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Using the United Airlines "bumpgate" crisis as example, this research analyses how reporting of irrelevant information on a crisis victim's bad character impacts on empathy towards the victim, the victim's reputation as well as the reputation of the news medium that published the information. A one‐factorial experiment was conducted with two conditions manipulating the reporting on the crisis victim's character plus a control condition. Respondents were 245 online‐panel participants from the UK. The findings show that when journalists violate the code of ethics by reporting irrelevant negative information on the character of a crisis victim, they harm not only the reputation of the victim, but also that of their news organization. This study contributes to the scarce research on the impact of media reporting during a crisis on victims of the crisis and on the reputation of the newspaper. Journalists must be aware that violating the journalistic code of ethics by reporting on irrelevant negative characteristics of a victim is not only detrimental for the victim but can also significantly hurt the reputation of their organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As media users are trying to avoid traditional forms of advertising like display ads, companies apply content marketing techniques such as native advertising, sponsored content and company-owned media to reach their audiences. Such hybrid forms of content lead to a blurring of boundaries between editorial content and advertising and are not as easily recognized as promotional. This qualitative study examines consumers' perspectives and reactions to different types of content marketing products by taking paid and owned media into account. Data from 50 qualitative interviews with media users were analysed by means of thematic qualitative text analysis. The results indicate that consumers often perceive hybrid content as a mix of information and advertising. Advertising recognition is most often based on content-driven characteristics of the message, such as mentioning a product and less so on the advertising disclosure label. This study derives four types of content marketing consumers: neutrals, enthusiasts, contemplators and critics. It contributes to the literature by strengthening the understanding of consumers' perceptions of different types of hybrid content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How companies should communicate with the public in the event of marketing crisis is discussed. If companies properly communicate with the public, damage to a particular brand and corporate image can be prevented. Companies might also realize brand enhancement by properly responding to a marketing crisis.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00390.x Byline: Sabine A. Einwiller (a2), Michael A. Kamins (b) Abstract: Two studies were undertaken to examine the moderating effect of identification with a rumor target on rumor impact and refutation effectiveness. We show that identification and its opposite, disidentification, bias the way individuals react to a rumor. That is, as identification with the rumor target increased from disidentification to neutral to identification, belief in an aversive rumor declined. Furthermore, the effectiveness of a refutation was moderated by an individual's level of identification. People with a neutral identification level processed a refutation heuristically and were persuaded by it, whether it contained strong or weak arguments. Disidentifiers, who engaged in systematic processing, believed the rumor less only when the refutation contained strong arguments. Identifiers, processing heuristically, remained unbelieving in the rumor. Author Affiliation: (a)School of BusinessUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern SwitzerlandOlten, Switzerland (b)Harriman College of BusinessStony Brook University-SUNY Article note: (2) Sabine Einwiller, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Business, Riggenbachstrasse 16, 4600 Olten, Switzerland. E-mail: sabine.einwiller@fhnw.ch

The authors studied the effects of recipients' prior attitudes on message scrutiny in minority and majority influence situations. Based on the objective consensus approach and on conversion theory, the authors derived the hypothesis that cognitive effort dedicated to the processing of minority and majority communications depends on recipients' prior attitudes. In Experiment 1, prior attitudes were experimentally induced, and in Experiment 2, prior attitudes were measured. Both studies found that majority messages were processed more extensively than minority messages when recipients held a moderate prior attitude. When recipients held an opposing prior attitude, however the minority message was processed more extensively than the majority message. These findings supported the authors' predictions and reconciled seemingly contradictory findings in the literature. Theoretical implications as well as avenues for future research are discussed.

This study examined the influence of majority opinion on attitudes in the absence of persuasive argumentation. Participants who were either high or low in accuracy motivation were presented with an opinion poll that conveyed consensus information and the sample size of the poll. According to the law of large numbers (LLN), large polls provide more reliable estimates of consensus than smaller polls. Results generally supported predictions. Less-motivated participants tended to be influenced by consensus regardless of poll size, whereas highly motivated participants based attitudes on this information only if the poll was reliably large. Thus, participants who were highly motivated seemed to appreciate the LLN when making their attitude judgments. Consistent with the heuristic-systematic model, process measures indicated that consensus influenced attitudes through both heuristic and biased systematic processing under high motivation, but it influenced attitudes only via heuristic processing when motivation was low., People are virtually bombarded with consensus information in their everyday lives. Perhaps the most common source is the news media, which routinely reports the results of opinion polls concerning political, [...]

Corporate communication increasingly evolves into newsroom-like forms. In such structures, traditional approaches of functional differentiation (i.e., internal coms, media relations, public affairs, etc.) give way to topic- and content-centered approaches to corporate communication. Megatrends like globalization, digitalization, mediatization, and the decline of journalism have facilitated these developments. This study provides insights on agile content management gathered from 32 semi-structured expert interviews with communication professionals working in 13 business organizations in Germany and Austria. Results indicate that on the strategic level, communication management reacts to rising communicative demands in organizational environments by implementing agile-like concepts in communication departments, which are content-driven and not based on departmentalized specialization. Accordingly, the importance of competent and largely autonomous content managers increases, with these experts subsequently serving as conductors of inclusive, collective storytelling that reaches far beyond the communication department, into every relevant stakeholder group. Thereby, business organizations cope with the challenges of increasing complexity in the information society of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores how consumers react in a crisis situation that happens to a brand with which they disidentify. Consumer–brand disidentification (CBD) is a state of self‐categorization regarding the separation from and rejection of a brand. It predestines individuals to move away from and go against the misbehaving company because the failure of the object of disidentification provides a perfect opportunity for them to validate their identity. We argue that disidentification is closely related not only to a person's propensity to behave but also to feel in a specific way. Surveys data were collected in the United States and Germany to answer the research question regarding the role of emotions in the relationship between CBD and consumers' intention to demonstrate brand‐opposition behavior. Volkswagen, which experienced a crisis related to its manipulation of emission tests, served as the brand stimulus. The results show that CBD can stimulate hostile emotions and schadenfreude, which can function as mediators of the influence of disidentification on brand opposition (negative word‐of‐mouth, brand avoidance, punishing the brand). This research contributes to the growing body of research on the "dark side" of consumer‐brand relationships and its perils for brands. It also enhances understanding of the role of emotions in (dis)identification and social identity research and widens the scholarship on emotions in crises. Managerial implications include to thoroughly consider trade‐offs of creating a strong and unique brand that may give rise to disidentification; monitoring negative voices, especially online; and differentiating disidentified consumers from other types of opposing stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to articles published within the issue is presented, including one on effective disclosure practices in native advertising, another on the persuasive intent of native advertising, and one which examined consumer's perspective on covert advertising strategies.

Due to increasing consumer skepticism towards promotional messages, companies are looking for new ways to communicate with their target audiences in a less obtrusive way than traditional advertising. Sponsored content disseminated on the online portals of newspapers (i. e., online advertorials) is regarded as a promising way to promote products and brands. Regulations require communicators to inform consumers about the commercial nature of this 'masked' persuasion attempt by including an explicit sponsorship disclosure (i. e., a 'Sponsored' label). This study demonstrates that such an explicit advertising cue may not be enough to alert recipients. Furthermore, this study investigates the effects of promotional messages by means of a 2 (no disclosure vs. disclosure) x 2 (no forewarning vs. forewarning) experiment. Results show that both (i) foregoing instructions aimed at activating consumers' persuasion knowledge (i. e., an additional forewarning message) and (ii) recipients' prior media literacy can foster the effect of sponsorship disclosures in triggering situational distrust towards brand-related content, and in turn, increasing consumers' reactance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study explores the concept of character assassination in the field of corporate communication. We examine the perception of character traits and personal values of chief executive officers in Austria and Germany during corporate crises. Results suggest that character attacks mostly focus on a chief executive officer’s integrity, while a positive public perception of charisma seems to be related to a chief executive officer’s remaining in office. Furthermore, personal values were under more intense public scrutiny when the chief executive officer in question had to leave their office. Thus, the study suggests that character traits and values are antecedents which influence the outcomes of the process of character assassination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When people perceive events that conflict with their expectations they can easily express their agitation and concerns online and likely find others who share their opinion. When large quantities of messages containing negative word-of-mouth suddenly spread in social media we speak of an online firestorm. By covering the outcry, journalists elevate it onto a mainstream communication platform and support the process of scandalization. Content analysis was used to explore how journalists, working for German-language media, cover this phenomenon. Over a period of 16 months, 130 online firestorms were identified and analyzed. Based on a typology of online firestorms, we have found that the majority of cases address events of perceived discrimination and moral misconduct aiming at societal change. Vilification of the organization or person occurred to a much lesser extent. Thus, journalistic coverage of the phenomenon focuses on the rectification attempts of an aroused public. Image-repair responses of the firestorm objects are quoted by journalists in about half of the articles, thereby providing some balanced reporting about the online criticism. This study provides an initial insight into how online firestorms are used as a topic of news coverage by journalists and explores journalists’ contribution to attempts of online scandalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend the theoretical discussion and empirical evidence on harmonization as well as differences in CSR reporting, and to dismantle inconsistencies owing to the idiosyncratic methods applied in previous studies. While institutional and cultural differences suggest country-of-origin effects, the proliferation of global standards for CSR reporting is expected to promote harmonization. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a literature review hypotheses concerning harmonization and country-of-origin effects were derived. Reports were content analyzed using the software Leximancer. Harmonization effects were examined by comparing reports of companies that adhered to the standards by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and UN Global Compact and those that did not declare to do so. Country-of-origin effects were explored by comparing reports of German and US multinational enterprises (MNEs). Findings – The study reveals that there are comparatively greater similarities between reports issued by MNEs that adhere to global standards, especially GRI. Results also reveal some country-of-origin effects. While German MNEs report more on environmental issues, US MNEs have a stronger focus on society, especially the community. Originality/value – The study contributes to the limited evidence for harmonization in CSR reporting due to the adherence to global reporting standards. Because comparability is important for many stakeholders addressed by the reports the findings are valuable for stakeholder management, but also for the initiatives who aim to enhance transparency and comparability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High search results for Wikipedia articles in web search engines and the large number of Wikipedia articles about companies contribute to the online encyclopedia's relevance for communication and reputation management. In this research, we compare Wikipedia articles of 30 US and 30 German corporations in both the English and German version of the online encyclopedia. Using content analysis, the articles' structure, content and tone are analyzed and compared. Apart from broad similarities in regard to article structure, results reveal some striking differences between the versions. It shows that companies are portrayed more extensively in their domestic than in the foreign version of Wikipedia. This refers to the length of the overall article, the use of photographs as well as the validation of content. Detailed analyses of article content also reveal that companies are covered more extensively on the different reputation dimensions in their domestic than in the foreign version. Apart from the elaborateness of the portrayals, there is also more criticism in the form of a specific criticism section in domestic compared to foreign version articles. A general negative tendency can furthermore be observed particularly for content on workplace environment and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Contrary to the findings on criticism, content on CSR is more negative in the foreign compared to the domestic version of Wikipedia for both US and German corporations. The findings indicate that Wikipedia content is influenced by how the volunteer contributors to Wikipedia perceive and assess a corporation. Implications for communication management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research assesses the role of two types of nonfinancial information in investor relations: The personality of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the personality of the corporate brand. As both personalities determine the identity of a company and the relationship with its stakeholders, we investigate their relevance and the effect of incongruence between these two personalities on financial analysts. Eleven semistructured interviews were conducted to answer the theoretically derived research questions. Empirical findings show that both personalities are relevant to analysts and that perceived incongruence between these personalities can cause adverse effects. Company size, stage of company development and strength of the corporate brand emerge as influencing factors. The findings point to the importance of integrated communication concerning a company’s relevant personalities when relating to stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This research aims to investigate how critical media coverage of an organisation affects its employees. The authors expect the effects to be similar to the way media coverage about an individual would affect this person, termed "reciprocal effects". Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a framework for the analysis of reciprocal effects of mass media by Kepplinger and qualitative interviews among employees of 14 different organisations undergoing a crisis, the authors develop an employee-model of reciprocal effects for the context of organisational crises. Findings – This qualitative research shows that employees are affected by media coverage on a critical issue about their employer. Mass media are an important source of information for employees in critical situations. The data indicate interpersonal conversations with colleagues are also important for obtaining information and coping with the situation. Employees show emotional reactions, such as helplessness or shame, and a tendency to defend their employer. The better employees feel informed by their organisation's internal communication, the better they know how to cope with the situation. The data indicate that the effects vary with the employees' level of organisational identification. Practical implications – The findings imply that open and constant internal communication with employees during a crisis fosters reactions that stabilise the organisation in critical situations. Originality/value – The study presented here is the first systematic analysis of the impact of media coverage of an organisation on its employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analyzes to which extent economic broadcasting coverage differs between the three main language regions - the German-, French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. According to the obligations of Public Service, one main function which should be fulfilled by public broadcasting is the integration of the different language regions. Therefore, we conducted a content analysis of economic news in main public and private TV and radio news broadcasts in the three language regions. We evaluated the quantity of economic news, but also the relevance of the covered events and comprehensibility of the economic news. Findings indicate that in all three language regions, about 20 percent of the news broadcasts are economic news. Topics concerning the meso level, companies and industries, are by far most often covered in all three languages. This provides the possibility of interpersonal conversation about these subjects and thus helps integration. Nevertheless, events which happen on a regional level in the other language regions are covered very infrequently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to their statutes and published objectives, many foundations focus on the solution of social problems and on responding to unmet social needs. They aim at social value creation and serve as an ‘antenna’ or ‘sensor’ for societal needs and expectations. If the work of the foundation is coordinated with that of the founding corporation and knowledge is flowing between these organizational entities, corporations can profit from the foundation's activities and insights. However, since corporate foundations by their legal nature and very statutes are independent entities that are to exclusively pursue public-benefit purposes, this relationship is not free of potential conflicts of interest. Through expert interviews with representatives of five major corporate foundations in Germany and their founding corporations, the practices of this cooperation were explored and implications for its improvement were discussed.Corporate Reputation Review (2006) 9, 144–153. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550019 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluate electronic commerce in Germany as a typology of entrepreneurial communicators. Exposure of corporate communications to a high degree of pressure and to an unpredictable environment; Observation of high disregard of legal demands for the transparency of stock corporations; Evidence for the necessity to establish internal competencies before outsourcing corporate communications.

Extending the motivational assumptions of the heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, Liberman, & Eagly, 1989), the authors hypothesized that a discrepancy between desired and actual judgmental confidence raises processing effort only if the expectancy that processing will increase confidence is high. In Experiment 1, university students expected to review information for upcoming social judgments. Desired confidence was varied through low versus high task importance. To manipulate expectancy, low versus high perceived processing efficacy was induced via feedback. As predicted, high- (as compared to low-) importance participants expressed greater interest in receiving information and selected more information when perceived efficacy was high, and this effect was mediated via a heightened discrepancy between desired and actual confidence. These effects were not obtained under low perceived efficacy. In Experiment 2, students processed a persuasive message. Only high importance conditions were studied; processing efficacy and argument strength were manipulated. As predicted, high- (but not low-) efficacy participants processed the message systematically, as indicated by a different impact of argument strength and by mediational path analyses. It is argued that the precision of social judgment models would benefit from an explicit consideration of processing- and outcome-related expectancy variables. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]