Open AccessAcculturation, Pluralism, and Digital Social Advocacy in Nonprofit Strategic Communications
Author(s) -
Melissa B. Adams,
Melissa Johnson
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of public interest communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2573-4342
DOI - 10.32473/jpic.v4.i2.p5
Subject(s) - acculturation , public relations , social media , pluralism (philosophy) , leverage (statistics) , flexibility (engineering) , sociology , qualitative research , immigration , political science , public sphere , social science , management , politics , philosophy , epistemology , machine learning , computer science , law , economics
This qualitative study investigates the use of acculturation-themed images in nonprofit strategic communications and digital advocacy efforts of 13 organizations serving Hispanic and Latinx immigrant communities in two U.S. states. The study analyzes data from 14 in-depth interviews with the public relations and marketing communication professionals responsible for the website content and digital strategy for the organizations. Based on study findings, the authors argue that these nonprofits are using their websites in soft advocacy efforts to promote positive prototypes of the populations they serve to majority audiences and leverage the flexibility of social media for most of their digital advocacy efforts. This analysis applies acculturation theory to a study of digital social advocacy and extends the literature on nonprofit public relations and public interest communications.