Talking Politics and Engaging in Activism: The Influence of Publics’ Social Networks on Corporations in the Public Sphere

Abstract

Scholars have extensively theorized how citizens’ political discussion networks have implications for elected political actors and can affect political and civic participation and knowledge. We shift the focus to another important political actor—corporations—to examine whether political discussion networks affect citizens’ perceptions of a politically involved corporation and their intentions to engage in consumer activism. With social network influence perspective and an egocentric design, we examined the influences of one’s network characteristics, opinion climate, and network heterogeneity. We found that the ethnic diversity of discussion partners and heterogeneity of opinions substantially influenced perceptions and behavioral intentions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adam J. Saffer

Adam J. Saffer (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research takes a network perspective to explore the ways individuals, groups, and organizations establish, use, and are influenced by communication networks. His research has been published in the Journal of Communication, American Behavioral Scientist, and Public Relations Review.

Aimei Yang

Aimei Yang (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is an associate professor at the University of Southern California. Her research interests focus on civil actors’ issue advocacy and issue networks. Her articles have appeared in journals such as Communication Theory, Business & Society, Journal of Business Ethics, Environmental Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Management Communication Quarterly.

Yan Qu

Yan Qu(M.A., University of Maryland) is a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina’s School of Media and Journalism. His research examines stakeholder engagement, dialogue, and corporate social responsibility through the lens of network theories and methods. He has published in American Behavioral Scientist and Public Relations Review.