The Influence of Brand Specific Stimuli on the Perception of Music. An Experimental Approach

In an increased competitive market, the way music performers build their brand identity becomes of great importance. Starting from a gap in the literature, the present study aims to investigate the correlations between the existence of a visual identity of a singer and the perception of the singer’s song. Thus, the research inquires if the presence of visual brand elements can generate a better attitude on the song, stronger emotional reactions and attachment, and a deeper intentional behavior in terms of listening to the song again and recommending it to others. A 1x2 online survey-based experimental design has been developed. Contrary to expectations, the data reveal neither strong, nor significant relationships between most of the above-mentioned variables. However, being an impactful topic for the music specialists, research directions that can be further investigated have been emphasized.

Is “Letting the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story” Enough? Journalists’ Perception on Fake News

While numerous scholars have studied the role media has in the fake news phenomenon, journalists’ perception on disinformation has been insufficiently approached, and only from a US and West-European point of view. Based on interviews with eight traditional media and new media professionals, this study seeks to add to the understanding of the way journalists from an East-European country see fake news in an environment influenced by time pressure and external immixture in the media. The findings show that even though all interviewed journalists place great value on fact-checking, they happened to publish information that later was demonstrated to not be trustworthy. While journalists perceive disinformation in a deeply negative manner, many of the things that add to the spread of fake news cannot be controlled by journalists as a part.

Mass Media, Social Media and Technological Evolution Today: A Theoretical Approach

This study aims to make a synthetic theoretical presentation of the main challenges currently noticeable in the evolution of the mass media and social media in the context of the accelerated development of new technologies. It is a slow, but decided, visible change, one that profoundly affects human society. In this context we put forward the use of the post-media concept, which defines the transition from classical to new (digital) media, assimilating both the facilities of rapid communication and linking, as well as the tensions arising as a result of the dangers generated and the pressures exerted by various changes. The analysis covers the main types of convergence in communication, the integration of new technologies and equipment, the generalization of interconnection, the extension and diversification of handling arrangements, and the need to rewrite ethical and professional codes for the use of those working on digital platforms.

Headlines against Democracy: Operational Code Analysis of the Serbian Daily Informer’s Headlines in Relation to the Anti-Government Protests’ First Phase (2018–2019)

Since late 2019, Serbia has been gripped in a wave of protests against, as scholarly research has dubbed it, the semi-authoritarian regime of President Aleksandar Vučić. Having in mind that the President’s regime has by known been uncovered to rule by direct and indirect control of the media, the arguably main government-supporting daily newspaper, the Informer, has been covering the protests avidly, and with significant vitriol. With the understanding a headline is seen by the reader more commonly than the whole body of the article and having in mind the Informer’s pro-clivity towards exaggeration and hyperbole, we have analyzed all of the daily’s headlines that refer to the protests, protesters, or protest/opposition leaders during the so-called ‘First phase of the protests’ via the methodo-logical position of Operational Code Analysis. The paper shows a fairly extreme OPCODE for the Informer.

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Influenced Central Bank Communication on Social Media. An Analysis of Two Major Central Banks from the Anglo-Saxon economies

This study examines how central banks communicate on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether they are using these technologies to create a bidirectional communication or to increase their transparency by reaching a wider audience. The research method used for this purpose is content analysis, by investigating the information provided on the Twitter pages of two major central banks from the Anglo-Saxon economies: the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. To be more specific, the current study is focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between central banks and the public (if they interact with their audience by responding to comments or creating debate topics that engage the public or they just offer information about their decisions or measures to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the economy), and the type of content central banks prefer (articles, online events, pictures or videos). The results show that central banks use social media and other forms of communication for the primary purpose of giving information about their efforts to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability, rather than for creating an open dialogue with the public.

The Role of Source Credibility and Message Credibility in Fake News Engagement. Perspectives from an Experimental Study

Nowadays controversial stories, conspiracy theories, or false information are massively shared on social media. Fake news is supported by the online environment because it generates traffic and financial benefits (Tandoc et al., 2018). It is a chain — users share the news on their feed, then they receive the same type of content, later on, creating the illusion of veracity through popularity. Media credibility becomes more and more relevant in the context of the proliferation of fake news. The present paper addresses the mediating role of source and message credibility in relationship with the engagement with ‘poor journalistic’ content. We aimed to identify the effects of media reputation and of the facticity of the news on (digital) behavior such as the intent to disseminate or to comment on fake news on social media and also on discussing these contents with friends. For this purpose, we applied a 2x2 between subjects online experiment by manipulating the (1) the source (high vs. low reputation online media outlets) and (2) information facticity (high vs. low). Participants (N=177), aged 18 to 53 years were selected via Facebook and the study was carried out in February 2020. The results of our research are in line with previous literature that underlined the role of source and message credibility in influencing online and offline news engagement. We observed that source credibility has an impact on news sharing on Facebook and that message credibility encourages discussion with friends. This applies to both veridical and false information. The most important takeaway of our study is perhaps that users are aware that high reputation media outlets can make mistakes. Besides, media reputation is subject to change and is related to the audiences.

Who is the Diaspora? The Negotiation of Diasporic Identities in the Romanian Online Political Discourse

Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework based on critical and pragmatic discourse analysis, this study investigates the way Romanian politicians negotiate the identity of the Romanian diaspora on their Facebook pages. It also points out to the way discourse is used to introduce and (de)legitimize political decisions and actions. The topic is analyzed in different political and social contexts: the presidential elections in 2014 and 2019, the Euro-parliamentary elections in 2019, and the crisis generated by the comeback of the Romanians abroad as a result of the corona-virus pandemics in 2020. The results of the study show that the diaspora is part of the political discourse as a topic mainly during electoral periods, which are more heavily stake driven. The subject of the diaspora was approached by political actors in a strategic manner, starting from their communication project and the political outcome they were aiming for. The paper contributes to the growing body of knowledge on strategies of constructing diasporic identities in the political discourse. The paper also illustrates spe-cific and emergent strategies of diasporic identity construction in different political and social contexts in a social media environment.

Sociodemographic Factors’ Influence on the Consumption and Assessment of COVID-19 Related Information–An International Web-Based Survey

Information flows can affect people’s apprehension of the pan- demic and related behaviors. The aim is to explore how people access and assess COVID-19 information and whether sociodemographic factors are associated with these processes. Quantitative data from 928 persons from 29 countries who participated in an international web-based survey was ana- lyzed with descriptive and analytic statistics. Television, newspapers and social media were common sources to search for certain types of COVID-19 information. Age, educational level, employment status and sex were as- sociated with differences in terms of reported sources, types, and reliability assessments of retrieved information. Sex and education levels were associ- ated with differences pertaining to main sources and kinds of information searched. Younger respondents reported more frequent uses of social media than older respondents. Older respondents assessed information from tra- ditional media as more reliable information from social media. The current results show trends about where and how information is accessed and assessed during the pandemic. Some associations with sociodemographic factors were found, but the study’s cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences. Further research on consumption patterns of COVID-19 infor- mation and its effects on consumers is motivated, as this may in turn affect people’s attitudes and behavior relating to the pandemic.

The Visual Construction of the Romanian Militarized Masculinity on Romanian Army’s Facebook Pages

Because nowadays’ world is visually saturated, many social re- searchers are using visual methods to understand how images contribute to the shaping and perpetuation of social constructs, norms, and behaviors. Gender is such a construct, and the beliefs and principles that contributed to the social and visual construction of gender have been broadly argued in the last decades. However, in today’s digitalized world, there is a space poorly explored by gender and visual researchers, namely how the army as a media actor contributes to the construction of masculinity through the images it promotes online. Thus, with the purpose to explore this gap, the present paper examines how the Romanian armed forces visually construct the militarized masculinity on their official Facebook pages, highlighting how those images contribute to the consolidation of the existing gendered stereotypes. Through the photos it disseminates, the Romanian Army le- gitimizes the main role of men in defending the country by revealing de- sirable male characteristics and the high degree of connectivity with the military theatre.

Social Media for Crisis Communication in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Study of NCDC

Several scholars have studied social media use for crisis com- munication. However, few studies have been carried out to investigate so- cial media deployment during a public health crisis, such as the Corona- virus outbreak. This study accessed public awareness and engagement of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)’s social media use for crisis communications during the Coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria. It also as- sessed the influence of communication towards public positive behavioural adjustments. The study data was gathered via a survey of 400 citizens and Facebook users and analysed using excel and SPSS. The study found public awareness of the NCDC social media communications during the outbreak; there was also a public behavioural adjustment to NCDC’s recommended preventive behaviours. However, there was a low engagement in NCDC’s crisis communication via Facebook. The study reveals a high level of public uncertainty about NCDC Facebook communications and a change in public opinion about the Coronavirus. This study concludes that this situation could result from competing information about the Coronavirus on social media during the COVID outbreak and recommended further studies in this area. Findings are helpful for health communication policy reviews, strategic crisis communication assessments, appraisal of similar agencies, and further research.