Communication outside the humanities in media 'effect' research

This paper draws on the case study of a recent review of research literature on the influences (harms and benefits) on children and families of electronic media content and usage, undertaken on behalf of a Federal regulatory body (Australian Communications and Media Authority) by a multidisciplinary research team. Recent critiques of psychological studies of children and media have challenged the positivist social sciences to look outside of their own disciplinary warrants and to fully answer cultural studies critiques of ‘media effects’ research. Making connections outside the humanities in this case study involved making the rationales of communications and cultural studies methodologies available to those policy makers who normally may not consider such findings to be evidence-based or policy relevant. But it also involved providing a historical and institutional contextualization of positivist social and medical science findings, a contextualization not enabled by the underlying warrants and discourses of these disciplines. This paper focuses on those sections of the case study project concerned with psychological research on the effects of violent media and epidemiological and public health research on childhood obesity.

Children's media use : perspectives from social research

The paper explains the impacts of digital media on previously observed developmental patterns of time choices for the current generation of young children, age 5-11. It shows that work and family routines still influence patterns of media use, rather than just broadcast media schedules and access to digital and mobile devices. Contrary to previous research on digital natives that predicted that interactive media would eventually displace traditional linear media, these findings from a nationally-representative study show that time-use of 'lean back media' and 'lean forward media' run in parallel for Australian children 5-11.

Using mobile media to create a more diverse public sphere in marginalised communities : how to mojo

Mojo is a new mobile journalism project in isolated Indigenous communities providing skills and mobile technologies to empower Indigenous people to create locally produced user-generated stories (UGS), from their own perspective. This paper explores the degree to which these practices and technologies can help create a more diverse cultural voice in remote Indigenous environments. Diversity is a central component of the broader principle of a robust marketplace of ideas and a catalyst for greater democratic representation. A lack of diversity of opinion from and about marginalized communities in Indigenous Australia has led to underrepresentation in a highly mediated Indigenous public sphere. In the mid-1980s the deployment of AUSSAT—the Australian communications satellite—led to an influx of Western media into remote communities, creating even greater marginalization of content at the source. This resulted in an under representation of local views and culture and a lack of exposure. This paper describes the empirical study—the technical practices and outcomes of mojos recording, editing and publishing complete UGS directly from their iPhones to the Internet. This practice has the potential to create more diverse media skills, representation and new job opportunities in local media. A making of NT Mojo video can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRmGACFJd Jo. Mojo stories can be viewed at the following URL: http://ntmojos.indigneous.gov.au

Sports sponsorship as an integrated marketing communications tool : an Australian sponsor's perspective

Sports sponsorship increasingly provides organisations with the opportunity to reach their target audiences in a manner that facilitates engagement and encourages relationship development. This paper provides an Australian perspective of the value of sports sponsorship using a case study of WOW Sight and Sound’s long-term sponsorship of the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team. The case study investigates WOW’s marketing objectives which centre generating brand awareness using sponsorship with the Brisbane Broncos as an integrated marketing communications tool. WOW believes that the integration of its sponsorship of the Broncos with the team’s total marketing plan is integral to its success. This integration requires the facilitation of two-way communications between WOW, its advertising agency, the Brisbane Broncos and customers to ensure that all parties’ needs are met.

Prevalence and consequences of negative workplace cyber communications in the Australian public sector

This research studied the prevalence and impact of workplace cyberbullying as perceived by public servants working in government organisations across Australia. Using Social Information Processing theory, this research found employees reported task- and person-related cyberbullying that was associated with increased workplace stress, diminished job satisfaction and performance, and reduced confidence in their organisations' anti-bullying intervention and protection strategies. Furthermore, workplace cyberbullying can create a concealed, online work culture that undermines employee and organisational productivity. These results are significant for employers' duty-of-care obligations, and represent a cogent argument for improved workplace cultures in support to Australia's future organisational and economic performance.

Consumer appraisals of mobile marketing communications

This paper reports on a study that investigates the emotions elicited from appraising SMS-based mobile marketing (m-marketing) communications under three marketing conditions: product consistency, incentives and permission giving. Results from the experimental design show that appraising m-marketing communications elicits both single emotions and mixed emotions; that is, a mixture of positive and negative emotions in the same response. Additionally, the results show that the influence of specific marketing conditions may increase or reduce the intensity of the emotions elicited. This study contributes to marketing practice by examining consumer appraisals of m-marketing communications under different combinations of marketing conditions. The results provide insights into which emotions are likely to be elicited as a result, and how a specific marketing condition might influence their levels of intensity. The study contributes to marketing theory also through combining appraisal theory with Richins (1997) consumption emotion set.