The Handbook of Communication Engagement

A comprehensive volume that offers the most current thinking on the practice and theory of engagement

With contributions from an international panel of leaders representing diverse academic and professional fields The Handbook of Communication Engagement brings together in one volume writings on both the theory and practice of engagement in today’s organizations and societies. The expert contributors explore the philosophical, theoretical, and applied concepts of communication engagement as it pertains to building interaction and connections in a globalized, networked society.

The Handbook of Communication Engagement is comprehensive in scope with case studies of engagement from various disciplines including public relations, marketing, advertising, employee relations, education, public diplomacy, and politics.  The authors advance the current thinking in engagement theory, strategy, and practice and provide a review of foundational and emerging research in engagement topics. The Handbook of Communication Engagement is an important text that: 

• Provides an overview of the foundations and philosophies of engagement
• Identifies the contexts of engagement relating to specific areas across government and corporations, including CSR, consumer, activism, diplomacy, digital, and social impact
• Includes examples of contemporary engagement practice
• Presents applications of engagement and technology
• Offers insights on the future directions of engagement 

The Handbook of Communication Engagement offers an essential reference for advanced undergraduate, graduate students, practitioners and scholars from communication, media, advertising, public relations, public policy, and public diplomacy areas. The volume contains a compendium of the writings on the most recent advances on the theory and practice of engagement. 

Winner of the 2018 PRIDE Award for Innovation, Development, and Educational Achievement from the Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association.

Kim A. Johnston, PhD, is a senior lecturer at QUT Business School and leads the stakeholder engagement research group. She consults widely with private and public organizations and undertakes research in community engagement, social change and social impact.

Maureen Taylor, PhD, is Professor and Director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee. Taylor's research has focused on nation building and civil society, dialogue, engagement and new technologies.

Notes on Contributors xi

1. Engagement as Communication: Pathways, Possibilities, and Future Directions 1
Kim A. Johnston and Maureen Taylor

Part I   Theoretical Foundations and Guiding Philosophies of Engagement 17

2. Toward a Theory of Social Engagement 19
Kim A. Johnston

3. How Fully Functioning Is Communication Engagement If Society Does Not Benefit? 33
Robert L. Heath

4. Philosophy and Ethics of Engagement 49
Petra Theunissen

5. Dialogic Engagement 61
Anne Lane and Michael L. Kent

6. Modeling Antecedents of User Engagement 73
Heather L. O’Brien and Jocelyn McKay

Part II   Engaged Organizations 89

7. Toward a Cultural Ecology of Engagement 91
James Everett

8. Reconceptualizing Public Relations in an Engaged Society 103
Maureen Taylor

9. The Missing Half of Communication and Engagement: Listening 115
Jim Macnamara

10. Corporate Social Responsibility and Engagement: Commitment, Mapping of Responsibilities, and Closing the Loop 133
Bree Hurst and Øyvind Ihlen

11. Engaging Shareholder Activists: Antecedents, Processes, and Outcomes 149
Nur Uysal

12. Episodic and Relational Community Engagement: Implications for Social Impact and Social License 169
Kim A. Johnston, Anne B. Lane, Bree Hurst, and Amanda Beatson

13. Engagement in Conflict: Research and Practice 187
Tyler R. Harrison and Jessica Wendorf Muhamad

14. Coworkership and Engaged Communicators: A Critical Reflection on Employee Engagement 205
Mats Heide and Charlotte Simonsson

15. Conceptualizing Strategic Engagement: A Stakeholder Perspective 221
Aimei Yang

Part III   Engaged Networks and Communities 231

16. Engaging Partnerships: A Network-Based Typology of Interorganizational Relationships and their Communities 233
Marya L. Doerfel

17. Media Engagement in Networked Environments: An Ecological Perspective 253
Mohammad Yousuf

18. Activist Stakeholders Challenging Organizations: Enkindling Stakeholder-Initiated Engagement 269
W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry J. Holladay

19. The Outcomes of Engagement in Activism Networks: A Co-creational Approach 285
Adam J. Saffer

20. Designing for Viable Futures: Community Engagement as Social Innovation 301
Marianella Chamorro-Koc and Glenda Amayo Caldwell

Part IV   Towards an Engaged World 311

21. Global Engagement: Culture and Communication Insights From Public Diplomacy 313
R. S. Zaharna

22. Public Diplomacy as Co-constructed Discourses of Engagement 331
Alina Dolea

23. Corporate Diplomacy as an Engagement Strategy of the Nonmarket Business Environment 347
Sarab Kochhar

24. Habits of the Heart and Mind: Engagement in Civil Society and International Development 357
Amanda K. Kennedy and Erich J. Sommerfeldt

25. Political Engagement, Communication, and Democracy: Lessons from Brexit 371
Ian Somerville

 26. Deliberative Engagement and Wicked Problems: From Good Intentions to Practical Action 383
Paul Willis, Ralph Tench, and David Devins

27. “Changing Worlds” Through Intentional Dialogic Engagements 397
Kerrie Mackey-Smith and Grant Banfield

Part V   Digital Influences on Engagement 409

28. From Advertising to Engagement 411
Edward C. Malthouse and Bobby J. Calder

29. Emotional Engagement in a New Marketing Communication Environment 421
Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Lisa-Charlotte Wolter

30. Virtual Engagement: A Theoretical Framework of Affordances, Networks, and Communication 439
Lisa V. Chewning

31. Consumer Engagement in the Digital Era: Its Nature, Drivers, and Outcomes 453
Wolfgang Weitzl and Sabine Einwiller

32. Consumer Engagement in Social Media in China 475
Yi-Ru Regina Chen

33. The Role of Social Capital in Shaping Consumer Engagement within Online Brand Communities 491
Jana Lay-Hwa Bowden, Jodie Conduit, Linda D. Hollebeek, Vilma Luoma-aho, and Birgit Andrine Apenes Solem

34. Engagement, Interactivity, and Diffusion of Innovations: The Case of Social Businesses 505
Ruth Avidar

35. New Media Challenges to the Theory and Practice of Communication Engagement 515
Greg Hearn, Caroline Wilson-Barnao, and Natalie Collie

Part VI   Future Challenges for Engagement as Theory and Practice 529

36. Negative Engagement 531
Matias Lievonen, Vilma Luoma-aho, and Jana Bowden

37. Critical Perspectives of Engagement 549
Magda Pieczka

Index 569

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