Jens Seiffert-Brockmann, Bradley Wiggins, Howard Nothhaft
{"title":"The Meme’s-Eye View of Strategic Communication: A Case Study of Social Movements from a Memetic Perspective","authors":"Jens Seiffert-Brockmann, Bradley Wiggins, Howard Nothhaft","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2234348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2234348","url":null,"abstract":"The article argues that a memetic approach, or meme’s-eye view, could help bring together the strategic management view and the CCO-school. ‘Memes’ are understood as a second-order concept, i.e., as a reference to ‘memory traces’ in people’s minds and anchor-point of joint or collective intentionality. This view, it is argued, permits the conceptualization of communication as a resource. To illustrate, two cases are analyzed: 1) the Montagsdemos in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) with its core meme Wir sind das Volk (We are the people); 2) the so-called ‘Satanic Panic’ and the QAnon movement with its ‘Save the Children'-meme’. The analysis illustrates how memes endure and resurface in new and different environments. In conclusion, the article proposes that the shift to memetic population dynamics allows strategic communication-researchers to reformulate often unanswerable questions (“What does the strategic actor want?”) into more operationalizable ones (“What memes are launched? How are they constructed?”).","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135950406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Costly Signals and Competitive Niches to Reciprocity, Memes, and Memory Traces: Evolutionary Psychology and Strategic Communication","authors":"Howard Nothhaft, Jens Seiffert-Brockmann","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2227958","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2227958","url":null,"abstract":"This article gives an overview of the contributions in the special issue of the International Journal of Strategic Communication on evolutionary psychology and strategic communication. Forward-looking, it argues that recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have made it imperative for our discipline to come to grips with a biologized view of the human mind as an information-processing system that evolved to solve specific adaptive problems. Backward-looking, it tries to explain why evolutionary psychology, which offers such as perspective, has met with so much resistance in the social sciences.","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135950408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Peacocks, Penknives and Power","authors":"Howard Nothhaft, Jens Seiffert-Brockmann","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2197441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2197441","url":null,"abstract":"This article conceptualizes evolutionary theory as a bridge between existing theorizing in strategic communication on the one hand, the mind sciences on the other. It discusses six core concepts of evolutionary psychology that have a bearing on strategic communication theory: a) the human as a highly flexible social species; b) the regulation of individually-minded vs. collectively-minded behavior; c) advanced, symbolic communication as a mode of regulation and its second-order problems; d) a consilient conceptualization of communication; e) evolutionary psychology’s role as a heuristic; and f) the limits of cognitive capacity and the role of heuristic shortcuts. The article concludes with a note on the theory of science in strategic communication research and cautions against the common misunderstanding of evolutionary psychology’s agenda.","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135950407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Toward Consilience on Indirect Reciprocity: Strategic Communication Theory and Findings from Social Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology","authors":"Charles Marsh, Pan Liu, Mauryne Abwao","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2022.2159413","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2022.2159413","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThis article pursues interdisciplinary synthesis and consilience regarding the concept of indirect reciprocity and its relevance to strategic communication theory. Identified and named by evolutionary biologists, indirect reciprocity in its simplest form is a resource-acquisition process initiated when one entity benefits another entity without the prospect or expectation of direct return. This action enhances the reputation of the initial entity and leads to reciprocal beneficence from other entities that have observed or learned of the original action. Research in evolutionary biology and economics has shown that reputation-driven indirect reciprocity can lead to enduring resource-exchange relationships. Indirect reciprocity thus has implications for such basics of strategic communication as reputation management, resource acquisition, and corporate social responsibility. This study seeks to expand knowledge, within strategic communication, of the whys and hows of indirect reciprocity by examining and synthesizing relevant research from the disciplines of social psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Its contributions to consilience regarding indirect reciprocity include explanatory theories such as social exchange theory and costly signaling theory and such practical workings as second-order, third-order, and extended indirect reciprocity. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135897633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Media Psychophysiology and Strategic Communications: A Scientific Paradigm for Advancing Theory and Research Grounded in Evolutionary Psychology","authors":"Yen-I Lee, Yoon-Joo Lee, Paul D. Bolls","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2261238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2261238","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTResearchers working in the discipline of Strategic Communications can significantly enrich strategic communication by grounding theorizing in evolutionary psychology. This opportunity can be more fully realized through the application of a rigorous scientific paradigm for strategic communication that conceptualizes human brain processes as well as the attitudes and behaviors produced by brain activity through the lens of evolutionary psychology. The importance of scientific paradigms in mass communication research has been outlined before. Many of these ideas seem to apply to strategic communication research as well. We present media psychophysiology as a theoretically rigorous and practically valuable scientific paradigm for advancing the application of evolutionary psychology and the mind sciences in the strategic communication discipline. This article reviews the necessity of a newer scientific paradigm for strategic communication research, overviews the media psychophysiology paradigm, and provides recommendations for applying evolutionary theory and the media psychophysiology paradigm to advancing mind-science-based strategic communication research and theory. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135897587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Evandro Oliveira, Joan Ramon Rodríguez-Amat, Isabel Ruiz-Mora, Ileana Zeler
{"title":"The Fluid and Disruptive Shape of Activism: Strategic Communication in #fridaysforfuture","authors":"Evandro Oliveira, Joan Ramon Rodríguez-Amat, Isabel Ruiz-Mora, Ileana Zeler","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2204299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2204299","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48083449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Visual Culture, Personalization, and Politics: A Comparative Analysis of Political Leaders’ Instagram-Based Image-Making and Communication in Spain and India","authors":"C. Navarro, Deepti Ganapathy, Vincent Raynauld","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2209572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2209572","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46495472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Projecting the Chinese language as a power tool in the discourse on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)","authors":"Javid Iqbal, Farzana Masroor","doi":"10.1080/1553118x.2023.2204295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2023.2204295","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49369099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Discourse Analysis of the South Korean Embassy’s Facebook Page and Communicating Its Role in Strategic Relationships","authors":"S. Kim, María E. Len-Ríos","doi":"10.1080/1553118X.2022.2142589","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2022.2142589","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study explores the discourse on the Facebook page of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States and discusses how the ROK Embassy constructs its public diplomacy by highlighting its international role and its ROK-U.S. relationship. This research conducted a simple content analysis and a discourse analysis to study 182 posts published on the Embassy’s Facebook page in Korean, English or both between October 25, 2019, and October 25, 2020. Results indicate that different languages can be strategically used to communicate with different audiences, though sometimes such communication was exclusionary. Importantly, the activities of the ambassador showcased the areas where the host country draws its strongest relations. History and global challenges such as COVID-19 play critical roles in understanding the ROK-U.S. relationship and their shared interests as strategic partners. This research shows that use of social media, in this case Facebook, requires various considerations in terms of strategic communication to boost relationships with strategic partners and the global reputation of a country.","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47176714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the Value of Multi-Modal Corporate Influencers: A Case Study of Peloton Instructors’ Engagement, Community Building, and Branding Functions","authors":"Brandon C. Boatwright, Karen Freberg","doi":"10.1080/1553118X.2022.2152341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2022.2152341","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Despite a growing body of research around social media influencers (SMIs), relatively few studies have sought to examine the role of corporate influencers, or employees that act in the name of the organizational brand and positively influence its perception among publics and stakeholders. Even fewer have extended the study of SMIs beyond social media to include additional online or offline modalities. Addressing these gaps, this manuscript adopts a case study approach of Peloton instructors as multi-modal corporate influencers. Through in-depth interviews with current Peloton users, this study identified several themes regarding how Peloton instructors engage, build community, and help with the branding of Peloton. Results from this study suggest that when corporate influencers adopt a multi-modal approach that extends beyond social media, their potential to exert greater influence on external organizational stakeholders is enhanced.","PeriodicalId":39017,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Strategic Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49228573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}