Alexander Buhmann

Handbook on Digital Corporate Communication p. 281-296

This chapter discusses the use in practice and implications of AI for professional roles and responsibilities in corporate communication. It defines AI and other relevant terms, gives a brief overview of how it is currently being used and outlines some of the newer applications such as Intelligent User Interfaces. It goes on to explore what current and future developments mean for the structure of the profession, including how the role will be re-shaped as many of the operational tasks in corporate communication are automated and ‘infused’ with AI. It considers how the role can become more strategic as it moves away from the operational, focussing on ethical concerns as a route to an enhanced governance role. The chapter envisages an active ethical guardian role for corporate communicators at an organisational level as well as in the function, serving as the conscience of the wider organisation. It concludes by providing a brief case study on Vodafone, showcasing a progressive positioning AI policies.

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 17(1) p. 109-122 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191X-bja10092

Public diplomacy efforts of nation states and cities within these states inevitably develop alongside another, giving rise to joint attributions regarding these entities as actors in global affairs, though also potentially intensifying perceptions of their independent and even contradictory roles in international diplomacy. Variations in attributions of cities and states as more or less conjoint actors can be expected to affect both the visibility of key actors and the formation of attitudes and behaviours towards these actors in international affairs. In this essay I explore how and in what dimensions such variations can be expected to occur, applying recent thinking on the constitution of social actors to this emerging debate in public and city diplomacy scholarship and proposing a conceptual framework that distinguishes joint ‘selfhood’ and ‘actorhood’ as key dimensions of joint city/state attributions. The essay includes a discussion of the implications of this conceptualisation for public and city diplomacy.

Business Ethics Quarterly 33(1) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2021.42

Responsible innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) calls for public deliberation: well-informed “deep democratic” debate that involves actors from the public, private, and civil society sectors in joint efforts to critically address the goals and means of AI. Adopting such an approach constitutes a challenge, however, due to the opacity of AI and strong knowledge boundaries between experts and citizens. This undermines trust in AI and undercuts key conditions for deliberation. We approach this challenge as a problem of situating the knowledge of actors from the AI industry within a deliberative system. We develop a new framework of responsibilities for AI innovation as well as a deliberative governance approach for enacting these responsibilities. In elucidating this approach, we show how actors from the AI industry can most effectively engage with experts and nonexperts in different social venues to facilitate well-informed judgments on opaque AI systems and thus effectuate their democratic governance.

The Emerald Handbook of Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media p. 625-638 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-597-420221036

Research Handbook on Strategic Communication p. 475-489 Doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800379893.00039

Measurement and evaluation (M&E) is the cornerstone of strategic communication: Whether and how the purposeful use of communication contributes to realizing the mission, strategy or particular objectives of an organization, builds on and is assessed through M&E. The relevance of the M&E debate has significantly increased over the course of recent decades as budgets in various areas of strategic communication have continued to grow. This has increased the pressure to develop evidence-based strategy and tactics and provide ‘hard proof’ of how communication contributes to organisational goals. This chapter reviews the state of the debate by introducing foundational M&E concepts as well as an integrated framework for M&E in strategic communication. Based on this framework, this chapter discusses the state of the art in M&E methods and tools, and develops critical perspectives and future directions for research and practice in this important strategic communication domain.

Corporate Communications. An International Journal 28(2) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-03-2022-0035

Purpose This article studies the digitalization of corporate communications and the emergence of communication technology (CommTech). The authors show communicators' expectations regarding digitalization, gauge the current level of digitalization across communication departments and agencies and examine the effectiveness of strategic approaches to manage digitalization. Design/methodology/approach The authors conceptualize the phenomenon of CommTech and propose a framework for studying CommTech's emergence and consequences by combining (1) recent theorizing on digitalization in corporate communications, (2) the concept of digital maturity from information systems research and (3) a socio-technical approach to analyze the development of work systems. The authors apply this framework in a quantitative study (n = 2,664) among communication practitioners from 46 countries. Findings While digitalization of both communication activities and the underlying support infrastructure is seen as critically important among communicators, a large fraction of communication departments and agencies are still assessed as digitally immature. Further, data reveal the relevance of different (technology, tasks, structure and people) dimensions of digitalization strategies and the influence of such strategies on the digital maturity of communications. Practical implications The framework and empirical instruments developed in this study help practitioners to uncover and evaluate the level of digital maturity of communication departments and agencies. This allows to identify current challenges and future opportunities for improvement. Originality/value The authors propose a concise definition for the much-debated concept of CommTech and develop a new theoretical framework for understanding CommTech's emergence and consequences in the profession. This empirical work constitutes the first large-scale study on the digital maturity of communication departments and agencies.

Morals + Machines 1(1) p. 74-85 Doi: https://doi.org/10.5771/2747-5174-2021-1-74

Organizations increasingly delegate agency to artificial intelligence. However, such systems can yield unintended negative effects as they may produce biases against users or reinforce social injustices. What pronounces them as a unique grand challenge, however, are not their potentially problematic outcomes but their fluid design. Machine learning algorithms are continuously evolving; as a result, their functioning frequently remains opaque to humans. In this article, we apply recent work ontackling grand challenges though robust action to assess the potential and obstacles of managing the challenge of algorithmic opacity. We stress that although this approach is fruitful, it can begainfully complemented by a discussion regarding the accountability and legitimacy of solutions. In our discussion, we extend the robust action approach by linking it to a set of principles that can serve to evaluate organisational approaches of tackling grand challenges with respect to their ability to foster accountable outcomes under the intricate conditions of algorithmic opacity.

Technology in society 64 p. 1-11 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101490

Many organizations struggle to meaningfully engage with their stakeholders on political, societal and environmental topics via social media. Often such discourses unravel into splintered and negative conversations, raising the question whether organizations can and should exercise some level of control and ‘steering’ in these conversations and, if so, how stakeholders would react to such ‘top down’ moderation. Existing studies lack empirical insights into the impacts of different levels of moderation in social media conversations on stakeholder attitudes. Two experimental studies were developed to test the effect of different levels of organizational moderation on stakeholder attitudes towards organizations. We show that increased levels of moderation negatively affect attitudes towards an organization, satisfaction with an organization's performance, and trust in the organization. Increased moderation also significantly undermines beliefs in the commitment of the organization to its stakeholders and control mutuality. This paper extends recent qualitative attempts to build new theory around stakeholder dialogues on social media by testing the effects of varying levels of moderation in such dialogues.

Technology in society 64 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101475

The rapid innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) is raising concerns regarding human autonomy, agency, fairness, and justice. While responsible stewardship of innovation calls for public engagement, inclusiveness, and informed discourse, AI seemingly challenges such informed discourse by way of its opacity (poor transparency, explainability, and accountability). We apply a deliberative approach to propose a framework for responsible innovation in AI. This framework foregrounds discourse principles geared to help offset these opacity challenges. To support better public governance, we consider the mutual roles and dependencies of organizations that develop and apply AI, as well as civil society actors, and investigative media in exploring pathways for responsible AI innovation.

Public relations inquiry 10(1) p. 119-127 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2046147X20987337

In a recent article in Public Relations Inquiry, Jenny Hou has fittingly argued for a stronger focus on agency and actorhood in PR research. We point to two crucial aspects in which we think her arguments need to be extended, namely: (a) embracing the constitutive role of communication for organizational actorhood and agency, and (b) rethinking the role of PR in the constitution of organizational actors. We argue that such extension would allow for an important and radical twist in perspective that highlights a widely neglected question in PR research: What if the collective actorhood status of organizations is not treated as a given but rather arises from communicative attributions of such actorhood status to social entities? Finally, we develop key implications from this shift in perspective for PR scholarship, education, and practice.

The Information Society 83(1) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2021.2014610

Digital self-tracking technologies, such as mobile applications and wearables have become commonplace, mediating users’ fitness and health management efforts by providing performance recommendations. While digital self-tracking technologies have been welcomed by some as useful tools in users’ pursuit of healthier and happier lives, they have also drawn criticisms, especially regarding body surveillance and control stemming from their embedded performance standards. In this article, we present our study of the experiences of users who regularly but casually engage with digital self-tracking technologies in order to identify factors that affect compliance with performance standards. Based on these data we propose a conceptual framework that brings together domain involvement, domain expertise, data literacy, and the tendency to anthropomorphize technology with performance standards and discuss possible relationships between these factors.

Handbuch Unternehmenskommunikation Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-03894-6_27-1

Kommunikationsmanager wissen heute um die Wirkung ihrer Arbeit und umihren Beitrag zur Erreichung von Unternehmenszielen. Dabei handelt es sich umLeistungen für eine gute Berichterstattung in den Medien, für die Reputation desUnternehmens und mitunter sogar für die direkte Verkaufsförderung, für dieMitarbeitermotivation genauso wie für die Gewinnung von Nachwuchskräften.Allerdings beruht dieses Wissen allzu oft auf Intuition, auf besonderen Erfahrun-gen wie im Falle von Krisen oder auf vereinzelten Erfolgsmessungen. Was häufigfehlt, ist ein institutionalisiertes Controlling der Unternehmenskommunikation,mit der die Steuerung und Evaluation der Kommunikationsprozesse systematisch

Figueroa Press

Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) 19(1) p. 7-23 Doi: https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2019.01.002

In this paper, we present the evolution of Swiss Media and Communication Studies over the last decade by summarizing the main results from a project funded by the Swiss University Conference (2008–2017). We give an overall picture of the growth in the field (in terms of student numbers, resources and activities), look at diversity in terms of topics (two clusters are identified and presented with respect to various indicators), present changes at the level of individual research units (where we find variance in terms of evolution), give insights into publication patterns (two different publication cultures are found) and describe mobility and career pathways in the field. We observe limited mobility within Switzerland, internal pathways at the level of doctoral students and post-docs, and international mobility, mainly within the same linguistic region, at the professorial level. We conclude that the field has reached a consolidation phase and achieved a rather stable situation, but faces new challenges, with digitalization and the pressure towards homogenization in publication output among the most important.

Herbert von Halem Verlag

Public Diplomacy ist ein international schnell wachsendes Forschungs- und Praxisfeld. Dabei geht es v.a. um sämtliche Aktivitäten eines Landes zum Aufbau und zur Pflege eines Beziehungsnetzes zu heutigen und zukünftigen Entscheidern, sowie zur Beeinflussung der Einstellung der eigenen und ausländischen (auch digitalen) Öffentlichkeiten zur Landespolitik und seinen verschiedenen Wirkungsbereichen. Der Aufbau und die Pflege des Landesimages nimmt hier eine entscheidende Rolle ein. Insbesondere in der Kommunikationswissenschaft – und darin in der Public-Relations-Forschung – sind in den vergangenen Jahren wesentliche Grundlagen zur Entstehung und Gestaltung von Länderimages durch die Public Diplomacy erarbeitet worden. Bisher liegt aber zu diesem jungen und dynamischen Feld noch kein deutschsprachiges Buch vor. Diese Lücke möchten die Autoren schließen. Im vorliegenden Band führen sie in den aktuellen Forschungs- und Wissensstand zu diesem Themengebiet ein und reflektieren grundlegende Fragen der Messung, Entstehung und Gestaltung von Länderimages. Dabei gibt das Buch antworten auf die folgenden fünf Leitfragen: · Welche Aspekte/Dimensionen eines Landes sind wichtig für sein Image? · Wie entsteht ein Landesimage? · Welches sind die für die Imagebildung wirksamen Kanäle? · Welche Handlungsrelevanz und Wirksamkeit hat das Landesimage? · Wie lässt sich die Wirksamkeit von Public Diplomacy und Landeskommunikation messen und evaluieren? Das vorliegende Buch führt verständlich und reflektiert in die facettenreiche Literatur zu Länderimages und Public Diplomacy ein und bietet damit neue Anknüpfungspunkte für Forschung und Praxis.

International Communication Gazette Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048519887295

While the need for evaluation has become increasingly emphasized within the global public diplomacy community, recent research suggests the state of the practice is grim. However, the few writings that exist on evaluation practices in public diplomacy are anecdotal and focus mainly on obstacles to enacting evaluation behavior. Little is known about evaluation-related perceptions, motivations, and attitudes of public diplomacy practitioners themselves. As practitioners are under increasing pressure to deliver evaluations, understanding the perspective of practitioners and their motivations is necessary. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, this study presents the results of interviews with 25 public diplomacy practitioners in the U.S. Department of State. The results lend insight into the attitudes, norms, and behavioral controls that influence practitioners’ intentions to engage in evaluation. The article also suggests explanations as to why evaluation struggles to gain a foothold within public diplomacy, and makes proposals for improving future practice.

Public Relations Review 45(4) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.101844

With spindoctoring, publicity seeking stunts and evidence of mal-practice, public relations is easily associated with the development of post-truth society. The elevation of bullshit as political coinage presents a challenge for the rational public debate which the public relations profession at large should have an interest in maintaining. In this introduction, we briefly highlight some of these challenges for public relations. We point to how papers in the special section tie into these challenges, by for instance, helping to understand the construction of truth, how to construct a defense for legitimate public relations and engage with publics, as well as to build a professional practice through developing and measuring communication.

Journal of Business Ethics 163(2) p. 265-280 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04226-4

While organizations today make extensive use of complex algorithms, the notion of algorithmic accountability remains an elusive ideal due to the opacity and fluidity of algorithms. In this article, we develop a framework for managing algorithmic accountability that highlights three interrelated dimensions: reputational concerns, engagement strategies, and discourse principles. The framework clarifies (a) that accountability processes for algorithms are driven by reputational concerns about the epistemic setup, opacity, and outcomes of algorithms; (b) that the way in which organizations practically engage with emergent expectations about algorithms may be manipulative, adaptive, or moral; and (c) that when accountability relationships are heavily burdened by the opacity and fluidity of complex algorithmic systems, the emphasis of engagement should shift to a rational communication process through which a continuous and tentative assessment of the development, workings, and consequences of algorithms can be achieved over time. The degree to which such engagement is, in fact, rational can be assessed based on four discourse-ethical principles of participation, comprehension, multivocality, and responsiveness. We conclude that the framework may help organizations and their environments to jointly work toward greater accountability for complex algorithms. It may further help organizations in reputational positioning surrounding accountability issues. The discourse-ethical principles introduced in this article are meant to elevate these positioning contests to extend beyond mere adaption or compliance and help guide organizations to find moral and forward-looking solutions to accountability issues.

Journal of Communication Management 23(4) p. 444-467 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-12-2018-0127

Purpose: Meta reviews are central for mapping the state of the field, consolidating the heterogeneous public relations body of knowledge, and pointing to new potential research directions. Habermas is one of the most influential contemporary social theorists and his work has repeatedly been used in public relations scholarship. While some have maintained that his work has been most influential in the development of public relations theory, this stream of research has never been reviewed empirically. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, we present a bibliometric literature review of 263 research articles published between 1980 and 2016. A network analysis of these publications based on the technique of bibliographic coupling was used to identify common forms of application, research themes, as well as patterns of impact. Findings: Results show that the use of Habermas has grown significantly, specifically in the recent decade. At the same time, researchers have a narrow focus specifically on earlier developments in the theory. Finally, we discover three main topical research clusters that have been influenced by the theory: public relations and the public sphere, dialogic stakeholder relationships, as well as public relations and communication ethics. Originality/value: Our findings map out an important stream of scholarship in the field by showing were public relations scholars have been and were the research community has not ventured yet. Based on the results of this analysis we propose directions for research to advance future theory development in public relations using Habermas’ work.

Public Relations Review 45(4) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.101825

To many, development and adoption of professional standards for measurement and evaluation (M&E) is one of the most promising approaches for advancing public relations practice. In recent years, there has been a surge in efforts to develop standards for M&E in different parts of the world. Prominent examples of this include standard terminologies, metrics, principles for best practice in the field, and evaluation frameworks. Regardless of their alleged importance, however, the acceptance and application of such M&E standards in the practice varies significantly. To better understand the process by which standards in this field are developed and adopted, this article draws on recent concepts from organization studies (cf. Slager, Gond, & Moon, 2012) to analyze the trajectories of four seminal standards attempts: The Barcelona Principles and the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework on an international level, the DPRG/ICV Framework used in German-speaking countries, and the GCS Framework in the United Kingdom. The article reveals, by way of an interpretive qualitative approach, the various strategies undertaken to a) develop common sets of terms and rules, b) engage relevant actors in the design, promotion, and implementation of proposed standards, and c) to reinforcing standards symbolically.

Journal of Communication Management 23(3) p. 162-178 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-08-2019-147

Journal of Communication Management Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-12-2018-0137

Purpose In recent years, expectations for demonstrating the impact of public diplomacy programs have dramatically increased. Despite increased calls for enhanced monitoring and evaluation, what texts exist on the subject suggest the state of practice is grim. However, while the current debate is based mostly on practice reports, conceptual work from academics or anecdotal evidence, we are missing empirical insights on current views of monitoring and evaluation from practitioners. Such a practice-level perspective is central for better understanding factors that may actually drive or hamper performance evaluation in day-to-day public diplomacy work. The purpose of this paper is to update knowledge on the state of evaluation practice within public diplomacy from the perspectives of practitioners themselves. Design/methodology/approach This study assesses the state of evaluation in public diplomacy through qualitative interviews with public diplomacy officers working for the US Department of State – a method heretofore unused in studies of the topic. In total, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with officers in Washington, DC and at posts around the world. Findings The interviews suggest that practitioners see evaluation as underfunded despite increased demands for accountability. Further, the results show a previously not discussed tension between diplomacy practitioners in Washington, DC and those in the field. Practitioners are also unclear about the goals of public diplomacy, which has implications for the enactment of targeted evaluations. Originality/value The research uncovers the perceptions of evaluation from the voices of those who must practice it, and elaborates on the common obstacles in the enactment of public diplomacy, the influence of multiple actors and stakeholders on evaluation practice, as well as the perceived goals of public diplomacy programming. No empirical research has considered the state of evaluation practice. Moreover, the study uses qualitative interview data from public diplomacy officers themselves, an under-used method in public diplomacy research. The findings provide insights that contribute to future public diplomacy strategy and performance management.

Bridging disciplinary perspectives on the formation and effects of country image, reputation, brand, and identity p. 289-300

Bridging disciplinary perspectives on the formation and effects of country image, reputation, brand, and identity p. 259-288 Doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315271224-15

Journal of Communication Management 22(1) p. 113-119 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-12-2017-0141

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the current state of communication evaluation and measurement (E&M) as a vital field connecting academics and practitioners in communication management. Design/methodology/approach The authors track recent developments in the field, address the ongoing struggle toward E&M standards, and propose six agenda points for the future E&M debate. Findings While the authors see an engaged, international interest community making considerable headway in important E&M issues, the conclusion is that several areas require further work: dynamics of standardization; going beyond the effectiveness-based view; internal services evaluation; addressing intervening variables; closer ties to related fields; and dissemination into the wider practice. Originality/value The paper gives a pointed reflection of the state of the field and also provides a comprehensive list of current resources for those who aim to further the E&M debate.

Routledge

Journal of Communication Management 22(1) p. 96-112 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-08-2017-0081

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how varying degrees of media-constructed associations between organizations and their home countries affect audience perceptions of such associations and, subsequently, how recipients attribute crisis responsibility and reputational damage to the home country. Additionally, the paper investigates if pre-crisis country image can buffer negative effects of the crisis for the country. Design/methodology/approach The authors hypothesize that the strength of actor associations in media reports about crises affects recipients’ cognitive processes of crisis responsibility attribution and, thus, the “direction” of reputational damage (corporation vs country). Empirically, the authors analyze the effects of different levels of actor association in crisis reports (strong actor association vs weak actor association) regarding a Chinese corporation in a one-factorial (between-subjects) experimental design; and the intervening effect of China’s country image prior to the crisis. Participants for the study lived in Switzerland and the USA. Findings The effect of different actor associations presented in the media on perceived association between a corporation and its home country is confirmed. Furthermore, these varying perceptions lead to significantly different tendencies in people’s ascriptions of crisis responsibility (corporation vs country), and different degrees of reputational fallout for the home countries. Finally, the data did not confirm a moderating effect of pre-crisis country image on the reputational damage caused by the crisis. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to the understanding of key factors in the formation of crisis attributions as well as insights for the study of country image and public diplomacy. Practical implications It provides a new approach for corporate communication and public diplomacy to analyze the complex interdependencies between countries and internationally visible and globally known corporations, which potentially affect the country’s perception abroad. Social implications Particularly for smaller countries that cannot rely on political and economic power to defend national interests in a global context, their “soft power” in terms of reputation and country image can play a central role in their political, economic, and cultural success. Originality/value The paper applies a new conceptual framework and methodology to analyze how both mediated and cognitive associations between different actors influence attribution of responsibility in crises, and how these associations ultimately bear on reputation spillover for the different actors.

The International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication p. 625-640 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119010722.iesc0103

At the Forefront, Looking Ahead: Research-Based Answers to Contemporary Uncertainties of Management p. 59-72 Doi: https://doi.org/10.18261/9788215031583-2018-05

Corporate Communications. An International Journal 23(3) p. 377-391 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-11-2017-0107

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand factors that may stimulate or inhibit communication practitioners when it comes to measurement and evaluation (M&E) of communication initiatives at the outcome level (i.e. impact on stakeholder’s attitudes and behavior or business results). Design/methodology/approach- Based on Ajzen’s (1985) theory of planned behavior (TPB), the authors develop and test a new model to analyze antecedents to M&E behavior (attitude, perceived norms, and behavioral control) and assess how they impact practitioners’ intentions to perform outcome M&E. The model is tested in a standardized online survey (n=371). Findings - Findings show that the TPB model explains a large amount of the variance in practitioners’ intentions to engage in M&E at the outcome level. The model demonstrates that attitude toward outcome M&E and perceived behavioral control, particularly lack of skills, are the two strongest drivers influencing practitioners’ intentions to measure and evaluate outcomes of their communication initiatives. Perceived norms to perform outcome M&E has only a very weak effect on intentions. Research limitations/implications - The findings highlight the potential of education when it comes to developing M&E capabilities in the practice. They also suggest that the role of normative pressure to perform outcome M&E needs to be better understood in terms of the dynamics of standardization specifically regarding design, implementation, and monitoring of M&E standards. Originality/value - The study is the first to go beyond the common descriptive focus in studying M&E practices and is the first application of the TPB to understand the factors that drive communication practitioners’ intentions to perform M&E.

International Public Relations: Perspectives from deeply divided societies p. 94-112 Doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315716749-6

Strategische Kommunikation im Spannungsfeld zwischen Intention und Emergenz p. 141-156 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17634-1_8

Scientometrics 109(3) p. 2279-2301 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2080-5

This paper presents an analysis of resource acquisition and profile development of institutional units within universities. We conceptualize resource acquisition as a two-level nested process, where units compete for external resources based on their credibility, but at the same time are granted faculty positions from the larger units (department) to which they belong. Our model implies that the growth of university units is constrained by the decisions of their parent department on the allocation of professorial positions, which represent the critical resource for most units’ activities. In our field of study this allocation is largely based on educational activities, and therefore, units with high scientific credibility are not necessarily able to grow, despite an increasing reliance on external funds. Our paper therefore sheds light on the implications that the dual funding system of European universities has for the development of units, while taking into account the interaction between institutional funding and third-party funding.

Public Relations Review 42(3) p. 418-431 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.11.010

This paper aims to add to the growing discourse on methods in public relations research by showing how variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) can be used to analyze effects between multiple intangible target constructs in PR. We introduce the properties of the method, compare it to conventional covariance-based SEM, and demonstrate how PLS-SEM can be applied to public relations evaluation using an example study on organizational reputation and its effects on trust, and stakeholder behavior (n = 1892). This paper offers a consequent methodological discussion of PLS-SEM and provides a valuable resource for public relations research aiming to apply the variance-based approach.

Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) 16(2) p. 182-198 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scoms.2016.10.002

The article introduces a model for analyzing the constitution and effects of country images. The model combines well-established concepts from national identity theory and attitude theory with a model from reputation management. The model is operationalized and tested in two surveys. Results show how different cognitive and affective dimensions of the country image affect each other and how they ultimately bear on the facilitation of behavioral intentions. Lines for future inquiry in country image research are suggested.

Springer

Alexander Buhmann develops a new model for measuring the constitution and effects of country images by combining well-established concepts from national identity theory and attitude theory with a recent model from reputation management. The model is operationalized and tested in two surveys. Results show how different cognitive and affective dimensions of the country image affect each other and ultimately lead to the facilitation of behavioral intentions. The book introduces a theory-grounded approach to clarify the dimensionality of the country image. It is the first to operationalize and test the dimensions of the country image by combining formative and reflective measures in a mixed-specified model.

Communications 40(3) p. 267-293 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2015-0010

In this study we empirically map the field of media and communication studies (MCS) by focusing on relationships between cognitive dimensions (such as research topics and approaches) on the one hand and material dimensions (such as funding and institutionalization) on the other. Our analysis, which focuses on the field of MCS in Switzerland, identifies two clusters of research institutions representing distinct strands of research in the field. Results show how these two strands differ in terms of their resource base, institutional positioning and recognition, teaching and transfer activities, as well as activities of scientific production. Similarities and differences in these dimensions serve to explain the general evolution of the field.

International Communication Gazette 77(1) p. 102-124 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048514556986

This conceptual article proposes a new integrative model of the country image by drawing on advances from the fields of business studies, social psychology, political science, and communication science. To interrelate different approaches, a communication management perspective is applied, providing a basic terminological framework systemizing the central constructs of country image, country reputation, country brand, and country identity. On this basis the authors develop the ‘4D Model' of the country image by integrating well-established concepts from national identity theory, attitude theory, and reputation management. The new model is suited for application in comparative analyses of country images both on the level of different groups (such as a country’s domestic and foreign publics) as well as different societal levels (such as individual attitudes on the one hand and mass-mediated prestige information on the other).

Communication Research Trends 34(3) p. 2-25

Journal of Communication Management 19(1) p. 62-80 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-11-2013-0083

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a new model for the measurement of the constitution and effects of the country image as a central target construct in international public relations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors combine concepts from reputation management (Eisenegger and Imhof, 2008; Ingenhoff and Sommer, 2007), national identity theory (Smith, 1987), and attitude theory (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) to derive a four-dimensional model, conceptualizing country images as stakeholder attitudes toward a nation and its state, comprising specific beliefs and general feelings in a functional, normative, aesthetic, and emotional dimension. Furthermore, the authors develop a path model to analyze the country image’s effect on stakeholder behavior. This model is operationalized and tested in a survey regarding the country image of the USA and its effects on travel behavior. Findings – Results show how functional, normative and aesthetic image dimensions vary in affecting the formation of the affective image component. It is also demonstrated how the affective image di-mension acts as a mediator in the image’s effect on stakeholder behavior. Practical implications – For international public relations and public diplomacy practice the developed model supplies a new approach for country image analyses which will serve and improve the development and evaluation of cross-national communication strategies. Originality/value – The paper introduces a new theory-grounded approach to clarify the dimensionality of the country image construct. It is the first to operationalize cognitive and affective dimensions of the country image by combining formative and reflective indicators in a mixed specified construct.