Susan L. Kline

Corporate Social Responsibility Practices, Corporate Identity, and Purchase Intention: A Dual-Process Model

The relationships among corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, corporate identity, and purchase intention were evaluated for 4 corporations: Microsoft, Nike, Philip Morris, and Wendys. Discretionary CSR practices and moral/ethical CSR practices emerged as significant predictors of the corporate social values dimension of identity. Relational CSR practices, however, contributed mainly to the expertise dimension of corporate identity. Also, familiarity with CSR practices of a corporation had a significant effect on corporate identity, which in turn affected purchase intention. For 2 of the 4 companies, Nike and Wendys, both corporate expertise and corporate social values were significant predictors of purchase intention. For Microsoft, only the expertise dimension was predictive of purchase intention, whereas for Philip Morris, only the corporate social values dimension was a significant predictor of purchase intention. The results are interpreted within a dual-process model of corporate identity.

The development of persuasive communication strategies in kindergarteners through twelfth‐graders

Previous research has documented age‐related developments in the differentiation and abstractness of the system of interpersonal constructs employed in perceiving persons and the relationship of such developments to qualitative changes in persuasive strategies. This study extended the analysis of the interrelations among these developments within a broad age range. In addition to other findings, the quality of persuasive strategies was demonstrated to be strongly related to developments in differententiation in early childhood and to abstractness in later childhood and adolescence.

Home E-Mail : Relational Maintenance and Gratification Opportunities

This study explored the household use of electronic mail. In a telephone probability sample of 881 adults, 112 adults reported they used electronic mail. This sample provided four superordinate reasons for home e‐mail use: interpersonal relationships; personal gain; business; and gratification opportunities. Overwhelmingly, home e‐mail was reported to be used for interpersonal relationship reasons regardless of user demographics. The findings suggest that e‐mail is used for the maintenance of interpersonal relationships and that gratification opportunities play an important role in home e‐mail use.

Married Individuals, Cohabiters, and Cohabiters Who Marry: A Longitudinal Study of Relational and Individual Well-Being

Given that many cohabiting couples marry, our interest was in the changes that may accompany this shift in terms of relational and individual well-being. In addition, a comparison among three relationship groups was undertaken: those who entered directly into marriage, those who cohabitated and then married, and those who are long-term cohabiters. Also, comparisons across time were conducted. Our data were drawn from the 1987–1988 and 1992–1994 National Survey of Families and Households. A sub-sample of the data was utilized to create the three groups matched on multiple demographic variables. The shift to marriage was not accompanied by significant changes in any of the constructs of interest. Differences among the groups were consistent with previous research. The major findings indicated a significant effect for time, regardless of relationship group. Companionship, sexual interaction, relational satisfaction, and commitment decreased across time. The frequency of conflict and arguing heatedly increased, while remaining calm and keeping opinions to one’s self decreased.

Habermas’ theory of communication: A critical explication

The theory of communication proposed by German philosopher Jurgen Habermas has important implications for argumentation scholars, contemporary rhetorical theorists, and students of human interaction processes. This essay explicates and evaluates essential features of Habermas’ theory and indicates ties among Habermas’ concepts and the work of several speech communication scholars.

Communicative Correlates of Peer Acceptance in Childhood.

Although many studies have found several distinct types of communication skills associated with peer acceptance, few studies have included assessments of multiple communication skills in the effort to determine which skill or set of skills is most related to peer status. Significant associations between different types of comunication skill suggest that some of the reported relationships between peer acceptance and specific communication skills may be spurious. Consequently, the present research sought to determine which of several distinct communication skills is most related to peer status. Participants were 73 first‐ and third‐grade children. Groups of rejected, neglected, and accepted children were created on the basis of positive and negative peer nominations. Participants completed a persuasion task, a comforting task, a listener adaptation task, and three referential communication tasks. Accepted children performed significantly better on the comforting task and one of the referential tasks, and ma...

On the art of saying no: The influence of social cognitive development on messages of refusal

In an effort to add to the scant research literature on refusal skills, this study (a) offers a constructivist theoretical framework for conceptualizing refusal messages, and (b) assesses the framework by examining the relationship of social cognitive development to measures of refusal sensitivity. Measures of interpersonal construct differentiation and responses to a refusal task were obtained from 320 undergraduates. A nine‐level coding hierarchy for measuring message‐focused refusals was devised, and a separate study (N = 68) confirmed that messages at the major levels of the coding hierarchy are perceived to be progressively more sensitive and effective. The primary study then found that persons with highly differentiated interpersonal construct systems are more likely to use more refusal strategies and to construct more sensitive refusal messages than their counterparts. Subjects’ choices to refuse or comply with the request did not differ as a function of construct differentiation. The ability to di...

The Use of Equivocal Messages in Responding to Corporate Challenges

A framework is constructed to examine communication professionals’ views regarding the use of equivocal and nonequivocal messages for managing initial statements about corporate challenges. As predicted, equivocal responses were viewed as more appropriate to use and linked to a positive corporate reputation when the crisis situation contained avoidance–avoidance goal conflicts, whereas nonequivocal responses were viewed as more appropriate and linked to a positive corporate reputation when the crisis situation did not contain avoidance–avoidance goal conflicts. Communication professionals also judged nonequivocal and equivocal messages to be appropriate and linked to a positive corporate reputation when they believed the specific message would satisfy the multiple goals of the crisis situation. Implications for public relations practice are discussed.

Alternative measures of cognitive complexity as predictors of communication performance

Abstract Two studies were conducted to compare the predictive validity of the two of the most popular measures of cognitive complexity: Bieri et al.s (1966) grid-based measure (elicited and provided versions) and Crocketts (1965) Role Category Questionnaire (RCQ). Two other grid-based measures of construct system quality also were included. Criterion measures included indices of the accommodative, person-centered quality of communication behavior and social reasoning in a variety of contexts. Results of both studies consistently show Crocketts measure to be a significant predictor of all criterion measures. Bieri et al.s measures were generally unrelated, although the elicited construct version performed best as a predictor. The two measures of complexity were essentially unrelated in both studies. Implications of the findings for future use of the RCQ and grid-based measures of complexity are discussed. For those interested in the relation of constructs and communication behavior, the RCQ is recommended.

A comparison of interaction rules and interaction frequency in relationship to marital quality

The purpose of this study is to compare the contributing role of two aspects of social interaction to the quality of marital relationships: the frequency of casual interaction between marital partners versus the quality of social interaction as exhibited by partners’ reliance on universal rules of social interaction. Specifically we examine the relative contribution of frequency of casual interaction and reliance on interaction rules to assessments of marital quality. Findings indicate that although each of these features is associated with trust, liking, satisfaction, and commitment, reliance on basic interaction rules plays the more important role, explaining 51% of the variance in the composite marital quality index.