Digital Commons Network^™

Measuring Responses To Commercials: A Projective-Elicitation Approach, Lawrence Soley

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Photoelicitation and projective assessment are research methods derived from visual sociology and psychoanalysis respectively. This study combined the methods by having respondents view a commercial, and then showing them one of two versions of a projective drawing showing a lone or a male-accompanied woman sitting on a couch. Respondents were told that the woman in the drawing had just seen the commercial and were asked about what the woman was thinking. The results show that a paper-and-pencil attitude measure correlated moderately with the visually-primed responses, but the visually-primed responses included psychoanalytically-predicted reactions such as denial and displacement and were dependent …

Demagoguery, Democratic Dissent, And "Re-Visioning" Democracy, Steven R. Goldzwig

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Can God And Caesar Coexist? Balancing Religious Freedom And International Law, Steven R. Goldzwig

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Size And Development Of The Shadow Economy: An Empirical Investigation From States Of India, Kausik Chaudhuri, Friedrich Schneider, Sumana Chattopadhyay

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Using the state level data from India, this paper investigates the size of the hidden economy in Indian states over the period 1974/75 to 1995/96. Our analysis has shown that after liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991/92, the growth in the size of the hidden economy has decreased on an average. Our results show that the growth in the size of the hidden economy is approximately 4% less in scheduled election years than in all other years. We also demonstrate that the growth is significantly lower in those states where the coalition government is in power. An increased growth …

WhoʼS Watching Us At Work? Toward A Structural-Perceptual Model Of Electronic Monitoring And Surveillance In Organizations, Scott C. D'Urso

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Nearly 80% of organizations now employ some form of employee surveillance. This significant level of use infers a salient need for additional theory and research into the effects of monitoring and surveillance. Accordingly, this essay examines the panoptic effects of electronic monitoring and surveillance (EM/S) of social communication in the workplace and the underlying structural and perceptual elements that lead to these effects. It also provides future scholarly perspectives for studying EM/S and privacy in the organization from the vantage point of contemporary communication technologies, such as the telephone, voice mail, e-mail, and instant messaging, utilized for organizational communication. Finally, …

Transparency In Communication: An Examination Of Communication Journals’ Conflicts-Of-Interest Policies, Lawrence Soley, Sarah Bonewits Feldner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Increased corporate-sponsored university research and professorial consulting has caused medical, psychological, and other scientific journals to adopt conflicts-of-interest disclosure policies. This study examines editorial policies concerning conflicts of interest at communication journals in the context of Habermas’s theory of communicative action. The results show that communication journals do not have the same mandatory disclosure requirements that journals of other disciplines have. In this regard, communication research journals are similar to the mass media. Consequently, the article suggests that disclosure policies are needed if communication research journals are to function as part of a larger dialogic process. Moreover, communication researchers are …

"Your Life Is Waiting!": Symbolic Meanings In Direct-To-Consumer Antidepressant Advertising, Jean M. Grow, Jin Seong Park, Xiaoqi Han

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This semiotic analysis demonstrates how pharmaceutical companies strategically frame depression within the hotly contested terrain of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. The study tracks regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, relative to DTC advertising, including recent industry codes of conduct. Focusing on the antidepressant category, and its three major brands—Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline), Prozac (Eli Lilly), and Zoloft (Pfizer)—this comparative study analyzes 7 years of print advertising following deregulation in 1997. The authors glean themes from within the advertising texts, across the drug category and within individual-brand campaigns. The findings indicate that DTC advertising of antidepressants frames depression within the biochemical model of causation, privileges …

In Search Of A Corporate Moral Compass, Kati Tusinski Berg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Living Our Mission: A Study Of University Mission Building, Sarah Bonewits Feldner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

At the same time that organizational communication and management scholars are focusing attention on trends of spirituality in the workplace, faith-based organizations are taking up the question of how they might maintain a distinct spiritual identity. For these institutions, communicating mission becomes the defining feature of institutional identity. Explicitly religious organizations provide a venue for understanding the implications of incorporating spirituality in organizational discourse. This empirical study explores a mission-building conference and examines the ways in which communicating a spiritual mission simultaneously enriches and constrains both the individual members and the organizations as a whole.

Reconsidering Public Relations’ Infatuation With Dialogue: Why Engagement And Reconciliation Can Be More Ethical Than Symmetry And Reciprocity, Kevin L. Stoker, Kati Tusinski Berg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Advocates of dialogic communication have promoted two-way symmetrical communication as the most effective and ethical model for public relations. This article uses John Durham Peters’s critique of dialogic communication to reconsider this infatuation with dialogue. In this article, we argue that dialogue’s potential for selectivity and tyranny poses moral problems for public relations. Dialogue’s emphasis on reciprocal communication also saddles public relations with ethically questionable quid pro quo relationships. We contend that dissemination can be more just than dialogue because it demands more integrity of the source and recognizes the freedom and individuality of the source. The type of communication, …

The Demise Of Native American Mascots: It's Time To Do The Right Thing, Joyce M. Wolburg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose – The intent of this article is to show why the use of Native American mascots, logos, and nicknames by sports teams perpetuates depictions that are perceived as harmful and racist by Native Americans.

Design/methodology/approach – This article examines data from published research, personal correspondence, and essays by Native Americans so that non-natives can understand the issue from the native perspective. It also calls into question previous communication efforts that may have limited the voices of Native Americans.

Findings – By examining the meaning of warriors and other cultural symbols for Native Americans and by exploring the different views …

College Students’ Responses To Antismoking Messages: Denial, Defiance, And Other Boomerang Effects, Joyce M. Wolburg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Despite the success of antismoking campaigns that aim to prevent young teens from smoking, this qualitative study provides strong evidence that different initiatives are needed for college students, particularly those who already smoke. When asked for responses to current antismoking messages, nonsmokers generally championed the cause; however, smokers often responded with anger, defiance, denial, and other negative responses. Consumers who respond in this manner are not well served by existing strategies, and money used for such campaigns could be better spent. New strategies are offered in hopes that antismoking campaigns can communicate more effectively with one high-risk group—college student smokers.

The Sulzer Hip Replacement Recall Crisis: A Patient's Perspective, Keri Stephens, Scott D'Urso, Penny Holmes

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This case discusses a product recall that resulted from a manufacturing defect and the degree to which the company distributed accurate and timely information to affected patients. More specifically, the case examines the crisis communication of Sulzer Orthopedics and its efforts to negotiate the interests of various stakeholders, while limiting liability. Written from the perspective of a patient, the case raises interesting questions regarding organizational duties related to product liability. It also provides valuable insights into how organizational communication may have both short- and long-term effects on its relationship with patients and physicians, among others.

Stories Of Community: The First Ten Years Of Nike Women's Advertising, Jean M. Grow

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This semiotic analysis of early Nike women's advertising explores the evolution of the women's brand from its launch in 1990 through 2000, and includes twenty-seven print campaigns. The semiotic analysis is enhanced by in-depth interviews of the creative team. The study is framed by a single research question. What symbolically ties these ten years of advertising into a cohesive whole and how? Ultimately, three distinct mediated communities emerge. The story behind these communities, expressed semiotically and orally, suggests that the power of this advertising lies in its mediated construction of community life. The resonance of these ads is rooted in …