In June of 2006, Merck gained FDA approval for Gardasil, a human papillomavirus vaccine. Shortly before, Merck also launched a large campaign to advertise the vaccine, which has continued through today. Because of the vast number of women the vaccine has the potential to affect, the product has become socially significant. Therefore, this study examines the Gardasil campaign and how it is persuasive. More specifically, this paper studies the rhetorical appeals Merck uses and explores the ethical strengths and limitations of the advertisements. The study explores how the Gardasil campaign blends elements of an informative Campaign with an advertising campaign, and the implications of doing so. Finally, based on Mercks blended campaign, this study makes suggestions for future blended campaigns.

Public relations has become an increasingly popular topic in the nonprofit community, and the demand for developing piblic relations as a core competency has increased as well. Since many nonprofit organization have limited time and resources for developing fuull-scale public relations programs, many rely on information obtained during one-day workshops or conference presentations presented by public relations professionals who have little or no experience with the concerns of the nonprofit setting. Using a program planning model, this paper describes how nonprofit organizations can increase the capacity and effectiveness of their public relations efforts by building relationships with key stakeholders.

Most previous research on childrens adjustment following the divorce of their parents has focused on the consequences of parents actions and communication choices. Relatively little is known about the impact that sibling relationships have on post-divorce adjustment. The current study was designed to explore the relationship between sibling social support (emotional, instrumental, and informational support) and adjustment. Data was collected from 34 participants using the Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT). Participants identified key turning points in their adjustment process and used those points as an interview guide to talk about support from and communication with their siblings. Numerical questionnaire data was also collected at three turning points. Findings revealed 12 categories of turning points, of which Move, Change in family composition, Change in contact with non-residential parent, Intrapsychic change, and Change in parent relationship status were the most frequently reported. Five trajectories of adjustment were also found, namely Steady, Interrupted, Stagnating, Turbulent, and Declining. From the interview data, examples of social support and communication topics were assessed. Social support was evident in the forms of emotional, instrumental, informational, and perceived support as were more implicit categories like time together and common cause. Conversation topics included parent relationships, the effect of the divorce on other family members, making sense of the divorce, and opinions. From the support and communication data, 7 sibling types were proposed. Siblings who gave equal support to each other fell into the categories of Separates, Pals, Allies, and Opponents. Relationships where one sibling offered more support than the other were categorized as Parent, Protector, and Encourager. Statistically, no relationship was found between sibling support and adjustment, although relationships between parent support and adjustment were found. Explanations and implications are proposed.

Current research on fictive kin primarily focuses on the assignment of the fictive kin relationship, and does not focus on how acceptance of an individual as fictive kin is communicatively constructed. This research offers a look into how young adults communicate acceptance in their fictive kin relationships. Four focus groups and seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with young adults regarding their interactions that co-constructed meaning in their fictive kin relationships and how acceptance as fictive kin was communicatively constructed. A grounded theory constant comparison method is used to analyze the focus groups and interviews. The data were used to develop themes and extend the current research on fictive kin. The findings of this study illustrates how individuals are accepted into fictive kin relationships as expressed in term of events that co-construct meaning such as activities with fictive kin, the themes of stories about and rituals with fictive kin, and messages of acceptance. Additionally, this study finds that fictive kin relationships among young adults are structured in two ways, with their family of origin or separate from the family of origin. Suggestions are made for future research focusing on longitudinal studies of fictive kin among single adults as well as the structure of fictive kin relationships.

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When new members begin their employment with an organization, they make a transition from being an outsider to an insider. A significant moment arranged by the organization to facilitate socialization is the New Employee Orientation (NEO). This evaluation examines NEO in relation to the encounter stage of the socialization process. Focusing on what and how information is provided during the NEO program at the University of Montana (UM), this evaluation is based on research of the informational components of Klein and Weaver (2000) and the socialization tactics from Van Maanen and Schein (1979). General conclusions regarding NEO and socialization as well as recommendations for improvement are presented for the benefit of the Human Resource Services office at UM.

Many organizational leaders and employees have become increasingly interested in implementing some form of spiritual practice or orientation into the fabric of the workplace. A burgeoning field of research and practice has emerged in the past two decades that attempts to address this growing interest. This field is diverse and identified with various titles, the most common being spirit at work, spirituality in the workplace, faith at work, and faith in the workplace. Because any cognates of the words spirit and faith are universally associated with religion, implementing any form of spiritual practice or orientation into a workplace setting comes with multiple challenges, not the least of which being the ways in which the concepts involved are communicated to organizational members. This paper examines such implementation in the context of communication, investigating the communicative strategies employed by practitioners and consultants in this area. Three interviews were conducted with practitioners who introduced spiritual principles to three separate organizations. Interviews were then conducted with the three organizational representatives with whom these practitioners worked. Emphasis was placed on investigating the approaches utilized by practitioners in their attempts to successfully communicate the subject matter, and on the perceptions of the organizational representatives regarding the effectiveness of the communicative strategies that were utilized by practitioners. The concluding section includes implications for practitioners and organizational leaders, as well as recommendations for future study.

This paper examines summer seasonal organizations to examine how they socialize employees in an abbreviated amount of time.

Upon experiencing conflict in a relationship, individuals have a variety of response options. While one can seek revenge or avoid that person, another option forgiveness can repair the relationship and foster health for both relationship partners. In coming together to confront the conflict and move beyond it, relational partners negotiate forgiveness in interpersonal interactions to accommodate face needs. In doing so, individuals must communicate by seeking forgiveness from and granting it to their relational partners. While much research has pointed to the health benefits associated with forgiving, little has explored the role communicating specifically plays in later received health. In an effort to expand upon previous research, this study was conducted to confirm the presence of forgiveness communication strategies found in romantic relationships by Kelley and Waldron (2005) and Waldron and Kelley (2005) in forgiveness interactions experienced between parents and children. One-hundred-forty-eight young adult-children completed self-report surveys measuring forgiveness communication behaviors used in forgiveness interactions with their parents. All of the strategies evident in previous research were present in the current study. However, the specific way of communicating forgiveness had little to no association with later health. Conclusions are drawn based on an evaluation of the forgiveness communication strategies and facework.

The primary goal of this study was to determine if there was a link between religious similarity and the use of maintenance strategies in marriage relationships through the lens of the investment model. Data from 109 heterosexual married individuals was collected. Through a series of multiple linear regression analyses, results revealed that religious similarity has little effect on maintenance behavior in marriage relationships. The main way religious similarity does impact maintenance behavior is in the participants perception of their spouses maintenance behavior. Specifically, experiential similarity was found to predict perceptions of spousal openness and assurances and composite similarity was found to predict perceptions of spousal openness. Results also indicate that both composite religiosity and composite similarity impacts relational satisfaction and investments in marriage. These results suggest that being religious and religiously similar offers some advantages for married individuals.