Identifying Active Hot-Issue Communicators and Subgroup Identifiers: Examining the Situational Theory of Problem Solving

Regina Y R CHEN; Flora C J HUNG-BAESECKE; Jeong Nam Kim

doi:10.1177/1077699016629371

Identifying Active Hot-Issue Communicators and Subgroup Identifiers: Examining the Situational Theory of Problem Solving

Regina Y R CHEN^*
, Flora C J HUNG-BAESECKE
, Jeong Nam Kim

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Communication Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

77 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study used the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) to investigate communication behaviors of publics formed around an intensively publicized policy issue. Results of surveying 748 participants online support the utility of STOPS to segment the hot-issue public with active communication from the general population in a Chinese context. However, problem recognition does not significantly correlate with situational motivation. Between the examined cross-situational variables, party identity serves as a better identifier of the hot-issue public's subgroups than trust in the government. Theoretical implications for hot-issue publics and STOPS and practical implications for effective communication to the hot issue are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	124-147
Number of pages	24
Journal	Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
Volume	94
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016629371
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2017

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

User-Defined Keywords

food risk communication
hot-issue publics
public relations
situational theory of problem solving (STOPS)

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title = "Identifying Active Hot-Issue Communicators and Subgroup Identifiers: Examining the Situational Theory of Problem Solving",

abstract = "This study used the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) to investigate communication behaviors of publics formed around an intensively publicized policy issue. Results of surveying 748 participants online support the utility of STOPS to segment the hot-issue public with active communication from the general population in a Chinese context. However, problem recognition does not significantly correlate with situational motivation. Between the examined cross-situational variables, party identity serves as a better identifier of the hot-issue public's subgroups than trust in the government. Theoretical implications for hot-issue publics and STOPS and practical implications for effective communication to the hot issue are discussed.",

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author = "CHEN, \{Regina Y R\} and HUNG-BAESECKE, \{Flora C J\} and Kim, \{Jeong Nam\}",

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AU - HUNG-BAESECKE, Flora C J

AU - Kim, Jeong Nam

PY - 2017/3/1

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N2 - This study used the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) to investigate communication behaviors of publics formed around an intensively publicized policy issue. Results of surveying 748 participants online support the utility of STOPS to segment the hot-issue public with active communication from the general population in a Chinese context. However, problem recognition does not significantly correlate with situational motivation. Between the examined cross-situational variables, party identity serves as a better identifier of the hot-issue public's subgroups than trust in the government. Theoretical implications for hot-issue publics and STOPS and practical implications for effective communication to the hot issue are discussed.

AB - This study used the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) to investigate communication behaviors of publics formed around an intensively publicized policy issue. Results of surveying 748 participants online support the utility of STOPS to segment the hot-issue public with active communication from the general population in a Chinese context. However, problem recognition does not significantly correlate with situational motivation. Between the examined cross-situational variables, party identity serves as a better identifier of the hot-issue public's subgroups than trust in the government. Theoretical implications for hot-issue publics and STOPS and practical implications for effective communication to the hot issue are discussed.

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KW - hot-issue publics

KW - public relations

KW - situational theory of problem solving (STOPS)

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IS - 1

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Identifying Active Hot-Issue Communicators and Subgroup Identifiers: Examining the Situational Theory of Problem Solving

Abstract

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