ABSTRACT This study presents the findings of multi-method research that explores the challenges and implications of the concept of agility for the field of strategic communication. Despite its omnipresence in business practice, research on agility in the domain of strategic communication is scarce. Thus, a four-step research process was conducted to link the interdisciplinary debate about agility to

ABSTRACT This article applies interpersonal deception theory (IDT) to crisis communication. As strategic communicators, spokespeople representing organizations in crisis often evade questions in media interviews. Upper management and legal counsel tend to prefer evasive language over directly answering questions. Normative crisis communication, however, exhorts honest and straightforward language.

ABSTRACT This study conducted a mixed-design experiment to explore how the audience evaluates brands targeted in online disinformation. The effects of key characteristics of fake news, political motivation and the intent to damage the brand reputation, were tested on crisis identification, perceived crisis severity, and audience acceptance of crisis responses. Results indicated that while fake news

ABSTRACT While numerous organizations have undertaken initiatives to reduce workplace discrimination owing to racial/ethnic backgrounds, racial inequalities in the workplace continue to persist. Providing an inclusive and open work environment has become an important task for organizations. Given that strategic communication management plays an important role in relationship cultivation and management

ABSTRACT This study experimentally interrogates the critical preconditions of how an organization legitimizes its corporate social advocacy (CSA) initiatives as an integral part of strategic communication. A 2 × 2 factorial design survey (N = 398) indicates that companies must find a way to bridge two perceptual gaps −a factual gap and a conformity gap. The factual gap refers to perceived inconsistency

ABSTRACT This study explores an understudied area in corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is important for strategic communication practice during crises: corporate disaster aid. Companies mobilize their money, materials, and human resources to participate in different aid activities. Building on existing CSR communication literature, this study investigates 128 disaster aid tweets from 41

ABSTRACT This research explores how and by which mechanisms and processes a social movement diffuses to other countries or regions and the role of communication management in this spread. Findings suggest activists and advocates involved in the diffusion process can be understood as strategic translators whose work is locally oriented, but also whose connections and frames of reference are transnational

ABSTRACT This study investigates how parents manage conflicting online information, which may affect their information-seeking behavior and decision-making about childhood vaccination, by applying the Theory of Motivated Information Management in online communication contexts. Although an extensive body of literature has demonstrated the effectiveness of TMIM in predicting how individuals manage health

ABSTRACT Grounded in the multidisciplinary field of strategic risk and health communication, this study proposed and tested a new infectious disease threat (IDT) appraisal model, focused on mapping individuals’ coping strategy preferences as predicted by their perceived predictability and controllability of the disease. A 2 (predictability: high vs. low) × 2 (controllability: high vs. low) within-subjects

ABSTRACT While it has historically been seen as a strategic risk or error for companies to get involved in contentious politics, new data on consumers, efforts to personalize marketing, and growing interest in corporate social responsibility have made activist and political content a significant part of public relations for many companies. The ability to communicate different messages in targeted ways

ABSTRACT This study examines the impacts of self-(i.e., egoistic) versus other-(i.e., social) benefit frames used in organizational transparency messaging. While research in various strategic communication disciplines has presented organizational transparency as useful to achieving positive outcomes, limited empirical research on the effects of strategic decision-making around information presentation

ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to analyze the potential use of strategic communication, and specifically, strategic brand management and online communications directed to a foreign target by the Islamic State (IS). For this purpose, a review of official the IS online media releases was carried out to determine if they reflect characteristics, components, or tools of strategic communication

ABSTRACT Stakeholders debate issues of public interest in global online issue arenas, but political decision makers decide on these macro issues at national and supranational levels. A better understanding of the role of organizations in forming and monitoring such issue debates is necessary, given the influence of public affairs activities and media debates on politicians’ and public opinion. However

ABSTRACT Each year numerous brands, including those with a global consumer base, develop “Pride collections” or, limited-edition, often rainbow-patterned products created for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) Pride month. These products have received criticism for co-opting LGBTQ symbols for commercial purposes. Using samples of heterosexual and LGBTQ participants, this study examines

ABSTRACT This study investigates the intertwined effects of the employee-organization relationship (EOR), internal communication, and employees’ situational perceptions on individuals’ communicative behaviors – seeking and voicing – during periods of organizational crisis. Using the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), the current study investigates employees’ cognitive reactions as well

ABSTRACT The communicative affordances of Facebook transformed the way nonprofit organizations communicate with publics. However, the connection between advocacy and virality received limited scholarly scrutiny. This study extends our knowledge of advocacy by examining the relationships between advocacy strategies, tactics, and virality. For this study, Facebook posts of LGBTQ advocacy organizations

ABSTRACT As donation through mobile devices becomes globally available, this study aims to promote its adoption and facilitate international fundraising, primarily by examining people’s motivations to make a mobile donation – a donation made by text message. Employing key variables from the situational theory of problem solving and the technology acceptance model, this study proposes an emerging Situational

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether hybrid strategy would be more effective than corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy in boosting CSR information recall and company evaluation. Informed by the corporate ability (CA)-CSR-hybrid communication strategy typology, the associative network theory, and memory interference and integration literature, this study conducted a 2 (prior corporate

ABSTRACT In this research, we investigated whether the perception of the importance of certain types of media, strategic issues, and excellence in the professional field of strategic communication in Europe differs across countries and across generations. Data were used from the 2007 (N = 1,087) and 2016 (N = 2,710) editions of the European Communication Monitor, an annual survey among strategic communication

ABSTRACT The strategic communication literature mainly focuses on questions of how brands use social media. Scholars, however, have not thoroughly examined the reasons why organizations choose to adopt new social media platforms. And existing research uses a variety of theoretical perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine organizational adoption of new social media channels using

ABSTRACT The present article uses a multi-method approach to compare two perspectives on the responsibility of corporations: the public image and the corporate self-image. Responsibility is understood as a social construct that depends on who attributes it. This also means that people can have very different perceptions of the responsibility of corporations, all of which may not be covered by typical

ABSTRACT Recently, the field of strategic communication has been criticized for lacking a coherent theoretical synthesis. Recognizing that strategic communication is a sub-discipline of communication science, we study how the field is anchored in the corpus of established communication theories – including social science, interpretative, and critical approaches. To describe the use, development, and

ABSTRACT Psychological operations (PSYOP) implies a purposeful use of communication by a government or military organization to fulfill its mission and is one understanding of strategic communication. The present study focuses on PSYOP effects. The few studies available on this area indicate that the effects of PSYOP generally tend to be on a minor scale, while PSYOP may have a stronger impact in specific

ABSTRACT Integrated corporate communication is relevant in the strategic management process with its focus on shaping consistent messages to strategic stakeholders, sustaining corporate communication narratives on social media sites, and aligning communication strategies with organizational goals. To stimulate further debate and identify areas of agreement, we suggest that the strategic value of integrated

ABSTRACT The digital revolution challenges strategic communication. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) create a rapidly changing environment for organizations as well as system complexities. To fulfill its task in ensuring the long-lasting success of organizations’ strategic communication needs to continuously adopt to this revolution. This article approaches the

ABSTRACT This article examines employee ideation on internal social media, and how employees through dialogue strategies address uncertainty, a condition assumed inherent in ideation. The study explored online employee communication and interaction during 60 ideation sessions, including 2,420 suggested ideas, 6,558 comments, and 3,017 likes since the implementation in 2011 in a large, knowledge-intensive

ABSTRACT Strategic social media influencer communication has become a major topic in strategic communication. However, despite the growing relevance of this new strategic communication instrument, research has paid only limited attention to elaborating its basic concepts. In this article, we adopt a strategic communication perspective to develop a conceptual framework for strategic social media influencer

ABSTRACT Utilizing social media celebrities as a communication channel has become a strategic practice for many organizations. By using the concepts of celebrity endorsement and authenticity, the effect of celebrity and content characteristics on followers’ attitudes towards the content and, in the case of sponsored content, purchase intentions are scrutinized. Instagram followers (N = 592) of 45 celebrities

ABSTRACT Social media influencers (SMIs) are increasingly employed by organizations to amplify their strategic communication efforts. Yet, little is known about the impact an SMI’s personal indiscretion has on their endorsing organizations. This article examines the factors that trigger these crises and their effects on the organizational image. Five cases – PewDiePie (U.S.), Munroe Bergdorf (UK),

ABSTRACT In this editorial, I (1) explain why social media influencers bear relevance for strategic communication, (2) provide a brief introduction to research on social media influencers, and (3) unroll the rationale behind this Special Issue of the International Journal of Strategic Communication.

ABSTRACT Though organizations increasingly collaborate with social media influencers, such as bloggers and videobloggers, little is known as to how the contextual cues related to sponsored content affect the authenticity perception of the social media influencers among audience members. This study explores how positive and negative priming of sponsored content shapes the authenticity perception of

ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of the current state of research in strategic influencer communication and highlights research desiderata. We conducted a systematic literature review of 39 peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2018. Using Lasswell’s transmission model of communication as an approach to systemize communication acts, we identified, systematized, and synthesized

ABSTRACT Twitch.tv is one of the most successful online live streaming platforms in the world, with 200 million viewers, 2 million regular “streamers,” and a market value of over $1billion. In this paper, we offer a first conceptualization of streamers as social media influencers, and how effectively they can perform strategic communication for sponsors. We draw on extensive ethnographic research and

ABSTRACT The internal aspects of crisis communication have been identified as a growing area of research in crisis management; however, there remains a paucity of empirical studies dedicated to this dimension of crisis communication. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of social media usage, leadership, crisis responsibility, and error management culture on internal crisis communication

ABSTRACT This study investigates individuals’ cognitive, motivational, and communication responses regarding an environmental CSR issue using arguments from the situational theory of problem-solving (STOPS) with a cross-situational factor as an antecedent. Survey results provide empirical support for the application of the STOPS in a CSR communication context and suggest that a collectivistic orientation

ABSTRACT Digital platforms are under public scrutiny and face a negotiation process regarding their social responsibility. In this institutional discourse about moral responsibilities, corporate actors aim at defending the legitimacy of digital platforms. This study conceptualizes strategic communication as a means for conveying conformity to legitimacy expectations, to shape legitimacy judgments,

ABSTRACT In recent years, countries have increased their strategic communication efforts to engage foreign stakeholders, committing significant resources to this cause, often with a specific aim at younger audiences. This research focuses on two countries that often dominate in international public diplomacy efforts and examines how Russian and American youth view the current relations between Russia

ABSTRACT Assessing the connection between social media engagement and activism for strategic communication is tricky. Although social media facilitate protests, they may also create a lazy form of activism known as slacktivism, potentially weakening the strength of a social movement. This dichotomy suggests the need to develop a theory to understand the connection between social media engagement, empowerment

ABSTRACT Triangulating 18 in-depth interviews with activists and campaign participants, news coverage, and social media content related to the campaign “6,700 people for 6,700 trees,” this study integrates social movement framing theory and issues management framework to examine activists’ strategic communications in an authoritarian setting. Results indicate activists’ sophisticated use of framing

ABSTRACT Storytelling is widely believed to be an effective strategy in innovation communication. The use of high-quality narratives in particular is recommended to facilitate the understanding of an innovation, facilitate trust in it, and promote the perception of innovative strength as well as the development of positive attitudes. However, to date virtually no empirical evidence has been presented

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to examine the co-presence of clarity and ambiguity in the formulation, interpretation and implementation of corporate communication strategies. Following a growing scholarly interest in how ambiguity can be seen as a productive strategic resource in strategy work, this article focuses on the interdependency of clarity and ambiguity in corporate communication

ABSTRACT The growth of social media in organizations is reshaping internal communication strategy. This article explores the value of internal social media with a focus on employee engagement, which is defined as employees who are connected to the values and mission of the company, feel empowered, bring energy, passion, and discretionary effort to their jobs, and serve as advocates. Interviews were

ABSTRACT Corporate social responsibility (CSR) research indicates that consumers are skeptical of a company’s support of social causes unless they can determine that the efforts are legitimate and authentic. One way companies can demonstrate legitimacy in their CSR efforts is by supporting causes that are perceived to “fit.” The goal of this study is to explore the effects of company–cause fit within

ABSTRACT Although organizations increasingly acknowledge the communicative importance of employees, and increasingly frame communication as an employee responsibility, communication responsibility remains an unexplored topic in strategic communication research. To address this gap, this study introduces the concept employee communication responsibility and offers insight into factors influencing employees’

ABSTRACT Much scholarship has been devoted to identifying barriers that prevent the advancement of communication measurement and evaluation. This research focuses on the characteristics, objectives, and practices of chief communication officers (CCOs) with successful measurement and evaluation programs. Three key dimensions of practice emerged from in-depth interviews: communication executives’ measurement

ABSTRACT As social media use on mobile devices has been integrated in people’s daily lives, corporations began to target the publics on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on mobile devices. In the context of a natural disaster, this study examines how publics respond to CSR-based initiatives by way of mobile corporate social responsibility (mCSR), including gratifications, social media

ABSTRACT Appraisal tendency framework suggests that incidental and integral emotions are capable of influencing decision making and behaviors. Such effect is subject to the interaction between incidental and integral emotions. To effectively use emotional appeal in public service announcements (PSAs) for non-profit communication, studying the interaction between the carryover and direct effects of

ABSTRACT Based on the perspectives of strategic ambiguity and organizational reputation, the current study examines the effects of mixed crisis response strategies, which adopt seemingly contradictory messages (i.e., apology and denial), through experiments. Consistent with the scope of strategic communication research, this study incorporates theoretical aspects of distinct areas of organizational

ABSTRACT This study analyzes explicit pieces of advice for effective social media crisis communication given by researchers in various subdisciplines of strategic communication. The themes are identified by a systematic content analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers (n = 104) published between 2004 and 2017. Five overall thematic “lessons” are identified and critically discussed

ABSTRACT Although millennials have been extensively examined in the popular and academic literature, there have not been sufficient studies in strategic communication that help us fully understand this unique and influential cohort in the communication profession. The purpose of this research is to take a talent management approach to gain a deep understanding of millennial communication professionals’

ABSTRACT Management writer Tom Peters noted that what gets measured is what gets done in organizations. Therefore, measurement and evaluation models and approaches provide insights into strategy. Furthermore, the most widely used approaches to evaluation are based on program logic models that identify objectives, planning, and inputs, as well as seek to track outputs, outcomes and impact, thus affording

ABSTRACT In this article, we introduce a multidimensional network perspective as a theoretical and methodological touchstone for the study of strategic communication. The perspective embraces the various disciplinary traditions that are found under the strategic communication umbrella (e.g., advertising, corporate communication, organizational communication, and public relations) and gives primacy

ABSTRACT This article seeks to build a better understanding of the concept of alignment, which has been acknowledged as a central aspect of strategic communication, but never explicitly defined. Building upon a comprehensive literature review and systematization of concepts at the nexus of strategic communication and management research, a working definition and an integrative conceptual framework

ABSTRACT This article draws on a decade of research in strategic communication and especially on the contributions in this special issue to propose a new and more comprehensive definition of strategic communication. We argue that strategic communication encompasses all communication that is substantial for the survival and sustained success of an entity. Specifically, strategic communication is the

Department for Strategic Communication, Lund University Campus Helsingborg, Helsingborg, Sweden; The Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA; Department of Communication, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Institute of Communication and Media Studies, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Communication and

ABSTRACT The article explores how strategic communication successfully established itself as an academic discipline despite (or perhaps because of) being centered on an elusive concept. Drawing on ideas about the evolution of academic disciplines proposed by Alexander M. Shneider, we argue that strategic communication is currently caught in a cycle of constant reinvention obscured by a discourse of

ABSTRACT This article addresses the concept of “communication” in strategic communication, and proposes a new lens through which to view communication in order to deepen knowledge of strategic communication, as well as to significantly improve the alignment of strategic communication with the demands of today’s strategy development process. Looking at modern strategy theory, this article focuses on

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to contribute to the discussion concerning the present position and future directions of strategic communication by looking into the past and offering some proposals and a vision of how to develop and advance the field further. Research in strategic communication has mostly focused on communication professionals working in communication departments or agencies

ABSTRACT The idea that strategic communication is not only planned, but also emergent, has gained increasing attention in the field of strategic communication research. However, embracing the idea of emergence comes with several definitional, methodological, and programmatic challenges. This article responds to these challenges by proposing a dual narrative framework of strategic communication. The

ABSTRACT This study explores future directions in strategic communication scholarship by examining the emergence of strategic communication through the lens of interdisciplinary science. The disciplinary status of strategic communication is described through a content analysis of manuscripts published in the International Journal of Strategic Communication since its inaugural issue in 2007 (N = 207)