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This article offers a definition of involvement based on a spreading activation model of human memory processing. Involvement is viewed as the spread of activation through working and long-term memory. Topics resulting in more extensive and/or stronger activation result in higher involvement. As a first test of the definition offered, an experiment was conducted to explore the effects of involvement and limited prior knowledge on cued recall and recognition memory for elements of persuasive messages common in investor relations. Evidence from the measurement of reaction time for recognition supported the model. Theoretical and practical implications of the differences in the effects of prior knowledge and involvement on different types of memory performance are discussed.

The contingency theory of conflict is nearing its third decade, but there is a lacuna in the literature about the development of strategy. Additionally, the contingency continuum and its stances are overdue for continued theoretical development. To address these theoretical issues, this project explores the inductively gathered knowledge of a nearly 40-year public relations (PR) practitioner about the use of aggressive and controversial public relations strategies. He codified his observation into a diagnostic software tool called the Playmaker Influence System. His observations have never been empirically examined despite an abundance of supporting anecdotal evidence. Therefore, this project employs a systematic review to determine if these contentious strategies have enough evidence in scientific literature to validate their existence. The findings revealed that sufficient evidence does exist to support their existence, and that they can be integrated into the Contingency Theory of Conflict Management.

AbstractThe emergence of online communication reflects a shift in communication practitioners' roles, with more emphasis on interactive features in news such as writing online comments and clicking "like" on such comments. A 2 (consistency: consistent crisis responsibility attribution between online news and online comments vs. inconsistent responsibility attribution) × 2 (heuristic cues: high vs. low number of "likes" clicked) mixed subject design was tested on N = 389 samples. The findings of this study showed that participants tended to attribute less crisis responsibility and held an improved regard of reputation towards a corporation when they read online comments defending the corporation compared to when participants only read the news. Our findings suggest corporate communication practitioners should acknowledge the role of online comments that could motivate people to attribute crisis responsibility in a positive direction.

The purpose of this study was to understand better how a conversational human voice versus a corporate tone of voice in blogs affects key publics' responses to an organization in the context of a crisis, using a 2 (tone of voice: human/organizational) × 2 (source: public relations executive/private citizen) × 2 (crisis response: defensive/accommodative) mixed experimental design. Results indicate that first-person voice and personal narratives increased perceptions of social presence and interactivity in online communication. These perceptions subsequently resulted in positive post-crisis outcomes, such as reputation and behavioral intentions.

Forty-seven television news stories generated by a video news release (VNR) were content analyzed to determine how television gatekeepers use various elements included in VNRs. A survey was also done to obtain station resource data that might predict greater use of packaged elements from a VNR. Results suggest that the production costs for a packaged story in a VNR may be wasted. Extensive use was made of B-roll, public service announcements (PSAs), and footage from planned events like news conferences that reporters are accustomed to covering. When the packaged story was used, it was heavily edited or truncated. Contrary to common wisdom, resource-poor stations did not make greater use of the packaged story in the VNR.

This study explores feature advertising, or single advertisements designed to look like editorial copy. A national survey of editors and ad managers at newspapers and magazines found that print media typically have an unwritten policy to label feature ads as advertisements. An information processing experiment was performed to test the efficacy of such labeling. Experimental results suggest that feature ads borrow from the editorial credibility of a publication and that the current labeling policy does not adequately address the problem.

Situational theory predicts that those with a high problem recognition, high involvement and low constraint recognition will be active information seekers. A telephone survey of 493 individuals in a Southwestern city finds knowledge of AIDS is high among all groups and, as hypothesized, distinguishing audiences according to personal and impersonal levels of problem recognition, involvement and constraint recognition provides a useful extension of James Grunig's situational theory. The addition of valence of support as a predictor is also found to enhance the use of the situational variables in identifying target audiences for communication campaigns.

This experiment revealed that emotional news frames (anger-inducing vs. sadness-inducing) affect people's emotional response to a corporate crisis such as a cell phone battery explosion accident. The distinct emotions induced by different news frames influenced individuals' information processing (i.e., heuristic vs. systematic processing) and the evaluation of the company differently. Participants exposed to anger-inducing crisis news read the news less closely and had more negative attitudes toward the company than those exposed to sadness-inducing news. Also, emotional frames affected how individuals perceived the different types of corporate responses (relief-focused message vs. punishment-focused message; emotional appeal vs. no emotional appeal). The advantage of emotional appeals was found contingent on how the crisis was previously framed by the media. Findings demonstrate a potential for developing effective corporate response strategies in a given crisis situation, considering the type of crisis, how it has been framed by the media, the publics' emotional responses, and the use of emotional appeals.

A Web survey of 641 public relations practitioners and journalists showed that the source-reporter relationship is conflictual, involving stratagems on both sides. Coorientational analysis simultaneously showed the "mixed views" of the two professions on two dimensions of "conflict" and "strategy." Both professions disagreed and inaccurately predicted responses of the other. Their inaccurate projection about the views of the other profession was greater than their disagreement, resulting in false dissensus. Nevertheless, the perceived conflict between the two professions appeared to be a strategic choice. Practitioners have a tendency to be accommodative or cooperative, whereas journalists are oriented to conflict as part of their strategic approach to dealing with sources.

A total of 225 public relations practitioners and journalists in South Korea were surveyed regarding eleven types of offline source-reporter interaction (i.e., telephone contact, fax/mail/wire/courier press releases, interviews, press conferences, private meetings, etc.), and nine types of online source-reporter interaction (i.e., e-mail news releases, multimedia press kits, streaming audio/video clips, organizational homepages, Web site pressrooms, online discussion group/forum, etc.). In all types of source-reporter relationships, both parties disagree and inaccurately predict the other's view. However, respondents expect that online media relations offer promise, with both groups predicting less conflict in online source-reporter relationships.

The contingency theory of accommodation in public relations posits that public relations practice moves on a continuum from total client or employer advocacy to total accommodation of a public. A survey of ninety-one top public relations practitioners was used to quantify contingency theory by constructing scales of five theoretical constructs: external threats, external public characteristics, organizational characteristics, public relations department characteristics, and dominant coalition characteristics. While the default response of practitioners was that bridge building is the best public relations practice, specific contingencies were found to limit bridge building or accommodation. Practitioners cited fear of legitimizing activist claims, credibility and commitment of an external public, and the place of public relations in the dominant coalition as contingencies impacting dialogue with contending publics.