Jacob R. Straus, Raymond T. Williams, Colleen J. Shogan and Matthew E. Glassman
The purpose of this paper is to understand why some Senators choose to use Twitter more frequently than others. Building on past research, which explored causal factors leading to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand why some Senators choose to use Twitter more frequently than others. Building on past research, which explored causal factors leading to early congressional adoption, theories about why some Senators use Twitter more frequently in their daily communications strategies are developed.
Design/methodology/approach
A “power user” score was developed by evaluating each Senator’s clout, interactivity, and originality on Twitter. These scores are then used as the dependent variable in a regression model to evaluate which factors influence Senators becoming Twitter “power users.”
Findings
The study found that: constituent income is positively correlated with heavy use, but constituent education level is not; the more ideological a Senator is the more he or she will be a Twitter power user; the number of days on Twitter is a significant indicator of advanced Twitter usage; and having staff dedicated to social media is positively correlated with being a Twitter power user.
Research limitations/implications
All Senators in the second session of the 113th Congress (2014) were evaluated. As such, future research hope to expand the data set to additional Senators or the House of Representatives.
Practical implications
A better understanding of why some Senators use Twitter more than others allows insight into constituent communications strategies and the potential implications of real-time communication on representation, and the role of accountability between a Senator and his or her constituents.
Originality/value
The study examines constituent communication by Senators in a new, more interactive medium than previously considered. Additionally, the study places findings about Senator’s constituent communication in the broader context of representation.
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Charles E. Menifield, LaShonda M. Stewart, Cal Clark and William P. Stodden
Substantial research has been conducted examining policy diffusion among both the American states and the nations of the developed world and to a somewhat lesser extent…
Abstract
Substantial research has been conducted examining policy diffusion among both the American states and the nations of the developed world and to a somewhat lesser extent, developing worlds. Little research, especially at the nation-state level, has focused upon budget systems, however. We use case studies of 18 diverse countries (Menifield, 2011) to conceptualize national budget systems and, based upon this conceptualization, to identify clusters of nations with similar systems. We found evidence suggesting that policy diffusion may be occurring in the realm of national budget systems. Our analysis shows that budgetary institutions and behaviors can and do form clusters that are useful in analyzing national budget systems. Our ability to describe clusters of nations with similar budget systems could prove to be a helpful tool for analyzing international policy diffusion.
Celette Sugg Skinner, Adam Buchanan, Matthew W. Kreuter, Cheryl Holt, Dawn Bucholtz and Tara Smith Strigo
This paper demonstrates that a message library – the computer‐tailored intervention component that contains all potential versions of tailored content – can be adapted for use in…
Abstract
This paper demonstrates that a message library – the computer‐tailored intervention component that contains all potential versions of tailored content – can be adapted for use in a new setting at reasonable cost and effort. A message library developed for one population was adapted to enable its use with a second population in a different geographic region. Concludes that adapting message libraries for new populations need not be a barrier to disseminating tailored interventions and designing message libraries with dissemination in mind creates tailored interventions that can be adapted for use with different populations.
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Tina Flaherty, Christine Domegan and Mihir Anand
With the explosion of digital technologies in contemporary daily life, fuelled by a pandemic and remote working, online learning and shopping and the proliferation of social…
Abstract
Purpose
With the explosion of digital technologies in contemporary daily life, fuelled by a pandemic and remote working, online learning and shopping and the proliferation of social platforms, much remains nebulous about the opportunities these technologies hold for social marketers beyond their previously documented use as communication and promotion tools. This paper aims to provide a rich examination of the variety of digital technologies used within social marketing and establish the scale of integration between digital technologies and social marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
Following systematic literature review procedures, a systematic literature review through eight databases was conducted. The systematic review focussed on the assessment of social marketing studies that incorporated a wide range of mature and emerging digital technologies such as the internet, mobile platforms and social media channels. A total of 50 social marketing studies (2014–2020) were analysed.
Findings
The review found that there have been major advancements in the technologies available to social marketers in recent years. Furthermore, the adoption of digital technologies by social marketers has evolved from a communication or promotion function where generic information is pushed to the citizen, towards the use of these technologies for a more personalised design, content and behaviour change intervention. In some studies, the digital technologies were the primary means for interactions and collaborations to take place. The review also found that digital technologies target more than the individual citizen. Digital technologies are used to target multi-level stakeholders, policy makers and partners as part of behavioural change interventions.
Originality/value
Only two previous reviews have synthesised digital technologies and their use in social marketing. This review provides a recent depiction of the range and scale of integration within social marketing. Specifically, it demonstrates the expansion beyond a persuasive application to their use for research, segmentation and targeting, collaboration and co-creation, the product and facilitator of service delivery. Finally, this review provides a heat map to illustrate the integration between digital technologies and key concepts and criteria within social marketing.
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Michaela Barr, Molly Kane, Kevin Keenan and John Cullen
A survey of dental services for people with learning disabilities was undertaken as part of the Board's ongoing programme of service monitoring. The choice of topic was influenced…
Abstract
A survey of dental services for people with learning disabilities was undertaken as part of the Board's ongoing programme of service monitoring. The choice of topic was influenced by changes within dentistry regarding the administration of general anaesthetics, and by proposed changes in the patient population of Muckamore Abbey Hospital (North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust). Information was obtained primarily through questionnaires from people with learning disabilities who were living in the community and from general dental practitioners. Information was also sought from the three trusts providing a dental service in the area. The survey found that both patients with learning disability and dentists treating them would benefit from more specialist information and training.
Lars Thøger Christensen, A. Fuat Fırat and Simon Torp
Marketing organisations increasingly talk about the importance of integrating their communications, of aligning symbols, messages, procedures and behaviours across formal…
Abstract
Purpose
Marketing organisations increasingly talk about the importance of integrating their communications, of aligning symbols, messages, procedures and behaviours across formal organisational boundaries. Often this implies tighter central control over communications and other organisational processes. This paper sets out to discuss potential negative consequences of such tight control in terms of organisational incapability to react to market changes in increasingly fluid environments due to a loss of sufficient corporate complexity and diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
In response, a flexible integration approach that draws attention to the handling of difference and variety within the context of an integrated communications project is articulated. The paper proposes a framework that balances centralisation and decentralisation through attention to dimensions of endogenous control, tight and loose couplings, networks, and common process rules.
Findings
The paper demonstrated that, in order to integrate its communications, an organisation needs to embrace diversity and variety and to balance the wisdom of its many voices with the effort to secure clarity and consistency in its overall expression.
Practical implications
The flexible integration approach advanced in this paper opens new avenues of research, practice and pedagogy, encouraging scholars, practitioners and teachers to explore the following dimensions of integrated communications: reception, variability, organisation, voice, couplings and transferability.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on integrated communications and corporate communications by addressing the organisational dimensions of integration and suggesting a new avenue of integrated communications research that is far more sensitive to the organisational context in which projects of integration exist and unfold.
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Beth Wood and Adelina Broadbridge
This chapter investigates the issue of tattoos and examines whether the presence of visible tattoos still influences front line workers' employment chances. It finds that…
Abstract
This chapter investigates the issue of tattoos and examines whether the presence of visible tattoos still influences front line workers' employment chances. It finds that irrespective of a general societal shift towards greater tattoo acceptance and integration into modern society, negative stereotypes about tattoos still exist. Acceptance of tattoos in the workplace was dependent on the nature, size and location of the tattoo, as well as the occupation in question, and individual customer characteristics. Respondents were generally more accepting of tattoos on people nowadays. However, there was concern that employees with visible tattoos may still face stigma in the workplace. The findings revealed that most people will cover up a tattoo during an interview out of fear of negative discrimination by the interviewer.
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Changes in the traditional values, institutional context, and choice of change programs are currently shaping the postmodern science and practice of organization development (OD)…
Abstract
Changes in the traditional values, institutional context, and choice of change programs are currently shaping the postmodern science and practice of organization development (OD). These changes manifest themselves in powerful new value orientations, intervention frameworks, and practices that challenge OD's long-held beliefs in ethical and justice-based treatment. In this effort, traditional and new paradigm ethical dilemmas are explored, as well as their relationship to four postmodern practices and five emergent intervention techniques. Components of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice are explained relative to change management programs generally, and to emergent techniques specifically. Published case illustrations are used to depict new paradigm ethical dilemmas and opportunities to create a “just change.”
Anna Marie Johnson, Amber Willenborg, Christopher Heckman, Joshua Whitacre, Latisha Reynolds, Elizabeth Alison Sterner, Lindsay Harmon, Syann Lunsford and Sarah Drerup
This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction through an extensive annotated bibliography of publications covering all…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction through an extensive annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2017 in over 200 journals, magazines, books and other sources.
Findings
The paper provides a brief description for all 590 sources.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.