Working at the interface : the descriptive relevance of Grunig and Hunt’s theories to public relations practices in south east Queensland schools

This article examines the relevance of James Grunig and Todd Hunt’s (1984) theories to public relations practitioners’ roles in south east Queensland schools. It focuses in particular on the two-way symmetric model in this context. The geographical boundaries of the research mean that this article is intended primarily as an exploratory, descriptive analysis of a specific area rather than an exhaustive treatise on the general topic of public relations in Australian schools. However, it is hoped that it will prove useful in identifying bases for further study and discussion.

Leveraging mundane technologies for group mobile social communication

This paper outlines results from the long-term deployment of a system for mobile group socialization which utilizes a variety of mundane technologies to support cross-media notifications and messaging. We focus here on the results as they pertain to usage of mundane technologies, particularly the use of such technologies within the context of a cross-media system. We introduce “Rhub”, our prototype, which was designed to support coordination, communication and sharing amongst informal social groups. We also describe and discuss the usage of the “console,” a text-based syntax to enable consistent use across text messaging, instant messaging, email and the web. The prototype has been in active use for over 18 months by over 170 participants, who have used it on an everyday basis for their own socializing requirements.

Universally composable contributory group key exchange

We treat the security of group key exchange (GKE) in the universal composability (UC) framework. Analyzing GKE protocols in the UC framework naturally addresses attacks by malicious insiders. We define an ideal functionality for GKE that captures contributiveness in addition to other desired security goals. We show that an efficient two-round protocol securely realizes the proposed functionality in the random oracle model. As a result, we obtain the most efficient UC-secure contributory GKE protocol known.

Modeling key compromise impersonation attacks on group key exchange protocols

A key exchange protocol allows a set of parties to agree upon a secret session key over a public network. Two-party key exchange (2PKE) protocols have been rigorously analyzed under various models considering different adversarial actions. However, the analysis of group key exchange (GKE) protocols has not been as extensive as that of 2PKE protocols. Particularly, the security attribute of key compromise impersonation (KCI) resilience has so far been ignored for the case of GKE protocols. We first model the security of GKE protocols addressing KCI attacks by both outsider and insider adversaries. We then show that a few existing protocols are not secure even against outsider KCI attacks. The attacks on these protocols demonstrate the necessity of considering KCI resilience for GKE protocols. Finally, we give a new proof of security for an existing GKE protocol under the revised model assuming random oracles.

Attitudes towards American brands and brand America

A study of 556 students at colleges and universities in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore explored the relationship between attitude towards the United States and brand attitudes and preferences. Singaporean student attitudes towards both the US Government and US people were higher than were those of the Australian and Hong Kong students. Coke, Nike and McDonald's were among both the most-liked and disliked US brands among the international students, a finding suggesting that brands may possess both a 'lovemark' status, as described in the literature, and its opposite — 'loathemark' status — within the same demographic group. US brand preference scores did not offer support for the belief that international consumers 'vote with their pocketbooks' by refusing to purchase US brands if they have a negative attitude towards the United States. Among Hong Kong and Singaporean students, favourable attitudes towards the purchase of US brands was found to be positively related to favourability towards the US Government.

In search of a theory of integrated marketing communication

For the most part, the literature base for Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) has developed from an applied or tactical level rather than from an intellectual or theoretical one. Since industry, practitioner and even academic studies have provided little insight into what IMC is and how it operates, our approach has been to investigate that other IMC community, that is, the academic or instructional group responsible for disseminating IMC knowledge. We proposed that the people providing course instruction and directing research activities have some basis for how they organize, consider and therefore instruct in the area of IMC. A syllabi analysis of 87 IMC units in six countries investigated the content of the unit, its delivery both physically and conceptually, and defined the audience of the unit. The study failed to discover any type of latent theoretical foundation that might be used as a base for understanding IMC. The students who are being prepared to extend, expand and enhance IMC concepts do not appear to be well-served by the curriculum we found in our research. The study concludes with a model for further IMC curriculum development.

Context and models for the analysis of individual and group needs

This paper summarizes the papers presented in the thematic stream Models for the Analysis of Individual and Group Needs, at the 2007 IAEVG-SVP-NCDA Symposium: Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership. The predominant theme which emerged from the papers was that theory and practice need to be positioned within their contexts. For this paper, context has been formulated as a dimension ranging from the individual’s experience of himself or herself in conversations, including interpersonal transactions and body culture, through to broad higher levels of education, work, nation, and economy.

The exploration of consumer power in online brand communities : a comparison case study in Australia and China

Aided by the development of information technology, the balance of power in the market place is rapidly shifting from marketers towards consumers and nowhere is this more obvious than in the online environment (Denegri-Knott, Zwick, & Schroeder, 2006; Moynagh & Worsley, 2002; Newcomer, 2000; Samli, 2001). From the inception and continuous development of the Internet, consumers are becoming more empowered. They can choose what they want to click on the Internet, they can shop and transact payments, watch and download video, chat with others, be it friends or even total strangers. Especially in online communities, like-minded consumers share and exchange information, ideas and opinions. One form of online community is the online brand community, which gathers specific brand lovers. As with any social unit, people form different roles in the community and exert different effects on each other. Their interaction online can greatly influence the brand and marketers. A comprehensive understanding of the operation of this special group form is essential to advancing marketing thought and practice (Kozinets, 1999). While online communities have strongly shifted the balance of power from marketers to consumers, the current marketing literature is sparse on power theory (Merlo, Whitwell, & Lukas, 2004). Some studies have been conducted from an economic point of view (Smith, 1987), however their application to marketing has been limited. Denegri-Knott (2006) explored power based on the struggle between consumers and marketers online and identified consumer power formats such as control over the relationship, information, aggregation and participation. Her study has built a foundation for future power studies in the online environment. This research project bridges the limited marketing literature on power theory with the growing recognition of online communities among marketing academics and practitioners. Specifically, this study extends and redefines consumer power by exploring the concept of power in online brand communities, in order to better understand power structure and distribution in this context. This research investigates the applicability of the factors of consumer power identified by Denegri-Knott (2006) to the online brand community. In addition, by acknowledging the model proposed by McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig (2002), which emphasized that community study should focus on the role of consumers and identifying multiple relationships among the community, this research further explores how member role changes will affect power relationships as well as consumer likings of the brand. As a further extension to the literature, this study also considers cultural differences and their effect on community member roles and power structure. Based on the study of Hofstede (1980), Australia and China were chosen as two distinct samples to represent differences in two cultural dimensions, namely individualism verses collectivism and high power distance verses low power distance. This contribution to the research also helps answer the research gap identified by Muñiz Jr & O'Guinn (2001), who pointed out the lack of cross cultural studies within the online brand community context. This research adopts a case study methodology to investigate the issues identified above. Case study is an appropriate research strategy to answer “how” and “why” questions of a contemporary phenomenon in real-life context (Yin, 2003). The online brand communities of “Haloforum.net” in Australia and “NGA.cn” in China were selected as two cases. In-depth interviews were used as the primary data collection method. As a result of the geographical dispersion and the preference of a certain number of participants, online synchronic interviews via MSN messenger were utilized along with the face-to-face interviews. As a supplementary approach, online observation was carried over two months, covering a two week period prior to the interviews and a six week period following the interviews. Triangulation techniques were used to strengthen the credibility and validity of the research findings (Yin, 2003). The findings of this research study suggest a new definition of power in an online brand community. This research also redefines the consumer power types and broadens the brand community model developed by McAlexander et al. (2002) in an online context by extending the various relationships between brand and members. This presents a more complete picture of how the perceived power relationships are structured in the online brand community. A new member role is discovered in the Australian online brand community in addition to the four member roles identified by Kozinets (1999), in contrast however, all four roles do not exist in the Chinese online brand community. The research proposes a model which links the defined power types and identified member roles. Furthermore, given the results of the cross-cultural comparison between Australia and China showed certain discrepancies, the research suggests that power studies in the online brand community should be country-specific. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on online consumer power, by applying it to the context of an online brand community, as well as considering factors such as cross cultural difference. Importantly, it provides insights for marketing practitioners on how to best leverage consumer power to serve brand objective in online brand communities. This, in turn, should lead to more cost effective and successful communication strategies. Finally, the study proposes future research directions. The research should be extended to communities of different sizes, to different extents of marketer control over the community, to the connection between online and offline activities within the brand community, and (given the cross-cultural findings) to different countries. In addition, a greater amount of research in this area is recommended to determine the generalizability of this study.

Consumers' accounts of perceived risk online and the influence of communication sources

The purpose of this paper is to extend marketing knowledge into perceived risk in online transactions beyond the current positivistic, hypotheses-driven research by providing qualitative insights into how individuals construct their accounts of perceived risk online. Additionally, the study reported in this paper aims to explore how communication sources influence both these subjective constructions and individuals' behavioural experiences with transaction activity on the web. Design/methodology/approach - The study was developed within a grounded theory method.Ten in-depth interviews were conducted which were analysed using constant comparison of incidents procedures to provide rich descriptions of the interviewees' subjective perceptions and lived experiences with online transaction activity. Findings - The findings provide insights into how the human clement is present in individuals'perceptions and constructions of their accounts of the risk involved online.The findings also identify the influence of mass communication sources on the construction of these accounts. The study provides insights into whether change agent communication sources, such as marketers or web designers,influence consumers' behaviours towards online transaction activity through mediating their perceptions of the risks involved. The study also reveals how social communication networks influence the interviewees' decisions to use the web (or transaction activities, in particular online purchasing, and how the group in this study might act as a communication source to influence others. Research limitations/Implications - While the findings cannot be generalised to the internet population overall, the sample used was able to provide relevant information regarding the phenomenon of interest. Future research should continue to examine perceived risk and the influence of communications sources, such as e-mail, discussion groups and virtual communities. Originality/value - The value of the paper lies in permitting the participants to account for perceived risk for themselves. The findings ex.plore what this means at increasing levels of personal relevance and the influence of communication sources to create, sustain or mediate perceptions of this phenomenon.

The influence of social communication networks on intentions to purchase on the web

Despite the increased offering of online communication channels to support web-based retail systems, there is limited marketing research that investigates how these channels act singly, or in combination with online channels, to influence an individual' s intention to purchase online. If the marketer's strategy is to encourage online transactions, this requires a focus on consumer acceptance of the web-based transaction technology, rather than the purchase of the products per se. The exploratory study reported in this paper examines normative influences from referent groups in an individual's on and offline social communication networks that might affect their intention to use online transaction facilities. The findings suggest that for non-adopters, there is no normative influence from referents in either network. For adopters, one online and one offline referent norm positively influenced this group's intentions to use online transaction facilities. The implications of these findings are discussed together with future research directions.

The critical competences needed for innovative organizational inter-firm and intra-firm integration

In today's highly challenging business environment, an innovative and systemic approach is imperative to survival and growth. Organisational integration and technological integration, are often seen as a catalyst of change that could lead to significant improvements in organisations. The levels of improvement in inter and intra firm integration should arise from a detailed understanding and development of competences within and between organisations. Preliminary findings suggest that lack of trust across organisational cultures within the firms has a negative influence on the development of the capabilities to integrate and align technological innovations and hinders implementation and the effectiveness of the operations. Additionally, poor communication and conflict effects customer satisfaction. Firms need to transfer the competences that support cooperative integration, developed through interaction with supply chain partners, to their relationship arrangements with other supply chain partners, as these are key to ensuring low operational costs.

Inward exporting of professional services : lessons from an exploratory study of Australian educational firms

Inward export activities for services companies have been largely neglected in the literature. Little is known about how professional service firms export to overseas consumers who travel to the domestic market of the firm. This study utilizes a resource-based perspective (RBV) to explore the main barriers and drivers of export performance for professional education services. A case study of Australia’s education industry, as well as interviews with executives from four Australian education institutions, was conducted. Findings show that inward exporters confront most barriers in the domestic market where the service is provided, and drivers of export performance combine firm- and country-specific resources.

Engaging, enraging public relations and the role of the other

The intention of this paper is to further the discussion around the development of theories of public relations by introducing to the mix the concept of the Other from the field of cultural studies. The development of discipline-specific theories as part of a “scholarly body of knowledge” (Wylie, 1994, p.2) – or at least a “unique” knowledge base (Parkinson, 2001) – has been suggested as one of the defining characteristics of a true profession. In the case of public relations, this is a development that has occurred relatively recently. Since public relations first began to emerge as a distinct practice in the early part of the 20th century, there has been a tendency to appropriate theories from other areas (such as organisational and media studies) to create a relevant theory base to explore, describe and predict public relations activities. However, these theories were often rarely more than a ‘best fit’ solution, and resulting areas of discrepancy led to much confusion surrounding the form and function of public relations. It could be argued therefore that the development of dedicated public relations theory – ideas that encompass the creation, maintenance and enhancement of relationships between organisations and publics as primary motivations – only began in the latter half of the 20th century with the work of people such as Grunig and Hunt, and latterly Ledingham and Bruning among others.

Faster group operations on elliptic curves

This paper improves implementation techniques of Elliptic Curve Cryptography. We introduce new formulae and algorithms for the group law on Jacobi quartic, Jacobi intersection, Edwards, and Hessian curves. The proposed formulae and algorithms can save time in suitable point representations. To support our claims, a cost comparison is made with classic scalar multiplication algorithms using previous and current operation counts. Most notably, the best speeds are obtained from Jacobi quartic curves which provide the fastest timings for most scalar multiplication strategies benefiting from the proposed 12M + 5S + 1D point doubling and 7M + 3S + 1D point addition algorithms. Furthermore, the new addition algorithm provides an efficient way to protect against side channel attacks which are based on simple power analysis (SPA). Keywords: Efficient elliptic curve arithmetic,unified addition, side channel attack.

Exploring product placement in video games : an investigation of recall effects

Despite its growth and prominence, product placement is generally under-researched and this is even more apparent in the area of placement in video gaming. This paper presents exploratory focus group research into this practice. Findings indicate that the introductory footage to a game provides placement opportunities with the highest level of recall, while peripheral non-action is the worst. Interestingly, recall also appears to be higher for individual brands as opposed to manufacturer brands.