Quisto Settle

Ask the Audience: Determining Organizational Identity of a State Extension Agency

This study explored organizational identity of one state extension agency to determine strategies for building future messaging in external branding materials. Thirty-nine focus groups were conducted to assess how internal audiences (employees and board members) perceive, feel, and think about the organization. Two of the 15 major themes found were 1) Extension is a link between the university and the people and 2) Extension provides research-based, credible information. Participants identified strongly with the vision statement and official slogan communicated by leaders prior to the study. The organization should build upon this identity when solidifying a brand image. Previous research indicates Extension should also proceed with caution regarding the themes of providing valuable services and information for low or no cost and not selling anything.

Brand Salience and Brand Differentiation of the Florida Forest Service

This study addressed the themes affecting the brand salience and brand differentiation of the Florida Forest Service (FFS). Six focus groups were conducted at different locations in Florida. FFS suffered from a lack of brand salience and differentiation. Brand salience is the extent to which a brand comes to mind for the public. Brand differentiation is the extent to which a brand separates itself from competitors in the public’s perceptions. Three themes emerged that affected brand salience: the importance of forests, brand identifiers, and external communications. Two themes emerged for affecting brand differentiation: forest and natural resources organizations and communications. The following recommendations were made for public organizations: ensure the organization’s brand is present in the public’s external environment, create salient messages and brand identifiers, test messages and brand identifiers prior to implementation, and consistently use messages and brand identifiers. The following recommendations were made for future research: replicate the research to other settings to address the transferability of the findings, conduct quantitative research to address brand salience and differentiation for public organizations in a generalizable manner, and research perceptions of public organizations’ communications.

Public Knowledge and Trust of Agricultural and Natural Resources Organizations

The public lacks knowledge and connectedness to agriculture and natural resources in the United States, leading to a need for effective communications from agricultural and natural resources organizations. Trust is an integral component of communications, but it is not well understood how the public trusts the various organizations communicating agricultural and natural resources issues. The study evaluated non-profit, forprofit, and governmental organizations. A survey was conducted of a representative sample of the U.S. population to assess the public’s awareness, knowledge, and trust of organizations and their communications. The highest number of respondents was aware and knowledgeable of governmental organizations, except for Extension. Communications from non-profit organizations tended to be trusted the most compared to forprofit organizations and governmental organizations, except for Extension. Respondents’ trust of the nonprofit organizations was typically higher than for-profit organizations and governmental organizations, except for Extension. The relationship between trust of an organization and trust of its communications were statistically significant for all organizations, while relationships between trust of an organization and knowledge of an organization were typically negligible and not statistically significant. For-profit organizations and governmental organizations should work to improve the public’s trust. Extension should seek to improve the public’s awareness and knowledge given the level of trust the knowledgeable respondents had for the organization. Future research should address what factors are influencing the public’s trust in organizations and organizations’ communications.

The Food Factor: Perceptions of the Brand

Mississippi residents were surveyed to determine their perceptions surrounding the The Food Factor brand. The Food Factor is a weekly Extension mass media program that communicates research-based information about food, nutrition, diet, and healthy lifestyles. A researcher-developed survey instrument was used to collect information using Qualtrics. The sample consisted of a representative sample of 404 Mississippi residents over the age of 18. Nonprobability quota sampling was used to examine population segments related to sex, Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic populations, and other racial demographic segments. The respondents were asked about their use and awareness of The Food Factor, where they were split into viewer and non-viewer categories. Viewers were asked about their viewing frequency, perceptions and skills learned related to watching The Food Factor, and their nutrition-related behaviors. Non-viewers were also asked about their perceptions of The Food Factor between branded and non-branded The Food Factor episodes. This study found the The Food Factor brand lacked brand recognition and recall. However, the respondents had a slightly positive perception of the brand. Overall, this study could not conclude that branding of the episodes was making a difference in non-viewers’ perceptions, despite the fact that many previous studies have identified branding as an important strategy in social marketing. Recommendations include a consistent and increased use of the brand, such as subtitles or logos, and future research on the use of branding in social marketing program, social marketing in Extension, and the role of branding in mass media programs.

Assessing the Content of Online Agricultural Awareness Campaigns

This study explored the content of online agricultural awareness webpages. Content analysis was used to determine the content, image categories, messaging appeals, and frames used. The majority of the pages included images and logos, but they were less likely to include other media components, such as social media plugins. The most prevalent image types were non-farming adults, positive food products, fields, and freeroaming animals, though they were included in less than one-third of the pages. The use of non-farming adult images is likely connecting to a consumer audience, while the images of positive food products, fields, and free-roaming animals are likely providing contextual, cultural, or direct meaning to the viewers. Logical appeals were more prevalent than emotional appeals. The primary use of logical appeals could be limiting webpage effectiveness because emotional appeals are known to create stronger connections with audiences and be remembered. The most prevalent frames were agricultural education and economic. Previous literature indicates that education-only communication is traditionally less effective as consumers consider more than facts when making decisions. It is recommended that agricultural communicators pre-test webpages with target audiences prior to launch, utilize webpage planning to better reach target audiences, and conduct formative evaluations of webpages to assess effectiveness and make any needed adjustments. Additionally, it is recommended that agricultural communicators incorporate more emotional appeals into their communication messages. Future research should continue to assess online agricultural awareness information as well as the impact the information has on a consumer audience.

Managing Extension’s Internal Brand: Employees’ Perceptions of the Functions and Descriptors of Extension

Employees of UF/IFAS Extension were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the brand’s core identity. More specifically, they evaluated the importance of various functions the organization provides and the effectiveness of various terms for describing Extension work. Respondents included county faculty, county non-faculty, state faculty, and state non-faculty to gain perspectives of groups representing Extension’s brand in Florida. Results indicated employees perceived the core functions were providing research-based information, helping solve problems, providing training for clientele, and providing expertise. Education, training, and providing solutions were perceived to be the most effective terms for describing Extension work to the public. Given that these terms are viewed as most effective internally, these terms should also be used in external communications to provide consistency. “Extension” as a term was not viewed as particularly effective for representing to the public what Extension does. When comparing groups of Extension personnel, there were statistically significant differences, indicating Extension lacks a shared identity across the organization, which could be harmful. State-level faculty, in particular, had less positive viewpoints compared to other respondent groups. It was recommended that interactions be increased between state-level and county-level employees to help mitigate potential issues that would arise because of the organization being geographically distributed in the state and to help build shared identity. Future research was recommended to address the public’s views of functions and descriptors of Extension,

Viewer Perceptions and Preferences for Farmweek

A survey was conducted to determine how frequently viewers watched Farmweek and to determine what their perceptions were through the lens of Uses and Gratifications. Farmweek is a weekly 30-minute news broadcast produced by Mississippi State University Extension Service. Respondents were asked about what audiences they believed the show appealed to, what decisions they have made based on viewing the show, and what topics they wanted to see on the show in the future. Almost 40% of respondents viewed the show weekly. They believed the show presented a positive view of the state and its residents, but responses were not strong for the program appealing to all residents. Respondents reported landscaping and gardening decisions were the most likely to have been influenced by watching the show. The highest number of respondents wanted to see home and garden tips in the future, followed by livestock and animal health practices. Viewing frequency had a statistically significant relationship with respondents’ perceptions related to appeals of the show. However, viewing frequency had fewer statistically significant relationships with the types of decisions respondents made based on viewing the show and their preference for future topics. Future research was recommended to broaden the scope of this line of research to other states and other types of media produced by Extension in the country. It was also recommended to research why nonviewers did not watch Farmweek.

Exploratory writing in student learning

Exploratory writing learning activities were developed to prepare for a final group presentation project in a course about social, psychological, and cultural aspects of dress in the fall of 2014, at a university in the southern United States. The purposes of this study were (1) to develop learning activities to incorporate exploratory writing on social, psychological, and cultural aspects of clothing class and (2) to analyse student learning based on the newly developed learning activities. Over a two-week span for the exploratory writing assignments, each individual student completed two short reading reflection assignments and two assignments that incorporated a short writing and a visual image. Groups of three or four students prepared 8-minute final group presentations. Utilising constant comparative analysis of students’ reflective essays regarding exploratory writing activities for their final group presentation project, this research analysed the student learning process when exploratory writings were incorporated into their curriculum. The results showed the exploratory writing process helped students by increasing their learning through integrating affective and cognitive dimensions of their thinking to a subject matter.

The Impact of Being a Public Organization on the Public's Perceptions of the Florida Forest Service's Brand

The purpose of this study was to address how being a public organization affected the public’s perceptions of the Florida Forest Service’s brand. Focus groups were conducted at different sites across the state with rural and urban residents. The major findings were that the public expected the brand of a public organization to be financially responsible (e.g., justify the purpose of the organization, avoid duplication between public organizations, communicating with the public without wasting money, and generating revenue), provide something valuable to individuals or the public at large (e.g., protecting forests, control through regulations, and aid, such as providing information), and to operate with integrity (e.g., being financially responsibly, communicating clearly with the public, and the organization being fair in balancing public and private interests). This research addresses a gap in research regarding the branding of public organizations. Because the study is limited by being a qualitative study addressing one organization in one state, future research should be conducted to address the transferability of the findings to other settings. This research furthers efforts to foster relationships between public organizations and members of the public by providing guidance for the improvement of the brands of public organizations. In the face of increased scrutiny of and competition between public organizations, the findings of this study can be used to help improve the public’s perceptions of public organizations.

Internal Communication and Morale in a Natural Resources Public Organization

This research examined perceptions of employees of a natural resources public organization. The employees had positive perceptions of the organization and the importance of internal communications, but evaluations were not high for morale, awareness of issues in the organization, and internal communications effectiveness and consistency. There were positive correlations between the constructs related to internal communications and the constructs related to morale. It was recommended that an organizational structure that fosters positive internal communications be promoted. It was also recommended that promoting informal relationships between organizational units to improve communications. For research, it was recommended that the link between internal communications and organizational climate continue to be studied to unravel the relationship between the constructs. Interventions to improve internal communications of intact groups and organizations should occur. Research should also address how being a public organization affects the ability to foster positive internal communications and organizational climate.