Search

Social media has become an indispensable component of everyday life and had a transformative impact on strategic communication. This study reflects on the influence of social media in scholarship and examines social media research to identify strengths, gaps, and assumptions in this body of literature. Using structural topic modeling and network analysis, this research models every word published in six leading journals studying public relations from 2012 to 2022 in two separate studies. First, a census of the 2,675 articles, totaling 15926,460 words, is analyzed to establish the percentage of scholarship related to social media, methodologies used to study social media, and how social media interacts with other topics within public relations. Second, a subset of 666 articles that heavily emphasize social media are examined in order to identify the key social media topics within public relations scholarship. This research finds that social media is a major connecting topic within public relations scholarship; however, few social-media specific topics are being studied in public relations scholarship. Even research focused on social media is more heavily emphasizing existing public relations theory than social media-specific topics. We conclude with three propositions that detail a path forward for scholarship regarding social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships are complex, multifaceted, and complicated phenomena, both in practice and study. Additionally, while research regarding the ways in which religious organizations practice public relations is growing, this area of public relations scholarship is still in its infancy with a limited understanding regarding the practice of public relations by religious organizations and the outcomes of their efforts. Thus, to contribute to gaps in public relations theorizing on relationship management and engagement, and gaps in the literature on religious organization and stakeholders, this study interviewed 28 megachurch communication employees to assess their relational engagement strategies and goals. Findings reveal that religious organizations encourage the formation of six relationships between five entities through their public relations efforts. This study proposes the Devotional-Promotional Relational Engagement Model as a new model of relational engagement, which highlights the six strategic relationships organizations cultivate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses gaps in the crisis communication literature by examining the role and influence of online opinion leaders in an overlooked type of crisis--organizational factionalism and schisms. This study examined network attributes and characteristics of online opinion leaders during an international religious crisis by conducting a social network analysis of 27,710 posts on Twitter concerning the impending schism within the United Methodist Church. By bridging research on religious crises, organizational factions and schisms, and online opinion leadership in the public relations literature, our results advance theorizing in crisis communication, particularly for Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). Results reveal online opinion leaders are influential entities and sources of information regarding the crisis, and are not homogeneous in their opinions, thus reflecting the ideological diversity present within factionalism crises. This study confirms and advances previous research by arguing that traditional methods of categorizing crises according to SCCT should not be solely relied on for factionalism and organizational schisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megachurches have a reputation for savvy use of digital media; however, little is known about their advertising strategy or which strategies elicit engagement. By assessing megachurches' promotional content on social media, this study draws on the devotional campaign framework to examine audience-centric engagement strategies: God-Congregant, Church-Congregant, and Intra-Congregational. The quantitative content analysis of Facebook and Instagram posts from 15 megachurches in five countries revealed that megachurches used the combination God-Congregant & Church-Congregant engagement strategies, as well as the singular Church-Congregant engagement strategy, the most often. Yet, audiences engaged significantly more with posts using the God-Congregant engagement strategy when compared to all other strategies. The use of engagement strategies and engagement received on posts varied according to geographical location and cultural differences, suggesting there may be a cultural aspect to what earns engagement from followers. Advertisers looking to increase online engagement should focus their efforts on persuasive messages that include the object-audience engagement strategy. This study advances advertising theory on engagement by suggesting that engagement is contingent upon the engagement strategy utilized as well as the specific region's norms around the brand and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]