Moral appeals in mobil oil's op-ed campaign

Abstract

Issue advertising is utilized by corporations to communicate diverse opinions and to comment on public policy options. Mobil Oil, in particular, engages in issue advertising to display different facets of its corporate personality as well as to gain and maintain public support and confidence. As more companies engage in issue advertising, a model guiding the strategy selection is needed to evaluate if rewards of such communication activities outweigh the costs. Since corporations are seeking to gain public recognition and support, a compliance-gaining model can be applied to Mobil Oil Corporation's issue ads. This paper analyzed the compliance-gaining strategies utilized in Mobil Oil's issue ads, 1982–1986. The findings indicated that moral appeal and expertise are prominent compliance-gaining strategies.