Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Donnalyn Pompper, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 9, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains v, 39 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the attitudes toward corporate advertising held by those individuals most closely associated with it: corporate and advertising agency executives. No previous research had been conducted in this particular area.An attitude scale was administered to eighty-two corporate and advertising agency executives, representing a sample from Fortune's one hundred largest corporations and the one hundred largest advertising agencies. A frequency distribution, factor analysis, and Q-study were conducted on the data collected.Findings showed the general attitude toward corporate advertising to be favorable. Two factors underlying respondent's attitudes were revealed and broadly identified as "positive value" and "negative value." Rather than viewing corporate advertising in specific terms, respondents' attitudes were factored on the basis of valence, or direction of the statements.The Q-analysis identified three types of attitude patterns existing among the respondents. Type I respondents represented large industrial manufacturers who believe corporate advertising is an effective tool for improving employee morale and recruiting new employees. Type II, consisting of advertising agencies involved in marketing to consumers, saw corporate advertising as a tool for increasing corporate awareness and creating unity among products. A conglomeration of industrial manufacturers, consumer goods manufacturers, and advertising agencies, Type III viewed corporate advertising as an effective part of a total plan, though not capable of achieving tangible objectives by itself. Type and size of firm were the only demographics which could be significantly related to the attitude patterns.These findings indicate that although differences can be found in the management function provided by corporate advertising, respondents hold similar favorable attitudes toward corporate advertising.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / This research reports on the findings from a study that explores how the principles of corporate communication strategies outlined in public relations theory align to public relations practice. Using the theoretical framework of strategic public relations within corporate communication strategies, this qualitative research seeks to understand what theoretical principles inform corporate communication strategies and how public relations practitioners develop and implement these strategies. The findings suggest that public relations practitioners have a more practical approach than a theoretical approach to public relations practice. This study identifies the importance of increasing the credibility of the discipline as public relations practitioners are able to constantly improve and adjust their strategies according to what works and what does not. Measurement and evaluation in application of corporate communication strategies increases research in public relations practice which will in due course influence public relations theory. Further study is recommended in increasing the knowledge of public relations practitioners regarding the theory of communication strategies which will assist in improving the status of public relations and the perceived value of the profession.

In the 1970s, oil, gas and utility companies lost the American public's trust during the energy crisis. Faced with tighter government regulation, these companies turned to nonproduct advertising as a mouthpiece for the American company.At the time, Robert Meadow created a typology for nonproduct advertising by analyzing hundreds of nonproduct ads in several publications. According to Meadow, the ten categories that he created were the areas in which companies utilized nonproduct advertising.Yet, over twenty years later, companies in the 1990s confront many problems that plagued companies in the 1970s. However, the face of business has since changed. In contrast, global competition, equal employment opportunities and downsizing were not major issues twenty-seven years ago as they are today.Since Meadow published his typology of nonproduct advertising in 1981, no other typology has been put forth in nonproduct advertising literature. No one has compared his typology to current nonproduct ads in the 1990s to determine if there is a significant difference of the categories today as compared to Meadow's categories. Nor has any researcher questioned if the priority of the categories remains the same since his study was done. In addition, what types of organizations are using nonproduct ads today?Through a content analysis of nonproduct ads in the same publications that Meadow used, a significant difference was found in nonproduct ads of the 1990s in comparison to nonproduct ads in the 1970s. While image ads remained the largest used category of nonproduct ads for Meadow and the researcher's categories, none of the other categories ranked the same.According to the ranking of the categories, this study shows that the priority of the categories has changed since Meadow did his study. Findings also show that overwhelmingly, corporations remain the heaviest users of nonproduct ads while political use runs a distant second. / Department of Journalism

The study examines the effects of executives’ media connection on corporate policies. Extant literature in finance, economics and journalism provide inconclusive evidence in determining whether media works as watchdog to the financial market or whether media facilitates bias through manipulation of corporate news events. I introduce two competing hypotheses that may explain the research question. Information Efficiency Hypothesis predicts that media connected firms mitigate information asymmetry among its investors, enjoy better governance, and are less likely to manipulate information on corporate policy choices. Manipulation Hypothesis, in contrary, suggests that firms may strategically utilize media connections to alter the information flow that may paint a tainted picture of the firm’s prospects, thereby facilitating greater misvaluation and devising of opportunistic corporate finance policies. I test these hypotheses on a set of investment policies (mergers outcomes and innovative efficiency) and financing policies (seasoned equity offerings and share repurchases). In the first essay, I find that media connection increases merger announcement return, reduces takeover premium, increases the likelihood of deal completion, although post-merger long term performance exhibit inconclusive results. Also, media connection reduces innovative efficiency and change in innovative efficiency attributable to media connections is harmful for the firm in the long run. Overall, results are consistent with the manipulation hypothesis to some extent though further investigation is required before disregarding the information efficiency effect. In the second essay, results show that media connection increases the likelihood of an SEO event, reduces the announcement period CAR. However, analysis of post SEO long term operating and stock performance show mixed results. For repurchasing firms, media connection increases announcement returns, increases the likelihood of repurchase and the amount repurchased. Media connection also increases the likelihood that repurchase is preferred over dividends as a mode of payout. Post repurchase long term operating and stock performance, however, provide inconsistent results. In general, results are consistent with the manipulation hypothesis though information efficiency hypothesis could not be ruled out entirely. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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This thesis was designed to determine Fortune 500 communicators' opinions about objectives for employee communications. The study compared communicators' opinions about stated objectives for employee communications objectives to their opinion about how their corporations implement the same stated objectives.An opinion questionnaire was mailed to directors of employee communication or equivalent titles at all Fortune 500 companies. Of the 500 instruments mailed, 129 or 25.8 percent were returned and used for data.Participants' responses were analyzed by mean scores, t-tests, confidence interval ratings and rank-order correlation tests. Demographic data was collected concerning budget sizes, staffdemographic data was cross tabulated with 40 statements of objectives the existence of written objectives, and types of activities used. The for employee communications activities to further describe Fortune 500 communicators.The study found a significant difference between the communicators' opinions toward employee communications objectives and the employee communications activities implemented within their corporations. The study also found companies with and without objectives for employee communications both implement similar employee activities. / Department of Journalism

Answers were sought to two research questions concerning Mobil Oil Company's corporate advertising appearing in The New York Times between 1984 and 1990:1. What issues/events throughout the campaign received the most attention in Mobil's corporate advertisements? 2. How did yearly political/event changes affect Mobil's corporate advertisements?This study, which was based on a study by Anderson (1984), was completed in two steps. First, a coder read and summarized all 365 advertisements. These advertisements were categorized according to three dependent variables: energy policy, Mobil's economic/political commentary and image advertisements. The results of this process answered the first question.The second part of analysis involved using each year's breakdown of advertisements and comparing it to the political tone of the year. The Congressional Quarterly Almanac was used to recreate the tone for each year.Image advertisements accounted for slightly more than 53 percent of the 365 advertisements carried by Mobil in the time period. Mobil's economic/political commentary accounted for nearly 38 percent of the advertisements. Energy policy advertisements accounted for nearly nine percent of the advertisements.The findings, also, showed that as energy-related issues received attention in the media, Mobil increased its usage of these advertisements. After a review of the political tone of each year, it was concluded that Mobil uses its corporate advertising program to both respond to current events affecting the oil industry or large corporations and to create a favorable image with its consumers. / Department of Journalism

In the past few decades, corporate crises have received high media attention and revealed the impact that a disaster can have on a company’s reputation. A breadth of scholarly literature has already analysed crisis communications and key elements of an effective response. In this study I examine crisis communications strategies of two companies (British Petroleum and Domino’s Pizza) who responded differently when faced with a crisis. The study will explore the companies’ actions and various media materials including public statements, press releases and social media platforms. This information will be presented alongside corresponding news coverage to reveal how the media translated these actions. Results show that by accepting responsibility and marketing efforts to stop the disaster, a corporation can transform its communication strategy and recover its reputation.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Investor Relations (IR) has become a key area of focus in academic and professional debates over the last few decades. Although the identity of the field is contested, with both finance and communication disciplines claiming the fledgling field, there is consensus across disciplines that communication is paramount in IR success. However, a number of scholars (see Schutzmann, 2013; Laskin, 2011; Watson, 2008) argue that IR is not being fully utilised to maximise fair valuation and obtain favourable return on company investments due to lack of strategic communication expertise among IR practitioners who usually have a purely financial background. It is against this background that this study evaluated communication strategies employed by IR practitioners in South Africa to build and maintain relationships with investor stakeholders. The purpose is to contribute towards theoretical debates on strategic communication practice in IR, an area that remains under theorised and understudied, especially within a developing country context. The theoretical frame of the study was derived from public relations Excellence theory and the two-way symmetrical communication (Grunig and Hunt, 1984). The research methodology of the study was qualitative and employed an explorative design to gather data through a combination of document analysis, indepth interviews and content analysis. The findings show that financial and non-financial information is disseminated to investor stakeholders. However, the communication of financial information by IR professionals to investor stakeholders remains dominant in South Africa. Importantly, two-way symmetrical communication and two-way asymmetrical communication strategies are used in different ways to build and maintain relationships and to disclose mandatory key corporate information to investor stakeholders. One-on-one meetings in different formats and online dialogue with closed feedback emerged as the dominant key two-way symmetrical communication strategies of nurturing and sustaining relationships with investor stakeholders. This includes two-way asymmetrical communication strategies such as the corporate publications and IR websites. IR policies that promote two-way symmetrical communication, trust, honest, transparency and credibility emerged in the study as being implemented by IR professionals of South Africa. In addition, the findings show that such characterised IR policies advances the rules of investor stakeholder relationship building and engagement. However, it remains unclear from a South African standpoint whether IR professionals are ready to engage in an open dialogue with investor stakeholders using social media. The findings show that IR in South Africa has trascended into a synergy era where two-way symmetrical communication is emphasised. It further shows that the theoretical frame of the study as derived from public relations Excellence theory and the two-way symmetrical communication (Grunig and Hunt, 1984) has positive implications in the investor relations efforts of building relationships and information disclosure. However, investor stakeholder preferences of engaging with IR professionals require further exploration. This will assist in theorising communication strategies ideal for IR practice.