The study sought to explore the applicability of national stereotypes for implicit stereotype by measuring reaction times (RTs). Also, the study intended to suggest a more effective national image management in overseas practices by demonstrating the effect of counter-stereotype strategy on country-of-origin (COO) effect. A focus of the study was on China and Chinese people for national stereotypes and Chinese corporations and products made in China for the COO effect, considering unfavorable national images of China in news media and negative impressions on products made in China. The study compared national stereotypes of China and Chinese people and COO effect of Chinese corporations and products made in China with national stereotypes of Japan and Japanese people and Germany and German people and the COO effects of Japanese corporation and product made in Japan and German corporation and product made in Germany. Also, the study examined the comparison between U.S. and South Korean college students. The study employed two research methods, an experimental and online survey design. The results showed the potential that national stereotypes can be implicit by demonstrating a significant difference in subjects RTs. The difference in RTs between consistent and inconsistent attributes with countries existing national stereotypes can be inferred about the possibility that national stereotype can be implicit. The U.S. and South Korean participants reported more favorable perceptions of Japan and Japanese people than China and Chinese people and Germany and German people. The South Korean participants overall national stereotypes of the three countries were less favorable than the U.S. participants. For the COO effect, the U.S. and South Korean participants also more favorably evaluated the Japanese corporation and its product than the two others, Chinese and German corporations and their products. Also, concerning the effect of counter-stereotype cues, the Chinese corporation with counter-stereotypical cues in the news story was more favorably evaluated than that of the other Chinese corporation without the cues. The study indicated the potential of applying national stereotypes for implicit stereotypes and utilizing counter-stereotype strategy in reducing unfavorable country images and suggested practical implications for overseas practitioners based on the findings.

ABSTRACT This study investigated factors that influence the strategic decision-making process, specifically, strategy formation and selection during a crisis. It accomplished this by integrating theoretical concepts from both strategic management and crisis communication literature. Key organizational, environmental, and management factors--comprehensiveness, formalization, uncertainty, politicization, external corporate environment, crisis responsibility, impact of the crisis, stakeholder interests, and top management characteristics --were tested for their role in the strategy formation and selection process using regression analysis. This study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative aspect of the research involved conducting online surveys of senior management within the chemical industry and the qualitative phase of the project involved conducting in-depth interview with top management within chemical organization. The findings of this study indicate that decision-making during a crisis follows a logical incrementalism path and not a linear sequential path as implicit in the crisis communication literature. Decision-making during a crisis is influenced by a host of factors, most significantly by uncertainty, politicization, formalization and standardization, financial reporting, stakeholder interests, external corporate environment, and impact of the crisis. Even though some ready-made solutions might be available, decision-makers have to consider the organizational context as much as the content of the strategy to manage the crisis. Development and refinement of the alternatives have to be done to reach the most satisfactory solution to the problem. This dissertation develops a model of strategy formation and selection in chemical organizations. In addition, this dissertation recommends a set of best practices that communication managers within a chemical organization will be able to adopt to better prepare for crisis. Other implications and future areas for research are suggested.

Crises have been a part of all societies over the course of time. Leaders of small, primitive societies may have dealt with these crises by directly communicating with their citizens or by taking other hands-on approaches to crisis management and recovery. However, in large post-modern technological societies, leaders must find more efficient ways to handle and recover from crises. This qualitative study examines three crises that occurred at three Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) in the last six years. Crisis communication planning and practices are explored with a special focus on elements of the discourse of renewal theory each institution implemented. The majority of existing research and literature in the field of crisis communication focuses on crisis management in corporate or governmental environments. This study, through each case presented, provides valuable insight into crisis communication in the educational sector. Additionally, the unique character and challenges of Historically Black Colleges and Universities are presented to add to the body of knowledge about these institutions. The ultimate purpose of this study is to develop a best practices model for continued renewal for each institution featured in this case. Generalized best practices are also provided for all HBCUs, students, scholars, and journalists to use in implementing and studying future post-crisis renewal efforts.

Indexing theory predicts that, in certain issue areas, media coverage will index levels of elite debate. Elite controversy, the theory predicts, will embolden the press to include a broader variety of sources and coverage should reflect a more open public debate. This has important implications for public opinion. Proponents of the theory expect that it will operate in a variety of issue areas of news coverage, but support for the theory exists largely in the realm of foreign affairs coverage. This study examines television coverage of the 2009 economic stimulus package to evaluate levels of indexing for a domestic, macroeconomic issue. Results show support for indexing theory. Administration sources dominated in the news, but in circumstances of elite debate among government officials, coverage of this economic issue appeared to include a meaningful proportion of non-governmental voices. Examination of the kinds of non-governmental sources journalists used to construct this debate, however, suggests that these results probably overestimate amount of new information about the issue that was made available to the public through television news coverage.

Despite the popular use of smartphones and mobile applications (apps) and their potential impacts in the near future, only scant academic attention has been paid to mobile apps, especially in respect to the gratifications sought from accessing digital information via apps. This exploratory study investigated the relationship between young adults and their use of mobile apps in accessing digital information, particularly in comparison to the current go-to digital information access device, Internet browsers. In addition, this study examined how levels of perceived privacy concern influence digital information use and how the use of digital information access modalities and the level of privacy concern interact in seeking digital information. To examine these relationships, this study conducted an online survey with 201 young adults, and the data were analyzed using a two-way mixed repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA). The independent variables in this analysis were digital access modality (Internet browsers and mobile apps) and perceived personal privacy (high and low). The dependent variable in this study was digital information use, measured in five frequent purposes of accessing digital information: information, communication, convenience, entertainment, and commercial/purchase. This study found significant main effects of digital access modality in using digital information. The results indicate that young adults are likely to use Internet browsers more than mobile apps for gratifying their purposes, except for a convenience purpose for which mobile apps were more likely used. However, the degree of perceived personal privacy was not found to be directly associated with the use of online information. Similarly, the interaction between digital information access modality and perceived privacy toward online information use was not significant across five purposes. In summary, the use of mobile apps was surprisingly large, and the gap between the two digital accessing modalities was not remotely distant. Based on this finding, it can be projected that mobile apps will become a primary device for young adults to access digital information in the near future. Regarding perceived privacy, before concluding the given results, more research should follow to gain a better understanding of the role of perceived privacy in digital information use.

More than any election before, the 2008 Presidential race revealed a persistent discussion of race cards and gender cards. In spite of the reported consensus that these alleged cards were everywhere, we know relatively little about those situations where the card label was applied, and even less about how this label influenced voters. In fact, among key electoral sources political elites who use identity as a campaign tool, the journalists who cover and narrate elections, and researchers who make sense of elections-based behavior there is no consensus regarding what a card is, how or when they are played, or who does the playing. This project seeks to begin to fill the gap in our knowledge of cards in campaigns by asking how were race and gender cards reported in news coverage of the 2008 presidential election, and how does labeling an appeal a card matter? Using content analysis and a two-part experiment, this study succeeds in drawing a much clearer picture of how card coverage, as an essential tool of narrating an election where women and racial minorities are present, affects American politics. While much of the research on cards defines their application and effects in terms of public policy issues, an examination of card coverage during the 2008 election reveals that much of the alleged cards were character-based. Moreover, the card label was not just used to categorize an appeal; cards were also invoked to maintain the identity narrative, even when identity was not a campaign issue. Using some of the most commonly reported cards from the 2008 race, the progressive experiments here revealed that, while the card label itself has little effect on how voters evaluate candidates, the addition of contextual information for those with higher levels of racism and sexism predicted increased support for white and male candidates, respectively. In short, these results show that how cards are covered defies our existing understanding of what a race card or a gender card is; moreover, in card coverage, the card label itself matters less than traditional cues like candidate sex and race in informing evaluations.

Research of parasocial relationships suggests that audiences engage in one-sided relationships with their favorite personae in the media. This study attempts to explore two types of reality stars: those who had fame before being on reality television and those who have fame because of the show. Using the PSR-Processing Scale, I compared levels of parasocial interactions for each, as well how moral disengagement might play a role for each type of reality star. I also explored whether these parasocial relationships are influenced by the frequency with which respondents watch various types of sub-genres of reality-based programs (i.e. game docs, dating shows, documentary soap operas). To measure levels of parasocial relationships, moral disengagement, media consumption, and reality television viewing habits, I administered an online survey to 244 students at a large southern university. Results show that respondents parasocial relationships and degree of moral disengagement with their favorite celebrity and non-celebrity on reality shows are influenced by the type of sub-genres of the reality-based programs (i.e. game docs, dating shows, documentary soap operas).

With the declining participation in civic engagement behaviors such as voting, people are turning to other means to demonstrate civic participation. This study examined the role of volunteering as a means to establish civic engagement. Because of this civic participation behavioral shift, the relationship between civic engagement and the communication tactics used by volunteer based organizations was investigated. This study investigated the relationship between civic engagement and political efficacy. Additionally, this study examined the interplay between organizational characteristics (trust, control mutuality, exchange relationship, and commitment) and civic engagement. Lastly, perceptions of new and traditional methods of communications to encourage civic engagement and build trust of volunteer based organizations were explored. To address these relationships, this study used on online survey with 245 adults and the data were analyzed using a linear regression analysis and SPSS Textual Analysis for Surveys. This study used convenience and snowball sampling. This survey used various civic engagement scales and James Grunigs PR Measurement Scale for organizational factors. Findings show higher levels of participation of political interest and trust lead to higher levels of political efficacy. Additionally, stronger control mutuality beliefs of an organization lead to higher levels of civic engagement. Participants reported email and direct mail to be the methods of communication they are most familiar with from their volunteer based organizations that encourage engagement. Furthermore, ease and access to information are crucial for volunteers regarding engagement and trust.

Over the past several decades, sports event tourism has been a growing area of research for scholars in the fields of sport administration, strategic communications, destination marketing and tourism. The city of New Orleans is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States, with its various entertainment, sports, and cultural events. Over the past three decades, New Orleans has hosted over 30 major sports events and will host several more major events including the BCS National Championship, NCAA Mens and Womens Final Four, and the Super Bowl through February 2013. This case study shows several primary reasons that New Orleans is continually chosen as an event host, including its reputation as a vibrant, unique tourist destination along with its facility infrastructure. In-depth interviews conducted with New Orleans tourism and sports commission officials show that the presence of large stadiums and convention facilities, along with many hotels and restaurants in close proximity to these facilities, and the authenticity of the city as a tourist destination is what primarily sets New Orleans apart as a premier host and destination for major sports events.

The mass in Classical period was greatly influenced by symphonic style, especially by the form and the instrumental elements. The Enlightenment and the Religious Reformation in Austria also deeply affected the composer¡¦s attitude toward composing mass movements in late 18th century. Haydn was recognized as the master at that time. His late sacred works include six masses and the two remarkable oratorios. Though they may not be as famous as his great symphonies and instrumental works, these works are regarded as the climax of church music in Classical period. Haydn¡¦s late masses all share the common structure and text settings, and Lord Nelson Mass is one of them. However, it is quite unique in its D minor key, orchestration, and music expression. It not only shows the refined skill of Haydn, but also reveals his yearning for freedom, unconventional expression, and personal style. This thesis consists of five chapters. The first one is the introduction. The second chapter is about the background and the style of Haydn¡¦s six late masses, particularly focusing on Lord Nelson Mass. The third chapter displays thorough analysis of each movement of Lord Nelson Mass. The fourth chapter presents the discussion about the performance practice of Classical period in choir size, tempo, dynamic, phrasing, articulation, tone quality, and expression, which should be taken into consideration when performing Lord Nelson Mass. The final chapter draws conclusions from the study.