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Purpose The dissemination of fake news has accelerated with social media and this has important implications for both organizations and their stakeholders alike. Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the effectiveness of the crisis response strategies of denial and attack in addressing rumors about consumer privacy when non-profit organizations are targeted on social media. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, a 2 (response type: denial vs attack) × 2 (privacy concerns: low vs high), between-group online experiment was conducted via Qualtrics. Findings The results indicated that one’s involvement level in the issue determines the effectiveness of the crisis response strategy. Data showed that attacking the source of fake news (as a crisis response) reduces the message’s credibility more than denying fake news. Furthermore, highly involved individuals are more likely to centrally process information and develop positive supportive intentions toward the affected non-profit brand. High issue involvement also predicted organizational and response credibility. Conversely, an attack rebuttal message increased the credibility of the circulated malicious rumors for low involved individuals. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that issue involvement plays a key role in message perceptions of false information regarding consumer privacy in social media. Practical implications Practically, this study offers insights for organizations that are developing response strategies in the current environment of fake news. Findings from this study suggest that organizations need to consider the degree to which audiences are currently involved in an issue before deciding how aggressively to respond to perpetrators of fake news. Originality/value The present study examines the intersection of fake news and crisis management in the non-profit sector, with an emphasis on various response strategies and issue involvement. This is one of the first attempts to experimentally investigate how social media strategies can defend and protect non-profit reputation in the fake news era.

PurposeSponsored social media content is one of the advertising strategies that companies implement so that ads appear as native to the delivery platform without making consumers feel that they are directly targeted. Hence, the current study examines whether prominently featuring corporate information on social media ads affects how consumers perceive them. It also investigates whether an ad's evaluation metrics on Twitter (e.g. number of likes/comments) influence its persuasiveness and consumers' behavioral intentions towards the sponsoring company. Underlying cognitive and affective mechanisms through which sponsored content operates are also investigated.Design/methodology/approachA 2 (corporate credibility: low vs high) by 2 (bandwagon cues: low vs high) between-subjects experiment was conducted.FindingsThe findings showed that corporate credibility and bandwagon cues can influence social media ad effectiveness. Sponsored content from high-credibility companies – evoked more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions – is perceived as less intrusive, and elicits less anger than equivalent posts from low-credibility companies. Furthermore, it was found that bandwagon cues work via different pathways. For high-credibility corporations, a high number of bandwagon cues improved ad persuasiveness by mitigating consumers' anger towards intrusive sponsored content. Conversely, for low-credibility corporations high bandwagon cues enhanced ad persuasiveness, and this triggered more positive attitudes towards it.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to test corporate credibility and bandwagon effects in social media ads, while also exploring consumers' cognitive and affective responses to sponsored content. Implications for how companies with varying popularity levels should promote products on social media are discussed.

PurposeWhile research has shown that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can enhance a company's reputation, less is known about the effects of CSR communication on nonprofits. Hence, the current study seeks to understand how corporate reputation, message credibility and message source may impact consumers' attitudinal and behavioral intentions toward nonprofits.Design/methodology/approachA 2 (corporate reputation: low vs high) × 2 (CSR communication source: newspaper blog vs nonprofit blog) between-subjects online experiment was conducted. Real-world corporations (Toyota and Volkswagen) and a nonprofit (World Wildlife Fund) were chosen based on a pretest.FindingsNonprofit reputation increased after reading a CSR message, especially when it involved a partnership with a low-reputation corporation. Nevertheless, CSR partnerships with high-reputation corporations evoked higher volunteer intentions. Message credibility mediated the relationship between corporate reputation and nonprofit reputation. When the communication source was the nonprofit and the partnership involved a high-reputation corporation, positive evaluations of nonprofit likeability and competence resulted.Practical implicationsNonprofit communication managers should understand the merit of communicating CSR partnerships with their constituents, regardless of medium. Additionally, the choice of a corporate partner is important for certain nonprofit outcomes. Lastly, message credibility is another important factor that should be considered.Originality/valueThe study bridges literature in communications that typically examines CSR by focusing on its effects on corporate outcomes with literature in nonprofit management that looks at nonprofit outcome measures. This study demonstrated that nonprofit–corporate alliances can also influence nonprofit reputation and donation/volunteer intentions based on the reputation of the corporate partner.

PurposeAs companies continue to engage in CSA, they continue to struggle with determining what issues they should speak out about and how they can create compelling messages that inspire action. Guided by arguments from issue ownership theory, this study examines CSA message content effects related to two different social-political issues on advocacy behavioral intentions, megaphoning, brand preference and purchase intention. Specifically, the level of advocacy in a CSA message is examined, as well as the manner in which the message is written (narrative vs informational). Furthermore, this study examines the role of perceived authenticity and its impact on an individual’s supportive intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducts a 2 (issue: abortion rights vs gun violence) × 2 (level of advocacy: call-to-action (CTA) vs no call-to-action) × 2 (message type: narrative vs informational) between-subjects online experiment using a Qualtrics panel (N = 529) to examine the impact of CSA message features on individuals’ supportive intentions toward the brand.FindingsResults indicate a significant interaction effect of issue by advocacy level on advocating behavioral intentions, megaphoning, brand preference and purchase intention, highlighting that companies should advocate more explicitly about some issues than others. The interaction effects of issue type × level of advocacy were completely and significantly mediated by perceived authenticity. Mediation paths revealed that a CTA with the gun violence issue had a significant positive effect on perceived authenticity, whereas a CTA with the abortion rights issue produced a significant negative effect on perceived authenticity.Originality/valueThis study makes a contribution to a growing body of CSA literature through its examination of CSA message content, which has been understudied in this context. The study findings reveal new insights regarding the interplay between issue type and level of advocacy, highlighting the importance of companies selecting issues carefully and tailoring message content appropriately to have the most impact on message receivers.

Grounded in multidisciplinary literature from public relations, sport communication, and marketing, this study examined consumer reactions to sustainability initiatives launched by major sports leagues. Through an online survey (N = 254), the results showed that sports league-cause fit resulted in more positive organization–public relationships (OPRs) such as through trust, commitment, satisfaction, and control mutuality. Further, the findings revealed that a closer geographic proximity of the sustainability initiative and an increased perceived impact (donation amount and number of beneficiaries affected) triggered higher perceptions of trust, organizational authenticity, and fandom toward the sponsoring sports league. Interestingly, a significant two-way interaction between spatial proximity and impact suggested that lower perceptions of the impact of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) program evoked more positive attitudes when involving local beneficiaries, whereas higher perceptions of impact improved organizational attitudes when the beneficiaries were located faraway. Lastly, the findings indicated that the OPR variables, especially trust, as well as fandom, and organizational authenticity elicited higher supportive intentions (e.g., support CSR cause, donate, volunteer, share on social media) toward the sports league. Theoretical implications for fit, construal level theory, and CSR impact as well as implications for sport communication practitioners are discussed.

Designing effective health campaigns that can break through the clutter is critical. In today’s media saturated environment, the pervasiveness of the Internet, coupled with the increasing role of social media, is changing how people find, evaluate, and process information. Previous studies have examined the effects of narratives in health campaigns in light of their ability to implicitly affect the message recipient’s cognitive and affective reactions by conveying the real life experiences of an actual person. In addition, an extensive body of research has investigated the role of framing in health communication and has suggested that different health frames (gain vs. loss) have distinct effects for different types of health behaviors (prevention, detection, and cessation). Yet, health frames have been primarily examined in the context of traditional media such as print-based or videos. Finding effective ways to deliver health information is a challenge for health communicators since people are less motivated to exert cognitive effort during information processing due to the sheer amount of available information. Thus, employing powerful visuals has become essential in order to captivate people’s attention and make them more attentive to the advocated message. An important stream of research has investigated independently the role of visuals, framing, and narratives. Yet, there is paucity of research examining their combined effects in health messages. This dissertation seeks to address this gap by examining jointly the effects of narratives, frames, and visuals in promoting health messages. An online 2 (message type: narrative vs. informational) x 2 (health frames: gained-framed vs. loss-framed) x 2 (presentation format: visual vs. non visual) between-participants factorial experiment was conducted. Message type was operationalized by presenting health information in a narrative or factual fashion. Narratives conveyed health-related information through the eyes of the story’s protagonist, whereas informational messages included generic and statistical information relevant to the featured health issue, notably, sun protection and skin cancer. Message frames were operationalized in terms of gain- or loss-framed messages. A gain-framed message emphasized the advantages of performing the advocated health behavior, whereas the loss-framed message focused on the disadvantages stemming from failing to adopt the promoted health behavior. Presentation format was operationalized by presenting textual information independently or along with images that were in concert with the information included in the message. Participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and were randomly assigned to one of the eight experimental conditions. After reading the health message, they were asked to answer questions about their attitudes toward the message and issue and to indicate their behavioral intentions both offline and online. In short, the findings showed that health narratives are overall more persuasive than informational messages. Participants who received information in a narrative format developed more positive attitudes about sun-protection behaviors and showed heightened behavioral intentions. The study also revealed several intriguing patterns in regards to the role of frames when applied in the context of narrative health messages. Compared to gain-framed narratives, it was found that loss-framed narratives led to more favorable attitudes toward sun protection as well as increased behavioral and sun protection compliance intentions. Conversely, participants reading gain-framed informational messages produced more positive attitudes toward the message than those who were exposed to gain-framed narratives. The mediation analyses showed that empathic identification with the character in a health story was a significant predictor on the outcome variables. Surprisingly, the findings revealed that visuals did not affect how participants evaluated the advocated health behavior. By empirically examining the combined effects of those three variables, the findings of this study provide useful insights for health communicators and practitioners in the fields of advertising and public relations by proposing effective ways of delivering health information. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

'Three strikes' laws, currently being used in 26 states, came as a response to public outrage over a string of kidnappings and murders by paroled repeat offenders in Washington State in 1993.

A report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released Tuesday said that the present unfavorable investment climate in Iran could curtail the country's oil output by 15 percent, a decrease of 500,000 barrels per day from 3.55 million last year..

Iranian officials sit down Saturday with negotiators from six nations to try to iron out the ongoing international dispute over Iran's nuclear activities.