Fast-food information, information quality and information gap: a temporal exploration of the notion of information in science communication on climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carin Graminius
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Information Gap ◽  
Analytical Point ◽  
Concept Of Information

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to discuss the concept of information in relation to temporality within the context of climate change communication. Furthermore, the paper aims to highlight the empirical richness of information as a concept by analysing its use in context.Design/methodology/approachThe discussion is based on 14 semi-structured interviews with initiators and collaborators of 6 open letters on climate change published in 2018–2019. By taking three specific notions the interviewees introduced—fast food information, information quality and information gap–as the analytical point of departure, the study aims for a contextual understanding of information grounded in temporal sensitivity.FindingsThe paper finds that information in the context of open letters is informed by different, and at times contradicting, temporalities and timescapes which align with various material, institutional and discursive practices. Based on this finding, the paper argues that notions of information are intrinsically linked to the act of communicating, and they should be viewed as co-constituting each other.Originality/valueThe paper contributes with an empirically informed discussion regarding the concept of information as it is used in a specific context. It illustrates how “information” is far from being understood in a singular fashion, but is made up of multifaceted and at times contradictory understandings. Ultimately, they correspond to why and how one communicates climate change information.

Conflating scholarly and science communication practices: the production of open letters on climate change

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1359-1375
Author(s):  
Carin Graminius
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Scholarly Communication ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Academic Science ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communication Practices

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse interfaces between scholarly and science communication practices by using the production of open letters on climate change as a point of departure. Furthermore, the paper highlights an understudied form of science communication – open letters.Design/methodology/approachThe material consists of nine open letters on climate change, written and signed by academics and published in 2018–2019, as well as 13 semi-structured interviews with the initiators and co-authors of the letters. The interviews were analysed by qualitative thematic analysis and grouped into thematic clusters.FindingsThe study finds that three practices used in scholarly communication – more specifically: peer review, professional community building and, to a certain extent, communication as “merit-making” – are central in the making of the open letters, illustrating an integration of scholarly communication practices in academic science communication activities.Social implicationsThe study suggests that the conflation of communication practices needs to be seen in relation to larger structural changes in the academic working environment, as well as in relation to the specific environment in which communication about climate change occurs.Originality/valueThis study contends that the proposed conflation between scholarly and science communication concerns not only texts and genres but also practices integral to contemporary science, thereby conflating the forms of communication at a practical level.

scholarly journals Perspectives of artist–practitioners on the communication of climate change in the Pacific

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Capstick ◽  
Sarah Hemstock ◽  
Ruci Senikula
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of the visual arts for communicating climate change in the context of the Pacific islands, through the perspectives of artists and climate change practitioners. Design/methodology/approach As part of an “Eco Arts” project carried out in Fiji, semi-structured research interviews were undertaken with artists and climate change practitioners. Findings Participants’ motivations to produce art reflected their personal concerns about, and experiences of, climate change. There was an intention to use art-based approaches to raise awareness and promote action on climate change. The artwork produced drew on metaphors and storytelling to convey future climate impacts and aspects of climate change relevant to Fijian and Pacific communities. Research limitations/implications The study reports the perspectives of participants and discusses the potential uses of arts communication. Conclusions cannot be drawn from the findings regarding the effectiveness of specific artwork or of arts communication as a general approach. Practical implications The research offers suggestions for the inclusion of creative approaches to climate change communication within education and vocational training. A consideration of the perspectives of artist–practitioners has implications for the design and conduct of climate change communication. Social implications The involvement of artist–practitioners in the communication of climate change offers the potential for novel discussions and interpretations of climate change with individuals and within communities, which complement more formal or scientific communication. Originality/value The present study identifies the motivations and objectives of artist–practitioners involved in climate change communication. The authors highlight the role of personal experience and their use of artistic concepts and creative considerations pertinent to the geography and culture of the Pacific region.

scholarly journals Exploring the intersections: researchers and communication professionals' perspectives on the organizational role of science communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaisu Koivumäki ◽  
Clare Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Influences ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Funding Policies ◽  
Negative Impacts

PurposeThis paper reports on research exploring the intersections between researchers and communication professionals' perspectives on the objectives, funders and organizational influences on their science communication practices.Design/methodology/approachExamining one context, the inter-organizational BCDC Energy Research project based at five different research organizations in Finland, this paper presents data from semi-structured interviews with 17 researchers and 15 communication professionals.FindingsThe results suggest that performance-based funding policies that drive the proliferation of large-scale research projects can create challenges. In particular, a challenge arises in generating a shared sense of identity and purpose amongst researchers and communication professionals. This may have unintended negative impacts on the quality and cohesiveness of the science communication which occurs.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was exploratory in nature and focuses on one organizational and institutional environment. Further research with a wider number of projects, as well as funders, would be conducive to a greater understanding of the issues involved.Practical implicationsOn a practical level, this research suggests that the creation of clearer communications awareness and guidance may be helpful in some large-scale projects, particularly involving broad numbers of organizations, individual researchers and funders.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies examining the perspectives of both researchers and communication professionals working over one project, drawing together a range of different institutional and disciplinary perspectives. The results highlight the importance of the influences of funding on science communication aims, assumptions, cultures and structures. The article articulates the need for further research in this area.

scholarly journals Organizational adaptation to climate change: learning to anticipate energy disruptions

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 645-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato J. Orsato ◽  
Simone R. Barakat ◽  
José Guilherme F. de Campos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Double Loop Learning ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
New Forms Of Learning

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how organizational learning (OL) affects the development of anticipatory adaptation to climate change in companies. Because the need to learn increases in circumstances of greater uncertainty such as the case of climate change, one of the processes that can explain different levels of anticipatory adaptation to climate change (AACC) by companies is OL. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a case study design. Following the procedures of qualitative sampling, an exemplary case of organizational adaptation to climate change in a sector that is extremely affected by the impacts of weather events was chosen. Empirical data collection includes semi-structured interviews and the collection of private and public documents. Such data were analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings The process of OL for anticipatory adaptation to climate change presents substantial differences from the traditional OL process presented by the specialized literature. In particular, the concepts of single- and double-loop learning were challenging to fit into the learning processes required for AACC. Originality/value Organizations have historically been working towards the adaption to external unforeseen events, but anticipatory adaptation to climate change presents new challenges and requires new forms of learning. Previous research has examined the interplay between learning and climate change adaptation, especially at the inter-organizational level. By developing research at the organizational level, this paper addresses a gap in the literature and shows that the required learning to adapt to climate change differs from the traditional learning, described in the management literature.

Equity crowdfunding: US Title II offerings using sentiment analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bree Dority ◽  
Sarah J. Borchers ◽  
Suzanne K. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Information Quantity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
Market Sentiment ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Equity Crowdfunding ◽  
Concept Of Information

Purpose This study aims to investigate how the language used in US Title II equity crowdfunding campaign descriptions relates to campaign success. Design/methodology/approach Data on >3,200 equity offerings from 12 Title II platforms was obtained from 2013 to 2016. The aspects of the campaign descriptions that are focused on are tone and two measures of readability: information quantity – the amount of information available to the investor and information quality – the ease of understanding of the passage of text. Tobit regressions with sector-clustered standard errors are used for estimation while controlling for company-specific variables, market sentiment and platform, regional, sector and time effects. Results are robust to alternative estimation approaches. Findings Inverse U-shaped relationships exist between information quantity, information quality and tone and Title II equity crowdfunding campaign success. Overall, less is more as it appears that an intermediate level of information – quantity, quality and tone – is optimal in terms of being a factor that contributes to equity crowdfunding campaign success. Originality/value Extends the use of textual analysis to the equity crowdfunding environment in the USA where such analysis is lacking and provides empirical evidence that the language used (e.g. sentiment) in US Title II equity-based crowdfunding campaign descriptions does influence campaign success. It provides empirical evidence of and extends the concept of information overload to the entrepreneurial finance sub-field and indicates tone may be an additional information attribute to consider in this context as contributing to overload.

Information culture: a perspective from Mainland China

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-125
Author(s):  
Zhiying Lian ◽  
Gillian Oliver
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Organizational Setting ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Information Culture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Concept Of Information ◽  
Chinese And English

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of information culture in Mainland China and apply the information culture framework to an organizational setting. Design/methodology/approach The foundation for the research is provided by a review of Chinese and English language literature and a case study of a university library was conducted, involving semi-structured interviews. Findings The information culture framework facilitated identification of factors not recognized in previous information culture research, including uniquely Chinese factors of egocentrism, guanxi (relationships), mianzi (face), hexie (harmony) and renqing (mutual benefit). A further finding highlighted the profound differences between archives and library institutions in China. Originality/value The paper provides the first step toward further exploring features of Chinese organizational culture which will not only influence information management practices but also highlight the issues relating to collaboration between libraries and archives in China.

scholarly journals What Framework Promotes Saliency of Climate Change Issues on Online Public Agenda: A Quantitative Study of Online Knowledge Community Quora

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Shi ◽  
Changfeng Chen ◽  
Jie Xiong ◽  
Haohuan Fu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
Knowledge Community ◽  
The Public ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Public Agenda

Though scientists have achieved consensus on the severity and urgency of climate change years ago, the public still considers this issue not that important, as the influence of climate change is widely thought to be geographically and temporally bounded. The discrepancy between scientific consensus and public’s misperception calls for more dedicated public communication strategies to get climate change issues back on the front line of the public agenda. Based on the large-scale data acquired from the online knowledge community Quora, we conduct a computational linguistic analysis followed by the regression model to address the climate change communication from the agenda setting perspective. To be specific, our results find that certain narrative strategies may make climate change issues more salient by engaging public into discussion or evoking their long-term interest. Though scientific communicators have long been blaming lack of scientific literacy for low saliency of climate change issues, cognitive framework is proved to be least effective in raising public concern. Affective framework is relatively more influential in motivating people to participate in climate change discussion: the stronger the affective intensity is, the more prominent the issue is, but the affective polarity is not important. Perceptual framework is most powerful in promoting public discussion and the only variable that can significantly motivate the public’s long-term desire to track issues, among which feeling plays the most critical role compared with seeing and hearing. This study extends existing science communication literature by shedding light on the role of previously ignored affective and perceptual frameworks in making issues salient and the conclusions may provide theoretical and practical implications for future climate change communication.

Examining the dilution of the consumer-brand relationship on Facebook: the saturation issue

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahy Ramadan
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
System Quality ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
Brand Relationship

Purpose Brands have been progressively using social networking sites, namely, Facebook, as part of their strategy to engage their consumers and ultimately build long-term relationships with them. Nonetheless, with the overuse of “engagement ads” by brands, saturation related to information overload is expected to be reached leading to the dilution of the consumer–brand relationship. The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature which has predominantly focused on the positive side of social networking sites, and hence still lacks a thorough understanding of the potential risks brands face when using Facebook. Accordingly, this research examines the different risks brands would be facing from saturated consumers on social networking sites such as Facebook. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted, with a total of 40 respondents using face-to-face semi-structured interviews over two stages. While the first stage of the study focused on examining the saturation risk and its potential negative effects, the second one explored these risks specifically on the consumer–brand relationship on Facebook. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then coded for analysis using NVivo 8. Findings Brands are overloading their followers with passively endorsed brand messages, which are negatively affecting consumers’ experience on Facebook, as well as the relationship with these brands. This overall dilution of the consumer–brand relationship on Facebook was hence found to be affecting interaction, similarity with friends, the system quality of the social networking site, as well as information quality. Furthermore, this dilution was found to be affecting brand likability, brand trust and brand association. Originality/value The negative implications are still scarcely examined in the literature where social media engagement is predominantly discussed through a positive lens. Hence, this study has the peculiarity of discussing the risks that companies would face with Facebook’s engagement model along with their implications on the consumer-brand relationship.

Identifying Muda in a fast food service process in Spain

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Francisco Morales-Contreras ◽  
Manuel F. Suárez-Barraza ◽  
Marcelo Leporati
Keyword(s):  
Fast Food ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Fast Food Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Production ◽  
Customers Perspective

Purpose Identification and elimination of Muda (any activity adding cost but not value from the customers’ perspective) is one of the main objectives of Lean service. Whilst there is significant research on implementing lean in manufacturing and some service industries, there is little information related to its application to the fast food service industry. The purpose of this paper is to try to fill in this gap by answering the research question: What type of Muda could be identified from the customers’ perspective within the service production processes in the fast food restaurant industry in Spain? Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study has been conducted. Three multinational companies were selected and several sites observed in Madrid, Spain. Three methods were used to gather data: document analysis; direct and participative observation and semi-structured interviews. Findings The paper identifies the seven types of Muda: defects, movements, process, inventory, overproduction, transport and delay. The results are discussed for Cases A, B and C, showing that A and B present higher potential for Muda, compared C. Practical implications Threefold value for practitioners and managers: waste identification is an opportunity for non-efficient processes improvement; observation/analysis from the customers’ perspective reveals that customers perceive these inefficiencies; a guideline/audit tool for future assessments. Originality/value The paper contributes to the limited existing literature on lean service in fast food industry and disseminates this information to provide impetus, guidance and support toward increasing the productivity, efficiency, consistency and quality of service.

The Effects of Establishing Intimacy and Consubstantiality on Group Discussions About Climate Change Solutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Frances Bloomfield ◽  
Lyn M. Van Swol ◽  
Chen-Ting Chang ◽  
Stephanie Willes ◽  
Paul Hangsan Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
Word Count ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Climate Change Information ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Linguistic Inquiry ◽  
The Many

The many obstacles to productive climate change communication necessitate new approaches. Based on science communication strategies that promote engagement rather than knowledge transfer, we assigned participants ( N = 329) to randomized chat groups that discussed similarities between group members (intimacy condition) or information about climate change (information condition). This study combined Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and rhetorical analysis and found that groups in the intimacy condition were more likely to exhibit commonality than groups in the information condition. This study offers practical strategies for having productive discussions on controversial scientific topics such as climate change.

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