2c:T4ba,

This study analyzes how corporate organizations responded to changes for reproductive rights in the United States after the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision. Qualitative thematic analysis with computer-assisted and manual coding is used to examine brands’ statements related to abortion politics and employees’ reproductive rights. Corporate social advocacy is employed as a theoretical lens to identify concepts and themes from 117 organizational statements issued in 2022 after the leak and final court decision. Brands responded in various ways, such as acknowledging the healthcare implications and offering statements of material support for employees, advocating for reproductive rights and criticizing the Supreme Court, and recognizing the changing legal landscape for key publics with diverse political views. Responses were addressed to blends of internal and external publics, with some brands focusing on healthcare and human resources management while others waded more directly and pointedly into political and values advocacy. Brands continue to wade into social and political issues and this study provides an inquiry on the hotly contested issue of abortion.

2d:T4a2,

This study analyzes the reasons that drove several multinational public relations agencies to set foot in different financial cities within Latin America between the 1990s and 2000s. During this period of time, countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, strengthened their democracies and significantly opened their economies to the world. Within this context, this study employs global cultural flow theory; particularly the concepts of ethnoscapes, finanscapes and mediascapes, to theorize on the reasons that led these multinational public relations agencies to invest time, money, and human resources in these economies. Through 16 in-depth interviews with seasoned public relations professionals from these agencies, plus a qualitative content analysis of media coverage on the region published in PRWeek, this study seeks to contribute to the growing literature at the intersection of public relations and neoliberalism, theorizing on the why and how these global firms expanded their businesses to Latin America in a quest for new clients and publics to serve.

2e:T4b3,

Latin American nation branding has been conceived as an economic development strategy by governments within the region, justified by the commercial and political dependency of their countries on the Global North. This study takes that perspective one step forward, proposing that the economic and political dependency of Latin American countries is embedded in the representations and stereotypes that exist about the region within different forms of global news and entertainment media. Through in-depth interviews with 25 nation branding professionals with extensive experience working on behalf of Latin American governments, this study suggests that existing stereotypes (such as being an “exotic” and/or “dangerous” region of the world) were constantly conceived as an aid and/or a constrain in their work. Theoretically, this study draws from the concept of “promotional regime of visibility.” The goal is to theorize on the existing global power relations between Latin American nations and their counterparts in the Global North to counteract these stereotypes, defined by limited and ambivalent representations of these countries’ social, cultural, and political realities.

2f:T23f8,