Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-04-29DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102580
Nadine Strauß , Denis Šimunović
This paper introduces a conceptual model for effectively communicating net-zero strategies in response to the urgent challenges of climate change. By recognizing the historical influence of public relations in environmentalism, this study addresses a critical gap in research related to PR and strategic communication and its role in achieving carbon neutrality. The proposed model synthesizes current discussions on net-zero implementation (alignment, standard setting, actions, and advocacy) with complementary CSR and PR theories. The model thus offers a comprehensive approach outlining communicative challenges, theoretical foundations, and practical recommendations for effective net-zero communication. Furthermore, the paper identifies future research directions to deepen the understanding of PR's contribution to corporate net-zero initiatives. This approach thereby provides PR researchers and professionals with a theoretically informed foundation for employing PR and strategic communication to address the critical challenge of carbon neutrality effectively.
{"title":"Communicating net-zero: A conceptual model for effective strategic communications","authors":"Nadine Strauß , Denis Šimunović","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102580","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102580","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper introduces a conceptual model for effectively communicating net-zero strategies in response to the urgent challenges of climate change. By recognizing the historical influence of public relations in environmentalism, this study addresses a critical gap in research related to PR and strategic communication and its role in achieving carbon neutrality. The proposed model synthesizes current discussions on net-zero implementation (<em>alignment, standard setting, actions, and advocacy</em>) with complementary CSR and PR theories. The model thus offers a comprehensive approach outlining <em>communicative challenges, theoretical foundations, and practical recommendations</em> for effective net-zero communication. Furthermore, the paper identifies future research directions to deepen the understanding of PR's contribution to corporate net-zero initiatives. This approach thereby provides PR researchers and professionals with a theoretically informed foundation for employing PR and strategic communication to address the critical challenge of carbon neutrality effectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 3","pages":"Article 102580"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143881292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-04-17DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102583
Yeunjae Lee , Weiting Tao , Jo-Yun Li , Dalee Yoon
Although businesses are increasingly adopting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, the role of employees’ proactive and voluntary actions that contribute to organizational diversity and justice remains unexplored. The current study aims to examine how employees’ engagement with diversity—their active behaviors in support of a diverse and inclusive work environment—can be encouraged by organizations’ strategic internal communication, both at a corporate level and a supervisory level. The results of an online survey with full-time employees in the United States suggested that diversity-oriented leadership and dialogic internal communication cultivate a quality employee–organization relationship and clarify employees’ role as workplace diversity contributors, which in turn increases their diversity engagement. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings for public relations and internal communication are discussed.
{"title":"Drivers of employee engagement with organizational diversity: The power of strategic internal communication","authors":"Yeunjae Lee , Weiting Tao , Jo-Yun Li , Dalee Yoon","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102583","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102583","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although businesses are increasingly adopting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, the role of employees’ proactive and voluntary actions that contribute to organizational diversity and justice remains unexplored. The current study aims to examine how employees’ engagement with diversity—their active behaviors in support of a diverse and inclusive work environment—can be encouraged by organizations’ strategic internal communication, both at a corporate level and a supervisory level. The results of an online survey with full-time employees in the United States suggested that diversity-oriented leadership and dialogic internal communication cultivate a quality employee–organization relationship and clarify employees’ role as workplace diversity contributors, which in turn increases their diversity engagement. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings for public relations and internal communication are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 3","pages":"Article 102583"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143842698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-04-23DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102579
Difan Guo , Runze Qu , Yijing Wang , Jinghong Xu
This study aims to analyse how Chinese government agencies utilize social media to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guided by public communication concepts and framing theory, we distil the frames and frame functions from 31,453 Weibo posts published by Chinese government agencies through automated content analysis and employ statistical analysis to verify the relationships between the SDGs and frame functions, as well as between frame functions and audience interactions. The findings reveal that Chinese government agencies employ five distinct frame functions in descending order of usage, namely, mobilization, consequence, notification, solution, and attribution, to disseminate information related to the SDGs. Different frame functions for public communication are selected by the government on the basis of the content and focus of various SDGs. Weibo posts that utilize notification, consequence, and mobilization frame functions tend to garner more audience interactions effectively. These results demonstrate the feasibility of public sector mobilization through social media, offering valuable insights for global governments and public sectors on how to use social media to promote the SDGs.
{"title":"Social media and citizen mobilization: How Chinese government agencies use Weibo to advance the 2030 agenda goals on sustainability","authors":"Difan Guo , Runze Qu , Yijing Wang , Jinghong Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102579","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102579","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to analyse how Chinese government agencies utilize social media to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guided by public communication concepts and framing theory, we distil the frames and frame functions from 31,453 Weibo posts published by Chinese government agencies through automated content analysis and employ statistical analysis to verify the relationships between the SDGs and frame functions, as well as between frame functions and audience interactions. The findings reveal that Chinese government agencies employ five distinct frame functions in descending order of usage, namely, mobilization, consequence, notification, solution, and attribution, to disseminate information related to the SDGs. Different frame functions for public communication are selected by the government on the basis of the content and focus of various SDGs. Weibo posts that utilize notification, consequence, and mobilization frame functions tend to garner more audience interactions effectively. These results demonstrate the feasibility of public sector mobilization through social media, offering valuable insights for global governments and public sectors on how to use social media to promote the SDGs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 3","pages":"Article 102579"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143865139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-28DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102557
Emma Christensen , Rickard Andersson
Public relations professionals’ use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tripled during 2023. Despite this surge, there is a notable lack of in-field studies examining GenAI and other CommTech implementation in public relations. To address this research gap, we adopt the view of the digital transformation of public relations as a socio-technical change process and explore how a communication department in a large Danish municipality approached the implementation of AI, drawing upon the socio-technical system view of technology implementation (STS) as our analytic lens. Instead of hasty implementation, the department spent one year on a learning process, providing them with the knowledge and skills needed to secure a sound and sustainable implementation. We contribute to the emerging literature on CommTech, AI, and AI implementation in public relations by highlighting the importance of thoroughly exploring and evaluating GenAI prior to implementation and actively involving co-workers in organizing and executing such projects. To encapsulate our findings, we introduce the concept and practice of Slow Implementation, emphasizing the importance of dedicating time to the implementation phase.
{"title":"To hasten slowly: The prudence of slow AI implementation in public relations","authors":"Emma Christensen , Rickard Andersson","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102557","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102557","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Public relations professionals’ use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tripled during 2023. Despite this surge, there is a notable lack of in-field studies examining GenAI and other CommTech implementation in public relations. To address this research gap, we adopt the view of the digital transformation of public relations as a socio-technical change process and explore how a communication department in a large Danish municipality approached the implementation of AI, drawing upon the socio-technical system view of technology implementation (STS) as our analytic lens. Instead of hasty implementation, the department spent one year on a learning process, providing them with the knowledge and skills needed to secure a sound and sustainable implementation. We contribute to the emerging literature on CommTech, AI, and AI implementation in public relations by highlighting the importance of thoroughly exploring and evaluating GenAI prior to implementation and actively involving co-workers in organizing and executing such projects. To encapsulate our findings, we introduce the concept and practice of Slow Implementation, emphasizing the importance of dedicating time to the implementation phase.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102557"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-02-25DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102545
Cassandra L.C. Troy , Nicholas Eng , Holly Overton
The public increasingly expects companies to speak out and act in relation to serious societal issues and corporate involvement is necessary to accomplish the SDGs. At the same time, scholars have noted a tendency toward symbolic (i.e., not supported by evidence or organizational change) corporate support for the SDGs. Guided by legitimacy theory, we used an online experiment to understand how symbolic and substantive corporate social responsibility and corporate social advocacy messaging related to SDG 3 and SDG 13 affected consumer perceptions and behavior intentions. Altogether, participants reacted favorably and similarly to SDG messaging compared to a control message. However, substantive communication offered advantages in terms of higher ratings of company reputation and lower perceptions of hypocrisy. Meanwhile, CSR messages could be particularly helpful for reducing perceptions of hypocrisy alongside boycott intentions. Finally, perceptions of moral legitimacy, authenticity, and hypocrisy acted as mediators.
{"title":"Corporate support for the sustainable development goals: Effects of symbolic and substantive communication","authors":"Cassandra L.C. Troy , Nicholas Eng , Holly Overton","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102545","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102545","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The public increasingly expects companies to speak out and act in relation to serious societal issues and corporate involvement is necessary to accomplish the SDGs. At the same time, scholars have noted a tendency toward symbolic (i.e., not supported by evidence or organizational change) corporate support for the SDGs. Guided by legitimacy theory, we used an online experiment to understand how symbolic and substantive corporate social responsibility and corporate social advocacy messaging related to SDG 3 and SDG 13 affected consumer perceptions and behavior intentions. Altogether, participants reacted favorably and similarly to SDG messaging compared to a control message. However, substantive communication offered advantages in terms of higher ratings of company reputation and lower perceptions of hypocrisy. Meanwhile, CSR messages could be particularly helpful for reducing perceptions of hypocrisy alongside boycott intentions. Finally, perceptions of moral legitimacy, authenticity, and hypocrisy acted as mediators.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102545"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143479661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102564
Juan Liu, Lingling Zhang
As many corporations show an increasing commitment to a more sustainable behavior by involving in various sustainable issues, news media and public expectations about a corporation’s sustainable management and operation have also increased. Drawing on the concept of perceived authenticity and expectancy violation theory, we conducted two experiments to examine how positive and negative coverage of corporate sustainability in social issues influence attitude toward the company and word of mouth. The results indicate that exposure to positive coverage of corporate sustainability in controversial social issues resulted in a higher level of perceived authenticity through increased valence. The higher level of perceived authenticity then resulted in a favorable attitude and word of mouth. Moreover, this indirect effect varied by individuals’ expectedness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
{"title":"The complicity of corporate sustainability on social issues: Investigating the mediating roles of valence and perceived authenticity","authors":"Juan Liu, Lingling Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As many corporations show an increasing commitment to a more sustainable behavior by involving in various sustainable issues, news media and public expectations about a corporation’s sustainable management and operation have also increased. Drawing on the concept of perceived authenticity and expectancy violation theory, we conducted two experiments to examine how positive and negative coverage of corporate sustainability in social issues influence attitude toward the company and word of mouth. The results indicate that exposure to positive coverage of corporate sustainability in controversial social issues resulted in a higher level of perceived authenticity through increased valence. The higher level of perceived authenticity then resulted in a favorable attitude and word of mouth. Moreover, this indirect effect varied by individuals’ expectedness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102564"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102560
Bill Anderson
This paper presents a historical case study of the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) World War II public relations campaign, using the cultural-economic model of public relations (CEM) to structure the investigation. Through the CEM framework, the study investigates the socio-political and economic climate of the wartime era, the corporate ideology underlying the NAM’s messaging, the national identity it aimed to construct, and the values promoted in its discourse. Employing the discourse-historical approach, this research uncovers how the NAM strategically framed free enterprise as integral to individual liberties to position private business as the true defenders of American values and patriotism. This wartime campaign exemplifies how public relations can intertwine with power, ideology, and discourse, demonstrating the field’s capacity to embed specific values and identities within a broader cultural narrative.
{"title":"The National Association of Manufacturers World War II campaign: A historical case study on power, ideology, and discourse","authors":"Bill Anderson","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a historical case study of the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) World War II public relations campaign, using the cultural-economic model of public relations (CEM) to structure the investigation. Through the CEM framework, the study investigates the socio-political and economic climate of the wartime era, the corporate ideology underlying the NAM’s messaging, the national identity it aimed to construct, and the values promoted in its discourse. Employing the discourse-historical approach, this research uncovers how the NAM strategically framed free enterprise as integral to individual liberties to position private business as the true defenders of American values and patriotism. This wartime campaign exemplifies how public relations can intertwine with power, ideology, and discourse, demonstrating the field’s capacity to embed specific values and identities within a broader cultural narrative.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102560"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-18DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102558
Shanetta M. Pendleton
Corporations frequently use social media platforms to vocalize their social stance as part of their corporate socio-political activism (CSA) initiatives (Parcha & Kingsley-Westerman, 2020). This study employed an electronic experiment using a between-subjects, posttest-only experimental design with a control group to examine the effects of Instagram posts on perceived authenticity of CSA activities. The findings of this study provide further evidence that corporations engaging in CSA can help build and maintain relationships with their external and internal publics (Park & Jiang, 2020). However, these results also provide evidence of how this form of signaling can pose a threat to authenticity, and damage relationships, due to it being seen as performative and inauthentic, especially among individuals who don’t have positive attitudes toward the issue, or CSA in general (Leong, 2021; Gaither, Austin, & Collins, 2018).
{"title":"Friend or faux: Testing the perceived authenticity of corporate socio-political activism messages on Instagram through the lens of Black Lives Matter","authors":"Shanetta M. Pendleton","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corporations frequently use social media platforms to vocalize their social stance as part of their corporate socio-political activism (CSA) initiatives (Parcha & Kingsley-Westerman, 2020). This study employed an electronic experiment using a between-subjects, posttest-only experimental design with a control group to examine the effects of Instagram posts on perceived authenticity of CSA activities. The findings of this study provide further evidence that corporations engaging in CSA can help build and maintain relationships with their external and internal publics (Park & Jiang, 2020). However, these results also provide evidence of how this form of signaling can pose a threat to authenticity, and damage relationships, due to it being seen as performative and inauthentic, especially among individuals who don’t have positive attitudes toward the issue, or CSA in general (Leong, 2021; Gaither, Austin, & Collins, 2018).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102558"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143644347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-10DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102569
Nicholas Browning , Sadia Ehsan Cheema
This study relies on corporate responsibility to race (CRR) as an overarching framework, arguing that organizations have a moral obligation to combat racial injustice. We further contend that organizational advocacy, when strategically managed, offers one means to fulfill this normative obligation, particularly when focusing on activist publics as an audience of primary interest. Relying on an experimental survey design, we investigate various message attributes (rhetoric- vs. action-oriented) and their impact on BLM activism trajectories (conventional vs. high-risk vs. social media activism). Findings indicate the importance of harmonious and obsessive passion among activists in bolstering conventional and high-risk activism, respectively. Moreover, social media activism is shown to influence offline activism, especially among harmoniously passionate activist publics.
{"title":"Engaging in organizational advocacy to fulfill corporate responsibility to race: How passion drives activists’ behavior","authors":"Nicholas Browning , Sadia Ehsan Cheema","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102569","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study relies on corporate responsibility to race (CRR) as an overarching framework, arguing that organizations have a moral obligation to combat racial injustice. We further contend that organizational advocacy, when strategically managed, offers one means to fulfill this normative obligation, particularly when focusing on activist publics as an audience of primary interest. Relying on an experimental survey design, we investigate various message attributes (rhetoric- vs. action-oriented) and their impact on BLM activism trajectories (conventional vs. high-risk vs. social media activism). Findings indicate the importance of harmonious and obsessive passion among activists in bolstering conventional and high-risk activism, respectively. Moreover, social media activism is shown to influence offline activism, especially among harmoniously passionate activist publics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102569"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-10DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102562
Jordan Morehouse , Lucinda L. Austin , Tyler G. Page
People turn to religion during times of crisis; however, our understanding of how religious organizations should respond to crises remains limited. To address gaps in the literature concerning religious crisis communication and advance theorizing on Situational Crisis Communication Theory, this study examined the impact of religious language in SCCT crisis response strategies as well as the influence of stakeholders’ religious identity on trust and support towards the offending organization. Results from an experiment with 660 respondents in the United States suggests that stakeholders’ religious identity, religious language in crisis messages, and utilizing the prescribed SCCT response strategy predicts trust in the offending organization for preventable crises. Additionally, trust acts as a mediator between religious language, religiosity, and message strategy in supportive intentions towards the offending organization. Findings advance crisis communication theorizing regarding the use of identity-activating language in post-crisis responses and its influence on positive outcomes for the organization, and results of this study provide guidance for religious organizations embroiled in preventable crises.
{"title":"Religion in crisis communication: Examining the impact of stakeholder religiosity and religious language in organizational crises","authors":"Jordan Morehouse , Lucinda L. Austin , Tyler G. Page","doi":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102562","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102562","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>People turn to religion during times of crisis; however, our understanding of how religious organizations should respond to crises remains limited. To address gaps in the literature concerning religious crisis communication and advance theorizing on Situational Crisis Communication Theory, this study examined the impact of religious language in SCCT crisis response strategies as well as the influence of stakeholders’ religious identity on trust and support towards the offending organization. Results from an experiment with 660 respondents in the United States suggests that stakeholders’ religious identity, religious language in crisis messages, and utilizing the prescribed SCCT response strategy predicts trust in the offending organization for preventable crises. Additionally, trust acts as a mediator between religious language, religiosity, and message strategy in supportive intentions towards the offending organization. Findings advance crisis communication theorizing regarding the use of identity-activating language in post-crisis responses and its influence on positive outcomes for the organization, and results of this study provide guidance for religious organizations embroiled in preventable crises.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48263,"journal":{"name":"Public Relations Review","volume":"51 2","pages":"Article 102562"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}