exploring the effects of negative publicity

8/2/2019 Exploring the Effects of Negative Publicity

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Exploring the effects of negative publicity: Newscoverage andpublic perceptions of a universitySei-Hill Kim, John P. Carvalho, Christy E. CookseyDepartment of Communication & Journalism, Auburn University, AL 36849, United States

Received 6 September 2006; received in revised form 2 December 2006; accepted 21 February 2007AbstractUsing content analysis of a local newspaper and data from a survey of local residents, this studyexamines the effects of negativepublicity on public perceptions of a university. Greater exposure to unfavorable news articles wasassociated with lower levels ofperceived reputation and trust in the university. These unfavorable perceptions were in turn related todecreased support for theuniversity. Negative publicity, therefore, does more than shape perceptions; it may have effects onvarious forms of public supportthat would significantly affect an organizations current and future undertakings. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. IntroductionUniversities and colleges serve as an important news source for many local newspapers and

news broadcasts. At thesame time, news media function as a major communication channel, through which people learnabout local issues,including what happens on the campus. Favorable news coverage may promote a positive imageof a university, whichin turn produces greater community support. Negative publicity, on the other hand, may hurt itspublic image, leadingto unfavorable public opinion. Building and maintaining positive media relations, therefore, mayplay an importantrole in generating greater community support.

Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 233235

Exploring the effects of negative publicity: Newscoverage andpublic perceptions of a universitySei-Hill Kim, John P. Carvalho, Christy E. Cooksey

Department of Communication & Journalism, Auburn University, AL 36849, United StatesReceived 6 September 2006; received in revised form 2 December 2006; accepted 21 February 2007

AbstractUsing content analysis of a local newspaper and data from a survey of local residents, this studyexamines the effects of negative


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publicity on public perceptions of a university. Greater exposure to unfavorable news articles wasassociated with lower levels ofperceived reputation and trust in the university. These unfavorable perceptions were in turn related todecreased support for theuniversity. Negative publicity, therefore, does more than shape perceptions; it may have effects onvarious forms of public supportthat would significantly affect an organizations current and future undertakings. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. IntroductionUniversities and colleges serve as an important news source for many local newspapers andnews broadcasts. At thesame time, news media function as a major communication channel, through which people learnabout local issues,including what happens on the campus. Favorable news coverage may promote a positive imageof a university, whichin turn produces greater community support. Negative publicity, on the other hand, may hurt itspublic image, leadingto unfavorable public opinion. Building and maintaining positive media relations, therefore, mayplay an importantrole in generating greater community support.Previous research has investigated news publicity and its effects mostly in case-based or

experimental analyses,which raise concern about the generalizability of findings. Whereas many studies examined newscoverage of businessorganizations, little effort has been made to look at how media publicity may affect not-for-profitorganizations, such ashigher education. In a small university-town setting, this study explores the potential effects ofmedia publicity. Usingsurvey data from a probability sample of local residents, we first examine how negative newscoverage has producedunfavorable public perceptions of a university. We then relate these perceptions to communitysupport, examiningwhether unfavorable perceptions lead to decreased support for the university. Taken together,this study provides anintegrated view of negative publicity, looking at its effects on peoples perceptions of anorganization, which in turnmay influence a variety of public support. We test the following two hypotheses:H1. Greater exposure to negative publicity will be associated with unfavorable perceptions of theuniversity.H2. Unfavorable perceptions will be associated with decreased support for the university.

Corresponding author at: 220 Tichenor Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, United States. Tel.: +1 334 844 7272.0363-8111/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2007.02.018

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2. Methods

Our study used a combination of content analysis and survey data. The content analysisexamined how favorably orunfavorably the university was presented in a local newspaper. The opinion survey was designedto explore whetherthe news coverage had effects on peoples perceptions, which in turn might influence theirsupport for the university.For content analysis, we manually scanned the local news, editorials, and opinion columnsections of the Opelika-Auburn News. A total of 191 articles about Auburn University were identified between 20 Marchand 19 October2004, the day before the beginning of our opinion survey. In the area, the Opelika-Auburn Newsis the only dailylocal newspaper on which most residents rely for their local news. After having conducted aseries of training andpilot-test sessions, two independent coders (Scotts pi = .85) coded each article as primarilyunfavorable, favorable, or


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neutral.Survey data came from a telephone interview of residents in the Auburn-Opelika area, whereAuburn University islocated. Households were randomly selected from the telephone directory of the area. A total of403 respondents wereinterviewed between 20 and 30 October 2004, with a cooperation rate (COOP1) of 56.4%. Threeitems were used to

measure local newspaper reading, tapping respondents exposure to articles about theuniversity. Respondents wereasked how often they read (a) local hard news, (b) editorials and opinion columns about localaffairs, and (c) storiesabout Auburn University.We used a total of six items to measure public perceptions. The firstthree tapped respondentsperceived reputation of Auburn University ( = .75). The other three assessed another dimensionof public perceptions,the question of how trustworthy the university was ( = .85). Support for the university was alsomeasured with sixitems asking respondents willingness to engage in a variety of supportive behaviors, such asmaking a donation,attending sporting events, and purchasing university products ( = .81).

3. FindingsOf the 191 news articles analyzed, a large majority (N= 151, 79.1%) were about theadministration, whereas onlysmall numbers dealt with the faculty (N= 17, 8.9%) and students (N= 23, 12.0%). Whereas moststories about thefaculty (N= 13, 76.6%) and students (N= 17, 76.1%) were either favorable or neutral, a majorityof articles aboutthe administration (N= 95, 62.9%) were unfavorable. When combined, unfavorable stories (N=105, 55%) greatlyoutnumbered favorable articles (N= 59, 30.9%), indicating that news coverage of the universityhad been largelyunfavorable. Compared with the local news section (55.3% unfavorable), editorials and opinioncolumns (69.7%), and

letters from readers (83.3%) were particularly negative about the administration.The heavy unfavorable coverage of the administrationwas not surprising, because of three majorevents that happenedin late 2003 and early 2004: the revelation of a late-season secret trip by university officials tohire a new footballcoach; the universitys being placed on one-year probation by its accrediting agency; and thefiring of the universitysonly female vice president.The first hypothesis (H1) examines the relationship between exposure to negative publicity andpublic perceptions.Our content analysis indicates that news coverage has been largely unfavorable in portraying theuniversity. If newscoverage does influence peoples perceptions, it can be expected that greater exposure to thenewspaper will be relatedto more unfavorable perceptions. In order to test H1, we used regression analyses where twomeasures of publicperceptions (perceived reputation andperceived trust) were regressed onto three measures oflocal newspaper reading(local hard news, editorials and opinion columns, stories about Auburn University), along with anumber of controlvariables (demographics, local ties, university affiliation).The regression analyses provided considerable support for the idea that news coverage mayinfluence readersperceptions of a university. Even after accounting for a series of control variables, exposure toeditorials and opinion

columns indicated significant and negative relationships to perceived reputation ( =.128,p < .05) and perceived trust( =.155,p < .05). It is important to note that editorials and opinion columns, and also lettersfrom readers found


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in the same section, were particularly unfavorable when talking about the university. SupportingH1, these findingsindicate that negative media publicity may lead to unfavorable public perceptions of anorganization.Our second hypothesis (H2) deals with the relationship between public perceptions and supportfor a university.Weagain used regression analysis, examining whether unfavorable perceptions were related to

lower levels of communitysupport. Respondents support for the university was regressed onto two perception measures(perceived reputationandperceived trust), along with other control and newspaper reading variables.

S.-H. Kim et al. / Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 233235 235

Supporting H2, perceived trust showed a strong and significant relationship ( = .477,p < .001),indicating that thosewho did not find the university trustworthy were less willing to engage in supportive behaviors.Perceived reputation,however, did not show such a significant relationship. These findings may suggest that it isprobably not the reputation

but the question of how trustful a university is that affects public support for its current andfuture undertakings.4. DiscussionOur findings support the idea that media publicity may play an important role in enhancing ordamaging the publicimage of an organization. In particular, the present study demonstrates that media publicity mayinfluence not onlybusiness organizations but also not-for-profit institutions, such as higher education. Anotherimportant finding wasthat unfavorable perceptions were related to decreased support for the university. Respondentswho perceived anunfavorable image were less willing to engage in a variety of activities that would support theuniversity. Negative

publicity, therefore, does more than shape peoples perceptions; it may have effects on variousforms of public supportthat would significantly affect an organization.Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of a mutually-beneficial relationshipbetween an organizationand the media. Successful community relations may depend in part on maintaining a positiveand cooperativerelationship with the local media. As researchers and practitioners alike point out, the mostimportant tool for anorganization in crisis can be a public relations expert who possesses a professional and workingrelationship with newsorganizations.

Another implication of our findings is that universities and colleges can gain greater publicsupport not simplyby establishing a great academic reputation but also by building a positive relationship with localcommunities. Inparticular, our data showthat perceived trust functions as a primary factor to generate publicsupport, whereas perceivedreputation may not play such an important role. Higher education must be able to offer an imageof itself as a concernedand responsible citizen, working hard with and for its local communities. This can be done bymaintaining mutuallybeneficial relationships, listening carefully to what the community expects, and incorporatingcommunity opinionsinto important decisions, which altogether would enhance public confidence in the university.

A copy of the complete study can be requested from the author.

exploring the effects of negative publicity

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