Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 40 Issue 3

Issue of Communications

Submit manuscript

Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available September 2, 2015

Articles

September 2, 2015

Dimensions of diversity: Mapping the field of media and communication studies by combining cognitive and material dimensions

Alexander Buhmann, Diana Ingenhoff, Benedetto Lepori

Page range: 267-293

Abstract

In this study we empirically map the field of media and communication studies (MCS) by focusing on relationships between cognitive dimensions (such as research topics and approaches) on the one hand and material dimensions (such as funding and institutionalization) on the other. Our analysis, which focuses on the field of MCS in Switzerland, identifies two clusters of research institutions representing distinct strands of research in the field. Results show how these two strands differ in terms of their resource base, institutional positioning and recognition, teaching and transfer activities, as well as activities of scientific production. Similarities and differences in these dimensions serve to explain the general evolution of the field.

September 2, 2015

Age differences in recall and liking of arousing television commercials

Margot J. van der Goot, Eva A. van Reijmersdal, Mariska Kleemans

Page range: 295-317

Abstract

This article examines whether there are differences between older and younger adults in recall and liking of arousing television commercials. As hypothesized, the experiment demonstrated that older adults remembered brands and products in calm commercials better than in arousing commercials, and they also liked calm commercials more. In contrast, younger adults remembered brands and products in arousing commercials better and they liked these commercials more. In addition, (curvi)linear relationships showed that for older adults arousal deteriorates their recall and liking, whereas for younger adults arousal – up to a certain point – is beneficial. These findings strongly suggest that advertising effects found in younger samples are unlikely to be the same for older target groups. An important practical implication is that it currently seems wise to make commercials targeted towards older adults calm instead of arousing when the aim is to generate brand recall and liking.

September 2, 2015

Youth and intimate media cultures: Gender, sexuality, relationships, and desire as storytelling practices in social networking sites

Sander de Ridder, Sofie van Bauwel

Page range: 319-340

Abstract

This paper investigates how young people give meaning to gender, sexuality, relationships, and desire in the popular social networking site (SNS) Netlog. In arguing how SNSs are important spaces for intimate politics, the extent to which Netlog is a space that allows contestations of intimate stories and a voicing of difference is questioned. These intimate stories should be understood as self-representational media practices; young people make sense of their intimate stories in SNSs through media cultures. Media cultures reflect how audiences and SNS institutions make sense of intimacy. This paper concludes that intimate stories as media practices in the SNS Netlog are structured around creativity, anonymity, authenticity, performativity, bricolage and intertextuality. The intimate storytelling practices focusing on creativity, anonymity, bricolage and intertextuality are particularly significant for a diversity of intimacies to proliferate.

September 2, 2015

Advertising in social network sites – Investigating the social influence of user-generated content on online advertising effects

Johannes Knoll, Holger Schramm

Page range: 341-360

Abstract

In today’s social online world there is a variety of interaction and participatory possibilities which enable web users to actively produce content themselves. This user-generated content is omnipresent in the web and there is growing evidence that it is used to select or evaluate professionally created online information. The present study investigated how this surrounding content affects online advertising by drawing from social influence theory. Specifically, it was assumed that web users sharing an interpersonal relationship (interpersonal influence) and/or a group membership (collective influence) with authors of user-generated content which appears next to advertising on the web page are more strongly influenced in their response to the advertising than unrelated users. These assumptions were tested in a 2 × 2 between-subject experiment with 118 students who were exposed to four different Facebook profiles that differed in terms of interpersonal connection to the source (existent/non-existent) and collective connection to the source (existent/non-existent). The results show a significant impact in the case of collective influence, but not in the case of interpersonal influence. The underlying mechanisms of this effect and implications of the results for online advertising are discussed.

Research in brief

September 2, 2015

Bots or journalists? News sharing on Twitter

Anders Olof Larsson, Moe Hallvard

Page range: 361-370

Abstract

Online news sites have become an internet ‘staple’, but we know little of the forces driving the popularity of such sites in relation to what could be understood as the latest iteration of the web – social media services. This research in brief article discusses empirical results regarding the uses of Twitter for news sharing. Specifically, we present a comparative analysis of links emanating from the service at hand to a series of media outlets over a six-month period in two countries; Sweden and Norway. Focusing on linking practices among highly active Twitter accounts, we problematize the assumption that online communication involves two or more humans by directing attention to more or less automated ‘bot’ accounts. In sum, it is suggested that such automated accounts need to be dealt with more explicitly by researchers as well as practitioners interested in the popularity of online news as expressed through social media activity.

Book Reviews

September 2, 2015

Book Review

Leen d’Haenens

Page range: 371-375

September 2, 2015

Book Review

Melanie Magin

Page range: 376-378

About this journal

Objective
Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research is an established forum for scholarship and academic debate in the field of communication science and research from a European perspective. Communication science is concerned with the investigation of the structure and function of communication processes and their impact on society, social groups and individuals. Communications highlights the concerns of this discipline through the publication of articles, research reports, review essays and book reviews on theoretical and methodological developments considered from a European perspective. The journal encompasses the entire field of communication science as its domain of interest. The contributions published in the journal cover a wide range of subfields in communication science.

Topics

Communication reseach
Structure and function of communication
Impact on society, social groups and individuals
Interpersonal communication
Intercultural communication
Mass communication
Communication theory
Philosophy of communication
Media history
Media development and communication technology

Article formats
Original articles, research reports, review essays, and book reviews

Volume 40 Issue 3

Issue of Communications

Frontmatter

Dimensions of diversity: Mapping the field of media and communication studies by combining cognitive and material dimensions

Abstract

Age differences in recall and liking of arousing television commercials

Abstract

Youth and intimate media cultures: Gender, sexuality, relationships, and desire as storytelling practices in social networking sites

Abstract

Advertising in social network sites – Investigating the social influence of user-generated content on online advertising effects

Abstract

Bots or journalists? News sharing on Twitter

Abstract

Book Review

Book Review