Marketplace Advocacy Campaigns: Generating Public Support for Bus ...

marketplace advocacy as a form of issue advocacy, describing issue advocacy from a historical perspective and highlighting the distinctions between marketplace advocacy and other forms of issue advocacy. Chapter 4 further develops the theoretical model that has been introduced in this chapter (see figure 1.1). The chapter first explores the role of advertiser trust—namely source credibility and industry accountability—as a determinant of attitudes toward the industry that is featured in the campaign. Second, the chapter highlights how these campaigns have the potential to raise awareness of certain industry issues and ultimately shape public perceptions relative to these issues. Environmental concern is also introduced in the model as a moderating variable for industry approval. Chapter 4 concludes with the case study that was used to test the model, a coal industry marketplace advocacy campaign known as “Friends of Coal.” Chapter 5 details the study’s methodology, a multilevel research approach including quantitative model testing and additional post hoc analyses that take a closer look at the relationships among the model’s variables. The results of these investigations are discussed in chapter 6. Chapter 7 considers the implications of these analyses and expands on their relevance and importance for business and industry advocacy campaigns, environmental efforts, and public policy. Finally, chapter 8 offers concluding thoughts regarding marketplace advocacy, including answers to the questions that have been posed in this chapter (Why does marketplace advocacy target the general public? Is it possible for marketplace advocacy campaigns to engender trust in a business or industry among audiences? Can marketplace advocacy influence public perceptions of a corporation’s actions? How is the end goal of generating approval for the sponsoring corporation or industry accomplished?). Limitations of this study and directions for future research are also addressed in chapter 8.

Summary

Marketplace advocacy, a form of issue advocacy, involves a business’s efforts to promote a product, service, or general industry category while addressing public concerns about the risks that are associated with a