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Adverse relationships between an individual or corporation and its publics can destroy credibility, relationships, marketability, and economic welfare. As such, a genre of discourse is needed to help individuals and organizations respond to charges of wrongdoing. Therefore, the study of image restoration is worthwhile because it provides insight into an important function of our lives. For this thesis study, a content analysis was conducted of media releases and stories produced by the U.S. Air Force regarding a series of sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy in 2002. The purpose of the study is two-fold. First, it determines the image restoration strategies employed by the U.S. Air Force during a crisis situation. Its second -- and primary -- objective is to advance (or reinforce) current image restoration theory by determining whether specific image restoration tactics encourage a positive or negative reporting trend from independent newspapers, and measuring the effectiveness of tactics comprising Benoit's Image Restoration Theory as applied in this particular situation by the U.S. Air Force. Combined, these analyses will demonstrate that Benoit's Image Restoration Theory can be prescriptive rather than simply descriptive (as noted in the review of literature) with the ultimate intent of the study being a determination of how independent media reacts to the image restoration tactics employed by the U.S. Air Force.

The world is now digitized with an increased use of different social media platforms and infinite new ways for marketers to engage consumers. With the increased use of online marketing and the tough competition in an online environment, a challenge for companies is to differentiate their brand and stand out. What type of message strategy and content that companies use in their marketing will affect the behavior of the consumers and can help them reach their target audience. The purpose of this study was to investigate how companies use different message strategies in their designing of content for social media to drive the most engagement from consumers. The research was made with a qualitative methodology with a deductive approach by gathering theories and conducting three semi-structured interviews which were then analyzed to help answer the research questions. The qualitative interviews showed the importance of using different strategies and adapting the content for social media to fit the target audience. The research indicates that it can be difficult to pin down one specific message strategy for companies to consistently follow over time, but instead need to focus on building customer relationships and the importance of interacting with customers since this can make them feel more engaged. / Världen är nu digitaliserad med en ökad användning av olika sociala medieplattformar och nya sätt för marknadsförare att engagera konsumenter. Den ökade användningen av marknadsföring online och den hårda konkurrensen medför en utmaning för företag att differentiera sitt varumärke och sticka ut. Vilka typer av strategier som företag använder i sin marknadsföring påverkar konsumentbeteende och kan hjälpa företagen att nå sin målgrupp. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka hur företag använder olika strategier i sin utformning av innehåll för sociala medier för att driva konsumentengagemang. Forskningen genomfördes med en kvalitativ forskningsdesign med en deduktiv ansats genom att samla in teorier och genomföra tre semistrukturerade intervjuer. Datan analyserades sedan för att besvara forskningsfrågorna. De kvalitativa intervjuerna visade vikten av att använda olika strategier och anpassa innehållet för sociala medier för att passa målgruppen. Forskningen antyder att det kan vara svårt för företag att hålla fast vid en specifik strategi att konsekvent följa över tid, utan istället måste fokusera på att bygga kundrelationer och interagera med kunder eftersom detta kan främja engagemanget.

Utilizing communication and activist organization perspectives, this empirical study examined activist message strategies and how they influence variables related to the receiver of activist communication. Specifically, J.E. Grunig's (1997) situational theory of publics and Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action were used to explain the communication effects of the seven activist message strategies developed from Hazleton and Long's (1988) public relations process model. The findings of this study support the premise of situational theory of publics and contribute to the extension of the theory through the inclusion of goal compatibility as a predictor of information seeking behavior and the use of alternative items to operationalize information seeking behavior, such as visiting a Web site. Only partial support was found for the predictions of the theory of reasoned action. Attitude toward behavior was not found to have a significant influence on behavioral intent. However, the importance of subjective norm to the prediction of behavioral intent was reiterated. Also, the proposition that message strategies influence behavioral intent via their influence on attitude toward strategy was supported. Finally, results of this study partially supported the hypothesis that receiver variables are influenced by activist message strategies. Problem recognition, goal compatibility, attitude toward strategy, and attitude toward behavior were found to be affected by activist message strategies. Problem recognition was influenced most by the persuasive strategy, goal compatibility was most influenced by the threat and punishment strategy, and attitude toward strategy and attitude toward behavior were both influenced most by the cooperative problem-solving strategy. Overall, the results of this research suggest that, of the seven activist message strategies, activist organizations will be most successful using persuasive and coercive strategies. This important finding offers a recommendation to activist organizations regarding the most effective strategy to use in message development.