Issue News and Corporate Reputation: Applying the Theories of Agenda Setting and Issue Ownership in the Field of Business Communication

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00300.x Byline: May-May Meijer (1), Jan Kleinnijenhuis (1) Abstract: Effects of issues in business news on corporate reputation are often assumed, but less often put to a test. To study these effects, this study combines a recent extension of agenda-setting theory-the second level of agenda setting-with issue ownership theory. A content analysis of business news is linked to a panel survey to measure corporate associations and corporate reputation. The results provide empirical evidence both for the second level of agenda setting and for issue ownership, thereby showing that theories from the field of political communication are valuable for understanding the effects of issues in business news. Author Affiliation: (1)The Center for the Study of Philanthropy, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands Article note: May-May Meijer; e-mail: mm.meijer@fsw.vu.nl.