This paper reports on an examination of data on how local residents in Tuscaloosa, a mid-sized city in the state of Alabama, United States, responded to Hurricane Ivan of September 2004. The evaluation revealed that an integrated connection to community-level communication resources-comprising local media, community organisations and interpersonal networks-has a direct impact on the likelihood of engaging in pre-hurricane preparedness activities and an indirect effect on during-hurricane preparedness activities. Neighbourhood belonging mediated the relation between an integrated connection to community-level communication resources and during-hurricane preparedness activities. Neighbourhood belonging was determined to increase the likelihood of taking preparedness actions during Hurricane Ivan, but not prior to it. In addition, we discovered an interesting pattern for two different types of risk perceptions: social and personal risk perceptions. Social risk perceptions increase the likelihood of taking preventative steps before a hurricane while personal risk perceptions are positively related to engaging in preventative action during a hurricane.

This experimental study with a national online sample (n = 300) tested the effects of storytelling in radio advertisements on participants' positive emotional responses and intentions to share information about the product, depending on audiences' narrative engagement level. Treatments included a commercial for a fictitious brand of luggage using a story told by the founder of the company, another version of the same commercial manipulated so the speaker was a customer of the company, and a control stimulus consisting only of information about the product. Results showed that narrative transportation and narrative preference are positively associated with favorable responses toward ad. Stories elicited more favorable emotional responses and had some effect on participants' intention to share information about the product by word‐of‐mouth. This was especially true among participants hearing the founder's story. Results support previous assumptions about the power of storytelling in advertising, including distinctions regarding the identity of the speaker (founder vs. customer).

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The current study examines the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health among young adults in the US, how they use social media and the social support they obtain from the online environment, and the effect on their mental health during stay-at-home orders. Our survey among 18-to-25-year-olds found that women and those uncertain of employment status due to the pandemic experienced elevated depression symptoms. The informational acquisition motive for using social media was positively associated with depression symptoms, and a higher level of online informational support contributed to increasing the symptoms. Young adults showed the lowest level of depression symptoms when they had a higher level of offline emotional support and a lower level of online informational support. Our survey stressed the importance of offline emotional support and reconfirmed that nothing can replace its value.

PurposeThis study sets out to understand the extent to which public relations practitioners use dissent tactics in the face of organizational unethical decisions, and to examine how organizational environment facilitates such dissent.Design/methodology/approachA web‐based survey was conducted with the assistance of the research team of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). A systematic random sample of 6,126 practitioners was drawn from the 2008 PRSA membership directory.FindingsThe results reaffirmed that “assertive confrontation” was the most frequently adopted tactic to resist an unethical organizational decision. Practitioners were more likely to confront management in an organization where top leaders do not support or exhibit ethical behavior. When an organization does not have an ethics code, practitioners were more likely to agitate others to oppose the unethical decision. Selective use of information and sabotage tactics were adopted when an organization does not value open communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to practitioners in the USA, and the response rate was very low (4.02 percent).Originality/valueAs one of the grounding studies in public relations dissent, this research contributes to better understanding how public relations practitioners make an effort to promote organizational ethics by resisting unethical organizational decisions. The study also sheds light on the characteristics and nature of dissent in public relations, an important but little explored area in the field.