Paid,Earned, Shared and Owned Media From the Perspective of Advertising and Public Relations Agencies: Comparing China and the United States

Despite the existence of the “great firewall,” advertising and public relations practitioners in China, much like in the United States, are embracing and enacting social media and digital strategies on behalf of their clients. In this study, we conducted 42 in-depth interviews with advertising and public relations practitioners in the United States and mainland China to explore how emerging media and integrated marketing communication (IMC) are impacting advertising and public relations agencies in the two countries. This cross-cultural comparison revealed several critical insights, which were examined through the lenses of IMC and dimensions of culture. We found that emerging media lead to converging trends in various aspects of agency performance. The blurring of paid, earned, shared, and owned media (PESO) was evidentially observed in how executives of both countries defined and used media. Chinese agencies were media agnostic, concerned more with effectiveness of media practices. The U.S. agencies embraced collaboration and information technology better compared to their Chinese peers. This research contributes to the body of knowledge in strategic communication via providing empirical evidence of how Chinese and U.S. agencies coordinate IMC and perceive PESO media relative and in response to emerging media practices.     

Status of Image Management Research in Public Relations: A Cross-Discipline Content Analysis of Studies Published Between 1991 and 2011

This study reviews the status of image management research published in public relations-specific journals, as well as broader management, business, strategic communication, and communication journals, to extrapolate important trends for future research and practice. A content analysis of relevant research (n = 261) was conducted based on several criteria (area focus, application group, country of study, methodology, application of theory or conceptual framework, type of focus on image, communication type and medium). Findings suggest two considerations for the strategic communication of organizational image: 1) image as outcome, and 2) image as social influence in online communication.     

An Integrated Approach to Public Diplomacy and Public Relations: A Five-Year Analysis of the Information Subsidies of the United States,China, and Singapore

This study contributes to the growing research on government-issued information subsidies in mediated public diplomacy in a new media environment. It examines the online information subsidies issued by the foreign ministries of three countries—the United States, China, and Singapore—to address a gap in the literature that has given scant attention to how governments use news releases through online newsrooms for public diplomacy. The study is significant for its conceptual explication of public relations and public diplomacy through an integrative strategic communication framework grounded in relationship building as an end goal of public diplomacy. A Leximancer textual analysis of 13,714 public diplomacy texts published through the three countries’ online press rooms over 5 years (2008–2012) found limited congruence in themes and concepts between and among the three countries, even on the issue of human rights, a major diplomatic point of contention. The weak congruence suggests a modelling of public diplomacy on one-way communication, and reveals a fundamental obstacle to grounding engagement, dialogue and collaboration strategically in a context of co-existence, understanding, mutual interdependence and relationship building. Through a three-country analysis, this study conceptually extends the view of public diplomacy beyond the dyadic construction of public diplomacy that dominates the existing literature.     

Examining the Impact of Public Engagement and Presidential Leadership Communication on Social Media in China: Implications for Government-Public Relationship Cultivation

This study examined how public positive and negative social media (i.e., WeChat) discussion about President Xi Jinping in China, along with Xi’s leadership communication styles of assertiveness, responsiveness, and authenticity on social media influence publics’ evaluation of his leadership effectiveness, which in turn, influences public trust and satisfaction with the government. Through a quantitative online survey of 396 WeChat users in China, randomly selected via an international sampling firm and a structural equation modeling analysis, the results show that publics’ political discussion about Xi on social media in China significantly influences the perceived leadership effectiveness of the president. Specifically, the more the publics engage in positive discussion about the president on social media, the more they perceive him to be a better political leader, and vice-versa. The president’s leadership communication attributes of responsiveness and authenticity strongly and positively influenced perceived leadership effectiveness and the quality of government-public relationships. Publics’ evaluation of the president’s leadership effectiveness directly contributed to public trust and satisfaction toward the government. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

邮储银行加强“三农”小额信贷精细化管理研究

结合新时代邮储银行三农小额信贷业务发展面临的新机遇,在调研分析三农小额信贷业务发展现状、存在问题的基础上,结合精益管理理论,从风险防控、业务流程、队伍建设、贷后管理、资产保全、科技支撑等方面提出了加强精细化管理,推进“三农”小额信贷向内涵式发展转型的建议。