Scholarly Publications - Communication and Design

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11693/115581

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 98

Open Access
Signaling silence: Affective and cognitive responses to risks of online activism about corruption in an authoritarian context
(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022) Dal, Ayşenur; Nisbet, Erik C.; Kamenchuk, Olga
Networked authoritarian governments’ use of digital repression creates uncertainty and amplifies risk signals for ordinary citizens using social media for political expression. Employing theoretical frameworks from the risk and decision-making literature, we experimentally examine how citizens perceive and respond to the risks of low-effort forms of online activism in an authoritarian context. Our online field experiment demonstrates that emotional responses to the regime’s risk signals about online activism drive decision-making about contentious online political expression as compared with cognitive appraisal of risk. Moreover, the relationship between anticipatory emotions and contentious online political expression varies significantly depending on individuals’ involvement with the controversial topic of expression. We discuss the importance of emotions and citizen risk judgments for understanding online activism within networked authoritarian contexts.
Open Access
Managing pandemic communication online Turkish Ministry of Health’s digital communication strategies during COVID-19
(University of Southern California, 2023) Aksak Özdora, Emel; Dikmen, E. Ş.; Kılıç, N. P.
Health ministries around the world have used online communication, specifically social media platforms, to provide information, communicate warnings to the public, and influence behavior according to recommended health precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded in agenda-setting theory, this study analyzes Turkey’s Ministry of Health’s (MoH) social media communication strategies and practices during COVID-19 through a content analysis of the content shared via its official Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts from February to June 2020, focusing on the first 120 days of the pandemic, when it was at its height. Findings reveal that the MoH’s social media activity was mainly driven by Twitter, and the minister of health has become the face of the fight against the pandemic. Results reveal that the government’s efforts to fight against the virus and its prevention measures are among the most popular themes in online communication. The MoH’s social media communication has shown only limited success in community building and network expansion due to inconsistent and ineffective hashtag use, among other weaknesses in the ministry’s use of social media conventions.
Open Access
‘Welcoming’ guests: The role of ideational and contextual factors in public perceptions about refugees and attitudes about their integration
(Uluslararası İlişkiler Konseyi Derneği İktisadi İşletmesi, 2023-12-19) Özen, H. E.; Dal, Ayşenur; Tokdemir, Efe
In this study, we aim to explore the ideational and contextual sources of perceptions about refugees. Contrary to many studies focusing on the interaction with and integration of refugees in developed countries, we examine the effect of social identity and refugee exposure on the perception of refugees in Turkey, which pose a substantive case with a background of ethnic conflict and scarce resources. We contend that social identities provide individuals with cues; however, we argue that identity type and its salience are key to understanding in-group vs. out-group formation processes, hence the perceptions about refugees. Moreover, we argue that socioeconomic status affects an individual’s support for refugee integration, as it challenges the existing status quo of access to scarce resources. Our findings challenge the conventional wisdom in migration studies by employing an original face-to-face survey among over 1,100 respondents in three cities (Istanbul, Diyarbakir, and Gaziantep) in Turkey. We find that those prioritizing national vs. religious identities reveal different levels of perceived threat. Additionally, we show that those belonging to lower-income socioeconomic groups are less supportive of refugee integration when the presence of refugees sets the ground for competition for economic and social resources where they reside.
Open Access
Practices of knowledge exchange in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
(Springer, 2023-11-20) Peschke, Lutz; Gyftopoulos, S.; Kapusuzoğlu, A.; Folkvord, F.; Gümüş Ağca, Yasemin; Kaldoudi, E.; Drosatos, G.; Ceylan, N. B.; Pecchia, L.; Güneş Peschke, S.
This paper contributes to a better understanding of a system of pandemic knowledge exchanges. Therefore, three different case studies conducted in Germany, Greece, and Turkiye and executed in multiple countries were analyzed in the context of Mode 3 knowledge production and the Quintuple Helix system. While the Quintuple Helix system describes the knowledge exchange processes between the systems of science, economy, politics, public, and natural environment of societies for sustainable innovation processes, Mode 3 emphasizes the importance of a creative environment for research and innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the need for knowledge exchange with the media-based public increased dramatically. In both models, Mode 3 and the Quintuple Helix but also in the Design Thinking approach, the creative environment incorporates the knowledge of the media-based public. Nonetheless, the reality of the public is constructed as media reality. Therefore, a mix of evidence-based and opinion-based knowledge is produced and transferred during knowledge exchange in the context of innovation processes including public engagement. It could be understood that the mediating entities media and general practitioners have a similar double function in the context of knowledge exchange with the public during the pandemic times. The results reveal the big need for knowledge communication and exchange platforms which on the one hand strengthen citizen participation by transforming opinion-based into evidence-based content. On the other hand, reach the status of a global standard medium for the pandemic knowledge exchange accepted by all stakeholders of the Quintuple Helix. This generates a shared-knowledge environment with a gain for all systems of the Quintuple Helix during the sustainable innovation processes. © 2023, The Author(s).
Open Access
Preferences in the willingness to download an mHealth app: Discrete choice experimental study in Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands
(JMIR Publications, Inc., 2023-12-25) Folkvord, Frans; Bol, Nadine; Stazi, Giacomo; Peschke, Lutz; Lupiáñez-Villanueva, Francisco
Background: Despite the worldwide growth in mobile health (mHealth) tools and the possible benefits for both patients and health care providers, the adoption of mHealth is low, and only a limited number of studies have examined the intention to download mHealth apps. Objective: In this study, we investigated individuals’ preferences in the adoption of a health app. Methods: We conducted a discrete choice experimental study in 3 countries (Spain: n=800, Germany: n=800, and the Netherlands: n=416) with 4 different attributes and levels (ie, price: €1.99 vs €4.99 [a currency exchange rate of €1=US $1.09 is applicable] vs for free, data protection: data protection vs no information, recommendation: patients’ association vs doctors, and manufacturer: medical association vs pharmaceutical company). Participants were randomly assigned. For the analyses, we used the conditional logistic model separately for each country. Results: The results showed that price and data protection were considered important factors that significantly increased the probability to download an mHealth app. In general, the source of the recommendation and the manufacturer affected the probability to download the mHealth app less. However, in Germany and the Netherlands, we found that if the app was manufactured by a pharmaceutical company, the probability to download the mHealth app decreased. Conclusions: mHealth tools are highly promising to reduce health care costs and increase the effectiveness of traditional health interventions and therapies. Improving data protection, reducing costs, and creating sound business models are the major driving forces to increase the adoption of mHealth apps in the future. It is thereby essential to create trustworthy standards for mobile apps, whereby prices, legislation concerning data protection, and health professionals can have a leading role to inform the potential consumers.
Open Access
Sensors as media and sensor-mediated communication: an introduction to the special issue
(Oxford University Press, 2023-08-23) Özkul, Didem; Halegoua, G. R.; Wilken, R.; Humphreys, L.
This special issue examines mediated communication through the rise of sensors. Sensors are increasingly in the phones we carry, in the cars we drive, and throughout the homes and communities in which we live. In this introduction to the special issue, we define sensor-mediated communication (SMC) and argue the embedded, automatic, and datafied nature of sensors belie the glitches and biases in sensor mechanisms, networks, and infrastructure. The collection of articles in this issue explores SMC across a variety of contexts and cases, including municipal infrastructure, community, health, industry, and the domestic. They represent studies of voice assistants, self-tracking apps, self-driving cars, fitness games, home health care, as well as municipal sensor networks in urban, indigenous, and rural communities. Across them all we see the different ways through which mediated communication is initiated, transformed, and maintained by sensing technologies. Together they represent an important evolution in the study of computer-mediated communication.
Open Access
What a difference context makes: comparing communication strategies of migration NGOs in two neighboring countries
(Routledge, 2022-12-31) Dimitrova, D.; Ozdora-Aksak, Emel
This research study compared non-governmental organizations(NGOs) working in the area of migration in two neighboring countries–Bulgaria and Turkey. Utilizing in-depth interviews with39 NGO professionals in both countries, the analysis identified critical differences in public opinion dynamics, organizational structures and interdependencies, and government relationships. Further analysis unveiled how the local socio-economic and political context had impacted NGO communication strategies as well as the specific communication channels, public engagement activities, and social media campaigns in each country. Implications for communication scholarship during times of increasing migration flows and globalization are discussed.
Open Access
Comparing national vs. international coverage of terrorism: A framing analysis of the Reina nightclub terrorist attack
(IGI Global, 2022) Alakoc, Burcu Pinar; Ozdora-Aksak, Emel
While terrorist incidents are physically, psychologically, and financially costly, they also provide targeted governments with a window of opportunity to engage in public diplomacy in the international arena. In the wake of terrorist attacks, leaders of the targeted countries can try to use media outlets to convey intentionally crafted messages and framing strategies, described generally as public diplomacy, to foster dialogue and shape international public opinion. The success of public diplomacy, however, depends on how far these national messages reach, and how effective they are in swaying international public opinion. Drawing on national and international news sources, this study conducts a framing analysis of 40 new stories covering the Reina nightclub terrorist attack, which took place in Istanbul on New Year's Eve of 2017. It analyzes the similarities and differences in the national versus international media coverage of the incident and discusses their implications for the effectiveness of Turkish public diplomacy.
Open Access
Preferences in the Willingness to Download a COVID-19 Contact Tracing App in the Netherlands and Turkey: Experimental Study
(JMIR Publications Inc., 2022-07-01) Folkvord, Frans; Peschke, Lutz; Gümüş Ağca, Yasemin; van Houten, Karlijn; Stazi, Giacomo; Lupiáñez-Villanueva, Francisco
Background: Despite the worldwide growth in using COVID-19 contact tracing apps (CTAs) and the potential benefits for citizens, governments, health care professionals, businesses, and other organizations, only a few studies have examined the factors affecting the levels of willingness to download a CTA. Objective: This study aimed to investigate individuals’ preferences in the willingness to download a health app. Methods: We conducted an experimental study in 2 countries, the Netherlands (N=62) and Turkey (N=83), using 4 different vignettes (ie, data protection, manufacturer, reward, and gaming models) with different attributes. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of the conditions within the vignettes. Results: The results showed that data protection and gaming elements are factors that influence the willingness to download a COVID-19 CTA. More specifically, we see that data protection is an important factor explaining the willingness to download the app in Turkey, whereas including gaming elements significantly affects the willingness to download the app in the Netherlands. Conclusions: COVID-19 CTAs are highly promising to reduce the spread of the virus and make it easier to open up society faster, especially because they can be used quickly and share information rapidly. COVID-19 CTA developers must ensure that their apps satisfactorily and sufficiently address ethical considerations, even in times of crisis. Furthermore, integrating gaming elements in the CTA could enhance the willingness to download the CTA.
Open Access
The development workshop cooperative giving voice to the voiceless
(Routledge, 2021-11-04) Özdora Akşak, Emel Işıl; Dimitrova, Daniela V.
This case study presents the case of a specific NGO from Turkey, the Development Workshop Cooperative (DWC), and reveals how the organization engages in advocacy for marginalized communities. Turkey fosters an active NGO scene, especially since the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2011. The DWC is one of the few local NGOs working to provide a voice to the most marginalized populations – namely, the Syrian Dom community, whose members are typically ignored by the Turkish and Syrian governments alike and tend to fall under the radar of most mainstream media due to the lack of access to this specific ethnic group. The Development Workshop Cooperative is also a unique NGO as it is innovatively structured as a non-profit cooperative. The main goal of this chapter is to reveal the communication and advocacy efforts of this innovative NGO to help create awareness about marginalized communities in Turkey and to foster social change and development. This qualitative study presents detailed interviews with two social development experts from the DWC to reveal their working structures, priorities, ongoing projects and advocacy efforts, media relations, main challenges they face, as well as their goals for the future in their work for disadvantaged communities in Turkey. The findings are discussed to reveal strategies for enhanced communication and advocacy for civil society organizations in their work to support disadvantaged and marginalized communities.
Open Access
“Waging war” for doing good? The fortune global 500’s framing of corporate responses to COVID-19 pandemic
(MDPI, 2022-03-01) Uysal, Nur; Akşak, Emel Özdora
This study examined corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and pandemic responses of large corporations across multiple industries in a global context. Specifically, this research (1) described the state of CSR communication during the pandemic, and (2) identified how top global Fortune 500 corporations framed their COVID-19 pandemic responses as part of their social advocacy. An in-depth content analysis of the corporate communication messages revealed that top global corporations positioned their pandemic responses as an extension of their ongoing CSR commitment, prioritizing their philanthropic responsibilities over the ethical, legal, and economic responsibilities. They often relied on war metaphors, portraying the virus as the “common enemy” and employees as “heroes,” and highlighted their leadership role in the global “fight” against the pandemic as a “partner” of governments, “protector” of employees, and “supporter” of the communities. Analyzing a large data set from a global perspective, this study provides a comprehensive look at the state of CSR communication during the pandemic and demonstrates how corporations as authoritative societal actors help shape the ongoing discourse on the global COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the study makes several practical and theoretical contributions to sustainability research and our understanding of the evolving relationship between business and society. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Open Access
Through the lenses of morality and responsibility: Brics, climate change and sustainable development
(Uluslararası İlişkiler Konseyi Derneği İktisadi İşletmesi, 2022-09-05) Kıprızlı, Göktuğ
The aim of this article is to shed a broader light on the social identity of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) whose growing economic power is the defining motive of their social construct in international relations. In line with this purpose, the article examines the BRICS nations’ positions concerning the moral aspect and the notion of responsibility for the nexus between climate change and sustainable development. This article argues that their statements and discourse on climate change and sustainable development forge the process of constructing a separate group identity for the BRICS partners. The articulation of moral appraisals and the notion of responsibility in the areas of climate change and sustainable development help the BRICS countries build their self-conception and self-categorization corresponding to their identity as emerging powers, so their actions are accomplished accordingly.
Open Access
Preferences in the intention to download a COVID tracing app: A discrete choice experiment study in the Netherlands and Turkey
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2022-06-24) Folkvord, Frans; Peschke, Lutz; Gümüş Ağca, Yasemin; van Houten, Karlijn; Stazi, Giacomo; Roca-Umbert, Ana; Güneş Peschke, Seldağ; Seyfafjehi, Seyedehshahrzad; Gallego, Alba; Gaeta, Eugenio; Fico, Giuseppe; Karinsalo, Anni; Lupianez Villanueva, Francisco
Introduction: High levels of adoption and usage for the COVID Tracing Apps (CTA) among the population is a stipulated prerequisite for success of the implementation of these apps, aiming to mitigate the pandemic and track spreading of the virus more efficient and effectively. In the current study, the main objective was to investigate individuals' preferences in the intention to download a COVID-19 tracing app in a pilot-study in both the Netherlands and Turkey. Methods: We conducted a discrete choice experimental study through an online survey in two countries (the Netherlands [N = 62] and Turkey [N = 83]), with four different attributes: (1) data protection (data protection vs. no information), (2) manufacturer (government vs. company), (3) reward (no reward vs. voucher as a reward) and (4) gaming (no gaming elements vs. gaming elements). Participants were recruited among a student population. Results: The results showed that data protection is one of the most important factors that significantly increases the probability to adopt a CTA. In general, the manufacturer, reward or gaming affected the probability to download the CTA less. Discussions: Health authorities worldwide have generally released high quality CTA, although scientific studies assessing the most important factors that describe and predict the intention to download is limited. Sensitive personal data is collected through these apps, and may potentially threaten privacy, equality and fairness, which are important attributes to take into account when developing or launching a CTA, following the results of this study. Copyright © 2022 Folkvord, Peschke, Gümüş Ağca, van Houten, Stazi, Roca-Umbert, Güneş Peschke, Seyfafjehi, Gallego, Gaeta, Fico, Karinsalo and Lupianez Villanueva.
Open Access
Reward mechanisms in Covid-19 tracking apps and its impact on the voluntary participation of the public in sustainable innovation processes
(Marmara Üniversitesi, 2022-04-29) Peschke, Lutz; Peschke, Seldağ Güneş; Ağca, Yasemin Gümüş; Seyfafjehi, Seyedehshahrzad; Dündar, Irmak; Aydoğdu, Yasin
The COVID-19 pandemic is the first pandemic after smartphones penetrated society globally. Consequently, there are not sufficient experiences and understanding of how to engage citizens in information and scientific processes that create public awareness and responsibilities according to scientific needs. For effective measures aiming to sustain the pandemic crisis, an efficient collaboration of academia, economy, culture-based, and media-based public and politics is crucial. With help of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) approach for assessment, COVID-19 tracking apps (CTAs) of different countries are analysed with help of a qualitative content analysis according to their reward mechanisms. The analysis includes correlation different rewards to voluntary participation. The MARS approach consists of engagement, functionality aesthetics and information quality. The protection of voluntariness is understood as the fundamental need for the ethical use of CTAs. Accordingly, patterns of voluntariness are examined in the context of legal, ethical privacy and security policies of selected CTAs. In this context, this paper will provide categories and criteria for CTA usage and its impact on citizen engagement in the Quintuple Helix collaboration process aiming to get insights into features and functionalities needed in CTAs and increased voluntary use of the public.
Open Access
For generation Z: What is the underlying reason between emotional intelligence and depression relationship?
(Sosyoekonomi Society, 2022-07-29) İnanç, Ebru Evrensel; Aydoğmuş, Ceren; Camgöz, Selin Metin; Özdilek, Elif
Exploring the individual characteristics of Generation Z becomes crucial with this generation's increasing number and significance in business life. This study investigates the mediating role of life satisfaction on emotional intelligence and depression linkage. It examines whether the mediating role is contingent upon Generation Z’s majors (STEM/non-STEM) and gender. The universe was Generation Z university senior students. Data were gathered via an online survey (emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, depression scales) from 844 university students. Findings reveal that emotional intelligence decreases depression via life satisfaction. Gender moderated this relationship so that the mediating role of life satisfaction was more pronounced in female Generation Z.
Open Access
Walking through firewalls: Circumventing censorship of social media and online content in a networked authoritarian context
(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022-11-19) Dal, Aysenur; Nisbet, Erik C.
The early hopes of the internet as a technology of “liberation” have turned into a reinforcing spiral of control, innovation, resistance, and counter-innovation between authoritarian governments and those that seek to bypass censorship and digital repression. This spiral reflects that even the most robust censorship mechanisms are vulnerable to circumvention, which has become a key concept for illustrating the contemporary online communication experience of citizens. Yet, the scholarship examining the underlying motivations and what influences individuals to employ censorship circumvention technologies (CCTs) in authoritarian contexts remains underdeveloped. We present a theoretical model of how state-sponsored political identity and attitudes about media freedom influence motivated resistance to censorship in the case of using CCTs to access social media and other forms of online content in the networked authoritarian context of Iran. Employing a web-based survey of internet users (N = 807), we test this theoretical model across a range of censored online content types. Our findings show that regime ideology in Iran indirectly influences CCT use through biasing perceptions of media freedom and how people respond to it in the form of motivated resistance. We discuss theoretical and policy-related implications for resilience to censorship of social media and online content in networked authoritarian contexts. © The Author(s) 2022.
Open Access
Children's mobile communicative practices and locational privacy
(Oxford University Press, 2022-09-01) Özkul, Didem
Children start using smartphones increasingly from early ages. This makes it more difficult for them to develop an understanding of online privacy and managing their personal data. Many parents monitor and regulate children's online media use. However, they also encourage using smartphones to ensure the safety and security of their children. This study explores how children use smartphones in relation to their understanding of privacy of communication, content, data, and location. It examines data from 7 focus groups with arts-based methods conducted with 37 children in UK. The findings suggest that children think of their smartphones as a private communication technology and a private place, and they manage their locational privacy based on the necessity of using a mobile app and through adjusting the location settings on their phones. The findings also suggest that privacy of mobile data and user content are dependent on where mobile communication takes place. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association.
Open Access
Sultan of the mornings: Seda Sayan and daytime talk shows in Turkey
(Routledge, 2022-08-08) Acar, Aysın Ece
Since the beginning of her career in the 1980s, Seda Sayan has become one of the biggest popular culture icons in Turkey, sustaining a multifaceted career in entertainment that includes singing, acting, and, most influentially, television. Sayan’s career trajectory from wedding singer to the ‘Sultan of the Mornings’ illustrates how the Turkish celebrity industry works, and the evolution of her persona as a talk show host tracks the development of the genre format in Turkey. This article considers Seda Sayan’s daytime talk shows in order to better understand how she built her televisual empire among strong competition to become an exceptional force in Turkish television history. Her shows illustrate identity construction practices over time and have secured her place in Turkish entertainment. Taking this chapter in Sayan’s career as its case study, this article offers a brief introduction to the operations of celebrity culture and contemporary media industries in Turkey.
Open Access
Teaching L’Opéra-Mouffe (1958)
(Intellect, 2022) Kennedy-Karpat, Colleen
This article describes the advantages of teaching Agnès Varda’s early short film L’Opéra-Mouffe, known in English as Diary of a Pregnant Woman, in an introductory course on film form. This award winning, sixteen-minute film offers a compelling demonstration of the core characteristics of the essay film, along with readily teachable examples of visual metaphor, cinematography, sound, and editing. Its cultural and auteurist contexts can also complement a variety of curricular topics, including the French New Wave and Left Bank creators, post war France, and feminist filmmaking. Finally, its focus on Varda’s personal experience of pregnancy also makes L’Opéra-Mouffe an ideal vehicle to introduce radical feminist pedagogies that recognize and value personal experience as a valid way of knowing about the world.
Open Access
Reconfiguring Senegalese filmmakers as Griots: Identity, migration and authorship practice
(Intellect, 2022) Kayır, Oğuz
This article aims to designate the notion of ‘Griot’ – the oral transmitter of history in West African cultures to the eclectic filmmakers from the post-independence period of Francophone Senegal who utilized film as an instrument to reassemble their nation’s lost image and carve an independent national identity that seeks liberation from the remnants of French imperial rule. Figuratively performing as Griots in the postcolonial film corpus, directors Ousmane Sembéne, Djibril Diop Mambéty and Mati Diop fabricated an original filmic language that represents the cultural milieu of Senegal after the French colonialism. In these directorial endeavours, the incorporation of narration elements plays a pivotal role in simultaneously manufacturing the agencies of Senegalese people and accelerating the continuum of decolonization in the country’s visual domain. Including the historical framework of Senegal’s cinema and illustrating the analogy between Griots and these filmmakers, this research will take a closer look at the corresponding postcolonial narratives of Ousmane Sembéne’s La Noire de… (1966), Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki (1973) and Mati Diop’s Atlantics (2019) in an effort to unravel their tumultuous identity politics, critiques of (neo)colonialism and filmmakers’ role as national raconteurs.