Community Stakeholder Responses to Advocacy Advertising

The transparent communicative organization and new hybrid forms of content

“…While there is no universal definition of transparency (Sisco & McCorkindale, 2013), scholars agree that it is related to openness, truthfulness, public information needs (Baker, 2008;Rawlins, 2009), credibility (Miller & Sinclair, 2009;Plaisance, 2007;Sisco & McCorkindale, 2013) and trust (Miller & Sinclair, 2009;Plaisance, 2007;Rawlins, 2009). Some disagreement is also apparent as to whether transparency is an umbrella concept or merely a vital part of another concept such as authenticity or ethics (Gilpin, Palazzolo, & Brody, 2010).…”

“…Therefore, the way the company is integrated into the thematic content should be taken into account (Buijzen, van Reijmersdal, & Owen, 2010). While revealing source identity is important (Miller & Sinclair, 2009), Theunissen (2014) noted that the public perception of the organization's identity is still influenced by the communicated and "packaged" identity. As the company sends a variety of messages presenting different viewpoints of marketing, advertising or PR, these messages may be a threat to a consistent corporate image (Gurȃu, 2008).…”

“…It is related to organizations' actions of offering their information for public scrutiny (Gilpin et al, 2010) as well as to organizational responsibility to provide the necessary information to make informed decisions (Rawlins, 2009). Thus, accountability relates to organizational responsibility for actions, initiated by social norms or regulations (Miller & Sinclair, 2009). However, in the absence of regulations, practitioners' morality and ethics determine the course of action.…”

“…Authority guarantees increased attention, appreciation and acceptance (van Reijmersdal et al, 2005) toward the organization's activities. According to persuasion knowledge theory, the persuasiveness of the message is related to the public's perceived knowledge of the topic, it's understanding of the objectives and purposes of the message provider and the perceptions of the respondents' own goals and opportunities to manage the persuasion attempt (Miller & Sinclair, 2009). Cole and Greer (2013) noted that the perceived trustworthiness of the content affects the public perception of the message credibility.…”

“…Hybrid content, if used carelessly, may jeopardize the communicative organization's credibility and reputation, and further hinder the legitimacy of the PR profession and the media outlets uon which the profession depends. As credibility is directly related to the executed communication effort (Verčič, Verčič, & Laco, 2008), the trustworthiness of the organization is the key to effective communication (Miller & Sinclair, 2009). Whereas the traditional focus of businesses is to pursue their own interests (Kaler, 2000), transparent communication balances the organizational objectives with common societal interests and may thus help publics and stakeholders accept the organization (Jahansoozi, 2006;Milne, Rohm, & Bahl, 2009).…”