sanchez, Alenka; Moreno, Ángeles

2020 Journal of Communication Management

doi: 10.1108/jcom-11-2019-0143

This paper aims to analyse the current literature on women in public relations to establish trends and areas of inquiry in the literature and identify research gaps for future research.Design/methodology/approachA total of 223 articles have been empirically analysed using thematic analysis to identify trends in the existing literature. The data has been coded and analysed per decade (1982–1989, 1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2019). The articles have been identified by searching major journals in the field of public relations and communications, as well as snowballing from identified articles.FindingsThe results show that the majority of academic articles have been produced by using lived experiences of women working in the public relations industry and thus reflect the professional situation of female public relations employees. The results show that the position of women has reached a full circle in four decades of research and returned to the discriminatory work environment. Finally, the results show that a liberal feminist perspective has an advantage in the literature since the majority of works have been produced in the United States; however, there is an increase in authors calling for the use of socialist and radical feminism.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive literature review of works published in the field. The paper takes an empirical approach to the analysis rather than the descriptive one, which helped in identifying major trends in the research and identified a research gap for future inquiries.