Zagonel, Anissa (author), Baker, Lauri M. (author), King, Audrey E.H. (author), and Kansas State University
Oklahoma State University
Association for Communication Excellence
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 15 Document Number: D10433
15 pages., Via online journal., Investment of employees in a brand can lead to greater public understanding and positive impressions of a brand by external stakeholders. However, this can be challenging in public organizations with multiple brand segments and a large number of employees spread across great distance with limited funds for marketing. While previous work has looked at Extension agents, faculty, and volunteers’ brand perceptions, no studies have looked at communication services employees’ investment in the brand. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how well employees in a university and Extension printing and mail entity understood the Extension brand and their investment in the brand. Research questions that guided this study were: 1) What perceptions and investment do communication services employees have in the Extension brand? And 2) what are employees’ perceptions of the organization’s branding and marketing efforts? Each of the 18 interviews included a series of questions focusing on employees’ story related to Extension and employees’ thoughts on branding and marketing efforts. Results in this study with communication services employees indicate these employees are not invested in the brand with the majority having little to no understanding of the mission of Extension. This contradicts previous research with employees in other brand segments of Extension. Implications of this work include a need for training on the Extension mission for communication services employees, a shift in culture to encourage investment in the brand, and inclusion of all Extension employees in the mission of Extension.
Brubaker, McKayla (author), Settle, Quisto (author), Downey, Laura (author), Hardman, Alisha (author), and Oklahoma State University
Mississippi State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10246
19 pages., Via online journal., Mississippi residents were surveyed to determine their perceptions surrounding the The Food Factor brand. The Food Factor is a weekly Extension mass media program that communicates research-based information about food, nutrition, diet, and healthy lifestyles. A researcher-developed survey instrument was used to collect information using Qualtrics. The sample consisted of a representative sample of 404 Mississippi residents over the age of 18. Nonprobability quota sampling was used to examine population segments related to sex, Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic populations, and other racial demographic segments. The respondents were asked about their use and awareness of The Food Factor, where they were split into viewer and non-viewer categories. Viewers were asked about their viewing frequency, perceptions and skills learned related to watching The Food Factor, and their nutrition-related behaviors. Non-viewers were also asked about their perceptions of The Food Factor between branded and non-branded The Food Factor episodes. This study found the The Food Factor brand lacked brand recognition and recall. However, the respondents had a slightly positive perception of the brand. Overall, this study could not conclude that branding of the episodes was making a difference in non-viewers’ perceptions, despite the fact that many previous studies have identified branding as an important strategy in social marketing. Recommendations include a consistent and increased use of the brand, such as subtitles or logos, and future research on the use of branding in social marketing program, social marketing in Extension, and the role of branding in mass media programs.
