Sung-Un Yang

An Integrated Model for Organization—Public Relational Outcomes, Organizational Reputation, and Their Antecedents

This study is to test a theoretical model regarding the effect of organization—public relationships on organizational reputation. Grounded in multidisciplinary literature, this study proposed that organization—public relational outcomes are hypothesized to influence organizational reputation, considering the exogenous influences of communication behaviors, experience, and familiarity that the research participants hold of the organizations studied. The proposed model illustrated tenable data-model fits, and most of the hypotheses were statistically supported. The key finding of the research includes that, across all organizations studied, organization—public relational outcomes were associated positively with favorable reputation of the organizations studied. Limitations and suggestions for the future research were discussed.

The Effects of Blog-Mediated Public Relations (BMPR) on Relational Trust

Key features of blog-mediated public relations are conducive to initiating and nurturing relationships with publics. As a result, blogs have emerged as a new venue for public relations in recent years. Many public relations practitioners have come to realize that blogging is not just a fad and have recognized a growing trend of blogging adoption in the industry—suggesting a need for common principles of successful public relations blogging practices. This study selected the following critical features of effective blog-mediated public relations: salience of narrative structure, dialogical self, blogger credibility, and interactivity. Using these concepts, the researchers proposed a theoretical model in explaining relational trust as a central outcome of effective blog-mediated public relations. Findings showed that dialogical self in blog posts enhanced interactivity, which, in turn, led to an increase in relational trust. Additionally, this study found that blogger credibility played a positive role in relational trust.

Effects of Narratives, Openness to Dialogic Communication, and Credibility on Engagement in Crisis Communication Through Organizational Blogs:

This study focused on individual interpretation of crisis communication messages and aimed to examine which forms of crisis narratives can enhance audience engagement in crisis communication such as reduction of negative emotions. An experimental study was conducted, simulating audience experience with blog posts written for crisis communication. Data suggest that the openness to dialogic communication is essential to creating and enhancing audience engagement in crisis communication, which, in turn, leads to positive postcrisis perceptions. Among several dimensions of audience engagement, reduction of negative emotions was a critical mediator that connected the impact of openness to dialogic communication with positive postcrisis perceptions.

Public Engagement in Supportive Communication Behaviors toward an Organization: Effects of Relational Satisfaction and Organizational Reputation in Public Relations Management

Over the years, the understanding of the link between organization–public relationships and reputation constructs and their attitudinal and behavioral outcomes has advanced considerably. The Excellence Study (L. Grunig, J. Grunig, & Dozier, 2002) suggested that positive relationships built and maintained between organizations and publics can encourage publics to engage in supportive behaviors toward organizations. In support of this argument, Ki and Hon (2007b) empirically demonstrated the link between organization–public relationships and a public’s supportive attitude and behavioral intentions toward an organization. Their findings show that among the four relationship indicators—control mutuality, trust, satisfaction, and commitment—relational satisfaction a public has with the

A Study on Dialogic Communication, Trust, and Distrust: Testing a Scale for Measuring Organization–Public Dialogic Communication (OPDC)

Although there is a wide range of discussion on dialogic communication, or dialogue, in the field of public relations, little research has dealt with the empirical measurement of organization–public dialogue. The primary purpose of this study was to test the proposed scale for measuring organization–public dialogic communication (OPDC). Additionally, this study aimed to demonstrate the link between dialogic communication and trust/distrust between organizations studied and their publics. For the research purpose, two anonymous online surveys were used to collect the data. The participants were American consumers randomly selected from a representative research panel of online survey participants (N = 704). According to the results, the proposed 2-factor, 28-item scale of OPDC was valid and reliable. Also, for further empirical validation, this study found that the proposed scale of OPDC is significantly related to public trust and distrust. Given the scarcity of the empirical research on OPDC, the results of this study can contribute to further research in communication management.

Diplomat in Chief? Assessing the Influence of Presidential Evaluations on Public Diplomacy Outcomes Among Foreign Publics

The current study builds on previous knowledge of international public opinion by examining the role that the evaluation of a nation’s leader may have on evaluations of the nation by a foreign public. More specifically, the study examines the impact of the so-called Obama effect on attitudes toward the United States in the nation of Pakistan. The study analyzed a large subset of data (N = 1,254) from the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. The results of the analysis point to significant relationships among confidence in Obama’s leadership, approval of Obama’s foreign policies, U.S.–Pakistan relations, and favorability toward the United States. The study discusses the theoretical implications of the findings along with the contextual implications on U.S. public diplomacy.

“Will You Join Us?” Use of the Partake-in-Our-Cause (PIOC) Message in Light of Negative News

This study examines the effects of a partake-in-our-cause (PIOC) message in CSR communication on reducing negative evaluations for a company experiencing negative news. In Experiment 1, we tested the effects of PIOC on individuals’ attention to the message, cognitive responses, and company evaluations. Results show that participants exposed to a PIOC message demonstrate fewer negative company-related thoughts and more positive company evaluations than participants exposed to a non-PIOC message. Experiment 2 was conducted to corroborate the results in an international setting and in comparison with the deliberate silence strategy. Results show that a PIOC message condition induced more positive company evaluations, while also reducing negative cognitive responses relative to a non-PIOC message and a nonresponse condition.

Developing public’s information transmitting behavior (ITB) model in public relations: A cross-national study

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to develop a multidimensional model of publics’ information transmitting behavior. Relevant literature in public relations, public communication, marketing communication, and interpersonal communication were reviewed. We composed a 6-dimensional public’s information transmitting behavior (ITB) model according to the three criteria—activeness, valence, and expressivity. The six dimensions were as follows: positive-proactive megaphoning, positive-reactive megaphoning, negative-proactive megaphoning, negative-reactive megaphoning, avoiding, and no-commenting. A series of surveys was conducted both in Korea (N = 500) and the United States (N = 500) for the development of the model. The results indicated that the 18-item ITB model was significantly reliable and valid, as we expected. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Effects of Government Dialogic Competency: The MERS Outbreak and Implications for Public Health Crises and Political Legitimacy

During the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, South Korean citizens blamed the government for the lack of dialogue between the government and its publics, low credibility of risk information, and prevalent rumors reported in media. The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to examine the role of government dialogic competency and credibility of risk information in negative government–public relationship outcomes and (b) to examine the effects of negative government–public relationship outcomes. The findings of an online survey support the proposed hypotheses, linking the theories of dialogic communication and relationship management in public relations.