Legacy grants to uncover new perspectives of digital media, new technology

The Arthur W. Page Center annually provides Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar Grants to researchers whose projects focus on a pressing topic within public and corporate communications. For its 2017 call, the Center accepted proposals for research projects that examine digital ethics and new technology.

Led by Page Center senior research fellow Marcia DiStaso, 18 projects were funded to help fill the gaps in digital media research literature. Scholars received up to $3,000 to launch their studies and proposals were collected from researchers all over the world.

“We have a fantastic group of scholars who are all exploring different aspects of digital media,” said DiStaso. “This includes digital media strategies with diverse and/or specific audiences, and ethical/unethical approaches. I think this could be our most fascinating collection of research to date with projects looking at immigration, virtual reality, age-morphing technology, CEO ghost posting, mobile technology, corporate social responsibility and much more.”

Results from this round of studies will be shared next summer. Since its 2004 founding, the Page Center has become an international leader in research on ethics and integrity in public communication. The Center has funded more than 200 scholars and awarded more than $750,000 in research funding. The 2018 call for proposals will have two parts, a focus on “fake news,” as well as corporate social purpose. More information on this call will be available this fall.

“Technology advances so quickly, it can be difficult to get a handle on its intricacies and effects,” said Denise Bortree, Page Center director and associate professor of advertising-public relations. “The Page Center wants to do what it can to understand digital media as it evolves, and provide the resources for scholars to do their innovative work. This is where our Legacy Scholar Grants come in.”

The awarded “digital media” grants are:

“Strategic CSR Communication in Social Media: The Effectiveness of Stakeholder Information, Engagement and Hybrid Strategies when Factoring Corporate Reputation” Yeonsoo Kim, James Madison University

“Era of Social Interaction and Social Judgment: Increasing Publics' Involvement and Empowerment Through Social Media” Moon J. Lee and Jun Wong Chun, University of Florida

“Building Support for the Elderly: Using Age-Morphing Technology to Motivate Millennials and Generation X” Eunice Kim, Linda Hon and Ah-Ram Lee, University of Florida

“CEO Ghost Posting: Ethics and Effects on Employee Perceptions and Organization-Employee Relationships” Tom Kelleher, Rita Linjuan Men and Patrick Thelen, University of Florida

“Measuring the Impact of Authentic and Dialogic CSR Communication on Online Brand Community Engagement” Joon Soo Lim and Hua Jiang, Syracuse University

“Emotion Contagion and Stakeholder Engagement on Nonprofit Organizations' Facebook Sites” Zongchao Cathy Li, San Jose State Unviersity; Yi Grace Ji, Virginia Commonwealth University; Zifei Fay Chen, University of San Francisco ; Weiting Tao and Don Stacks, University of Miami

“Understanding the Social Media Engagement and Relationship Outcomes of Mobile Corporate Social Responsibility” Yang Cheng, North Carolina State University; Yan Jin, University of Georgia; Flora Hung-Baesecke, Massey University, and Regina Y. R. Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University

“Exploring Practices and Implications of Digital Public Relations Engagement with Low-Income Publics” Katie R. Place, Quinnipiac University

“Walking the Walk or Just Talking the Talk: Digital Media, Dialogue, and Ethical Communication with Diverse Publics” Erica Ciszek, University of Houston

“Social Care: Building Organizational Credibility with Key Publics Through Social Media” Karen Freberg, University of Louisville, and Carolyn Kim, Biola University

“Posting and Snapping about Wall and Travel Ban: Designing Ethical Social Media Strategies for Visual Messaging on Immigration Issues” Marcus Messner, Jeanine Guidry and Jay Adams, Virginia Commonwealth University

“How Virtual Reality Engages Publics: The Role of Presence, Authenticity and Emotions” Ming (Bryan) Wang, University of Nebraska

“Exploring the Role of Social Media Usage in Creating an Engaged Workplace” Michele E. Ewing, Kent State University, Rita Linjuan Men, University of Florida, and Julie O’Neil, Kent State University

“Errors and Corrections in Digital News Content” Kirstie Hettinga, California Lutheran University, and Alyssa Appelman, Northern Kentucky University

“Building Social Capital through Social Media in Public Relations” Hilary Fussell Sisco, Quinnipiac University

“A ‘Crucial Catch’: Examining Sports Fans' Response to Corporate Social Responsibility Messaging on Social Media” Michael Devlin and Kim Sheehan, Texas State University

“The Use of Influence Tactics by Public Relations Practitioners to Provide Ethics Counsel” Marlene Neill, Baylor University

“Enhancing Control Mutuality: The Role of Authenticity on Nonprofits' Relationship Management on Social Media” Diana Sisson, Auburn University