From Advocacy to Activism: A Multi-Dimensional Scale of Communicative, Collective, and Combative Behaviors

Abstract

Although advocacy and activism have been discussed in communication literature, are important in society, and often aid in organizational success, conceptual definitions and valid measurement of the concepts are lacking. By searching the literature, seeking two rounds of expert feedback, and employing two surveys ( N = 1,300) for scale development, this study advances a new measurement model of behavior that may be useful for future research and practice. The findings support six distinct factors of behavioral advocacy and activism, three representing advocacy and three representing activism. The behaviors are communicative, collective, and combative in nature. Implications are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

“…Staff, and students in particular, are positioned as advocates and collaborators for climate action in UK universities' climate emergency declarations [15]. They have the potential to effect change through advocacy and activism, defined respectively as behaviours that involve "listening, amplifying, and promoting an issue, cause or organization [that are] low-cost or low-risk" and those that are "more direct, committed, and vigorous [that are] high-cost and high-risk" [41] which also "draw public attention and concern to an issue" [42]. Both approaches have been used by academics who have publicly urged governments and universities to take action [43,44], with some advocating for peaceful civil disobedience by scientists and acting on it [45][46][47].…”

Gun Control Agendas in Networked Digital Environment: An Intermedia Comparison Between News Outlets, Activism Media, and Ephemeral Websites

“…Some studies have considered social media as a homebase for contemporary activism and examined its agenda-building function by examining issue salience between social media and mainstream news content (Lee & Xu, 2018;Parmelee, 2014). Similarly, public relations activists have engaged in activities like pitching stories to journalists and amplifying their presence on social media platforms to increase the likelihood of shaping social discourse and influencing traditional news agendas (McKeever et al, 2023).…”

“…First, activism/advocacy media are directly operated by social movement or counter-movement agents and thus represent activists' agendas in the purest form. The strategic alignment between the agendas built by activism/advocacy groups and the agendas salient in regular news coverage has been necessary to mobilize public consensus (Klandermans & Goslinga, 1996;McKeever et al, 2023). Despite the importance, few studies have systematically examined the agenda alignments between activism/advocacy media and news media.…”