Corporate Blogs Research Articles

Digital Communication in Japanese Companies: The Corporate Blog. Current Trends, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

The present article examines the digital communication patterns exerted by domestic Japanese companies through Japanese-language blogging practices: main characteristics, current trends, challenges, and future tendencies at the intersection of Japanese corporate culture, communication, and the digital realm. After a concise literature review of Japanese corporate identity and predominant cultural features of Japanese management, we will conduct a qualitative content analysis on a selected corpus of Japanese language corporate blogs to investigate the digital corporate discourse (content, types of public, communication strategies, and techniques) on a national level and to inquire into the extent of the impact exerted by the digital evolution of media platforms and the emergence of new AI tools. The implications of the present research are twofold. First, the database we manually compiled contains only Japanese language sources, thus surpassing the linguistic barrier many Western academics confront when researching Asian countries and media content in Asian languages. Examining the Japanese language digital discourse of domestic companies in a post-pandemic globalized context bridges the unceasing gap between the West and the East, thus decentring the focal point from the Western companies and shifting the attention from English-language digital communication. Second, connecting the Japanese-language business discourse with domestic blogging platforms represents another aspect of particular importance neglected by previous research.

A multi-dimensional analysis of corporate blogs

Abstract Using a corpus-based multi-dimensional analysis, this study investigates the linguistic features and variation of corporate blogs from four industries: Service industry, the Wholesale and Retail Trade industry, the Manufacturing industry, and Information industry. The primary goal of this study is to examine the linguistic variation in corporate blogs from different industries. The data used for the current study is a 570,745-word corpus consisting of 995 textual posts from 40 top-ranked corporate blogs. In the multi-dimensional analysis, 67 linguistic features in the corpus are tagged, counted and normalized by using a Multidimensional Analysis Tagger (MAT). We imported the output files containing relevant statistical information from the MAT and then to SPSS 25.0 for a further t-test analysis. Overall, the corporate blogs are closest to the text type of general narrative exposition. The study finds that, as a hybrid genre, corporate blogs are basically informationally dense, non-narrative, interactive, and contextually independent. There are some statistically significant differences between four sub-corpora in corporate blogs. In particular, the Wholesale & Retail Trade sub-corpus is the most distinctive one that is significantly different from others on many dimensions, characterized by giving instructions, or telling stories, rather than persuading their audiences to do something.

Linguistic Features of Copywriting and Rewriting in the Field of Text Content for Corporate Websites: Semantic Aspect.

The study's relevance lies in the distinction between the cognitive processes of human readers and search robots, particularly the contextual understanding and relevance determination capabilities of modern search engines. This study aims to address contemporary challenges related to online textual content, specifically focusing on texts found on corporate websites and corporate blogs. The study employs a comprehensive approach to analyze the creation of texts, considering both copywriting and rewriting techniques. The analysis includes an examination of textual activity on corporate websites and blogs. The research methodology involves investigating linguistic and psycholinguistic aspects, as well as the principles underlying search engines and their role in organic website promotion. The study also delves into the nature of multimedia articles as a distinct format of online content. The major finding of this research lies in the proposed method for assessing the cognitive effectiveness of copywriting and rewriting. The study sheds light on the intricate interplay between multimedia articles and their textual components, showcasing their potential for impactful audience engagement. The analysis of internet copywriting and rewriting in the realm of marketing discourse reveals their significance for search engine tasks and user engagement. In conclusion, this research underscores the practical importance of understanding the cognitive effectiveness of texts generated through copywriting and rewriting. The findings emphasize the role of multimedia articles and their textual elements in influencing audience engagement online. The study highlights the crucial connection between internet copywriting, rewriting, and successful marketing discourse, optimizing content for search engines and enhancing user experience.

Strategies and Tactics for Representing the Life of the City in the Socio-Political Telegram-Blogosphere of Ekaterinburg

The article examines the problems of the functioning of the city telegram blogosphere in Yekaterinburg, the peculiarities of the representation of content in socio­political telegram channels. The role of the telegram blogosphere in the formation and discussion of the socio­political agenda is described. The telegram blogosphere is presented as a system that includes official, corporate blogs, blogs of public organizations, mass media and journalists, personal telegram blogs of citizens. The features of the Ekaterinburg telegram blogosphere are highlighted and described. Numerous examples from the publications of several popular telegram channels show strategies and tactics for representing socially significant events in the life of the capital of the Urals.

Corporate social advocacy events as a window into the contemporary promotional industries

Amid calls for corporate social responsibility to adopt an “impact orientation” (Weder, et al., 2019) and the growing significance of corporate entities and brands as sites to contest societal values through conflicts around greenwashing, online content moderation, and social advocacy, this article asks how a changed communication environment, particularly the rise of social media platforms for communication and search engines as a repository of knowledge, affects the practices of the promotional industries, and with what effects?The practices of the contemporary promotional industries increasingly include a focus on corporate social responsibility, purpose, and advocacy. Included within these behaviours are interventionist corporate practices, including advertiser boycotts of social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook and corporate boycotts of U.S. states such as North Carolina (Author, 2020), potentially divisive public statements (Ciszek & Logan, 2018), and decisions to not stock controversial items such as certain styles of firearms (Gaither, et al., 2018). These advocacy actions can then be shared through owned online channels such as corporate blogs and social media where corporate communications teams can justify their own positions and discredit those of their opponents (Aronczyk, 2013). The ability to self-mediate an organisation’s activity is complicated in online contexts, where a participatory public may contest or undermine organisational claims (Edwards, 2020; Tombleson & Wolf, 2017).Research on corporate social advocacy has historically focused on individual cases and the potential financial benefits or detriments of corporate advocacy behaviours. While work in this area has begun to address the strategic communication considerations for organisations engaging in corporate social advocacy (Dodd and Supa, 2014; Gaither, et al., 2018; Kim & Austin, 2022; Wettstein & Baur, 2016), pressing questions remain about its broader motivations and compatibility with democratic institutions. Critical public relations scholarship argues that promotional communication plays a critical role in mediating the promise of “public representation, voice, and agency” (Cronin, 2018, p.44) in democratic countries (Cronin, 2018; Edwards, 2018; Aronczyk, 2015). This article connects research on corporate social advocacy, public relations in democratic communication, and the platformized communication environment by examining the motivations for corporate social advocacy, how advocacy events are mediated, and how the risks and rewards of participating in these kinds of communication are understood within the contemporary promotional industries.Theoretical framing: This article draws on frameworks of contestation and justification in organisational communication (Boltanski and Thevenot, 1991/2006; Edwards, 2020) to understand corporate social advocacy practices within transnational democratic communication and deliberation (Fraser, 2007). By emphasizing interaction and contestation between groups, theories of justification add new tools to understand the values that drive deliberation within the “shared cultural space” (Curtin & Gaither, 2007, p.38) provided by Circuit of Culture understandings of public relations and the promotional industries.Methods: To identify the perspectives of the promotional industries that define the marketing and public relations response to social advocacy controversies, fifteen interviews were conducted with advertising and public relations agencies, brand communication managers, national and international advertising associations, participants in advertising boycotts, and prominent activists involved with corporate advocacy. To provide a more comprehensive understanding of contemporary practice, the interviews were combined with a document analysis of materials collected from industry events such as Advertising Week, the Business for Social Responsibility Conference, and industry publications, such as The Drum, AdWeek, the Branded newsletter, and the Conscious Advertising Network podcast.Findings: Participants saw risks to inaction or insufficient action on social advocacy issues. They also saw potential benefits for quick, credible advocacy on issues where the organisation could differentiate itself as a leader. From the perspective of participants, constant media scrutiny, online and off, a low-trust environment, and investments in stakeholder relationships exacerbated the risks and rewards of social advocacy, pushing organisations towards active engagement with a wide array of advocacy issues—sometimes a wider array of issues than they were comfortable with. The active engagement on these issues moved corporate advocacy away from rhetoric and towards tangible actions with governance implications for online content moderation and other public interest topics.Contribution: This article contributes to understanding the role legitimacy plays in the contemporary promotional industries. While the pressure to perform social advocacy is widely felt in professional communications, this research also suggests that some companies are positioned in ways that make them more accountable to internal or external pressure from stakeholders. It provides evidence of how promotional industry professionals negotiate expectations that they will live up to the “promise” of “public representation, voice, and agency” (Cronin, 2018, p.44) and notes the importance of the media environment in creating pressure for companies to respond to public issues in ways perceived as legitimate to their audiences.

On the performance and impact of research in storytelling by Russia scholars

The author analyzes the dynamics of scientometrical indicators (publication activity, citation and impact) of Russian research in storytelling in 2012–2021. Storytelling is seen as the marketing technology used to deliver information to the audience through stories. In recent years, storytelling has been intensively used in advertising, social media, corporate blogging, and in education. The lines of research of the greatest impact are identified, among them: storytelling as an efficient communication technology, digital storytelling in students’ projects, and storytelling method in corporate management. In accordance with the Hirsch index, the Russian scholars’ research activity in the field exceeds significantly the world minimum value of 16. The dynamics of the above indicators is revealed, including the rare occurrence of continuous growth in the number of publications by the end of the existent period; the organization which storytelling studies are extensively used by country’s other institutions, are identified, among them Nizhny Novgorod Kozma Minin Pedagogical University, Ural State Pedagogical University, RF Ministry for Civil Defense Academy of State Fire-fighting Service. The analysis was accomplished based on Russian Science Citation Index (RISC) database. The illustrations are included to visualize the research findings.

Global Policy of ‘Community of Common Destiny’ and IR4: A Robust for Multiculturalism and Humanitarian Crisis Response

Purpose: This study explores the combine synergy of China’s concept of “Community of Common Destiny (CCD),” and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) in alleviating humanitarian crisis/response and multiculturalism challenges of the time. The last decade has witnessed heightened resistance against accepting migrants and refugees especially in Europe and U.S and many other countries in general, exacerbated by nationalist politicians. These challenges are multifold, ranging from failed assimilation processes, insufficient funds for humanitarian course, aids dependent oriented solutions, weak solidarity, and xenophobia… etc. all these are evidence of moral backdrop across the world. Even though tools like the “Community of Destiny” and IR4.0 can well provide tangible opportunities for a better performing humanitarian crisis/response, revolutionize the integration policies that would accommodate the varied cultures and be beneficial to all in the society, these tools are misinterpreted, less understood, applied independently to problems it cannot handle on its own, thus rendering them less productive.
 Method: This study employs a qualitative approach consisting of literature review and official document analysis. Literature review consists of a comprehensive assessment of scholarly academic publications from competing perspectives in the fields of political philosophy, multiculturalism, IR4.0, international humanitarian organization websites, Business corporate blogs, Community of Common Destiny and international relations theories. The document survey is mainly related to the policy documentation/ speeches output of Chinese leaders, related international organizations, study reports, as well as media reports.
 Results: The study reveals that multiculturalism (cultural integration) challenges and humanitarian crisis/ response can be alleviated if the tenets of CCD are fully incorporated with IR4.0 opportunities. To this end, the CCD and IR4.0 offers more opportunities for states and companies to recruit and manage workers at distant locations. Skilled workers can offer their services at the comfort of their homes or localities (i.e. taking work to skilled worker), offering more in-training (victim skill capacitation and job access, and construction of more professional/educational facilities), reform their employment standards to include multicultural background checks, allowing refugees and migrants to be the solution to their problems, while states enact more relaxed refugee work permit policies. Further, disaster affected communities under study must benefit from collected data and analytic results that can help improve their living standards and guard against future catastrophes. Importantly, communities should be routinely trained on first-aid disaster management techniques. With CCD in mind and employing IR4.0 opportunities, humanitarian action responses would stand a better rating in terms of time efficiency and maximization of its ever scarce resources while increasing the number of donor partners.
 Conclusion: the CCD and IR4.0 are great opportunities for both humanitarian crisis/response action and declining multiculturalism. Though the CCD has been received with scepticism, the overall idea of promoting a harmonious society (community), where everyone shares equally is achievable in the IR4.0 era. Critics have pointed out that CCD’s weakness lies in the implementation and enforcement loopholes. However, the concept originality was designed as an international instrument for willing states to adhere without any coercion and function as it is the case with other international instruments such the Rome Statue where some major powers are not signatories. The CCD and IR4.0 opportunities open a new era for humanity and the world system must adapt to the changing humanism.

Language Code Mixing in the Discourse of IT Companies

The mixing of English with national languages in business communication is a consequence of global processes: the development of transnational corporations, modern technologies, the intensification of communication flows and the dominance of English in intercultural communication. Mixing and switching of language codes is quite often observed in the corporate media discourse of IT companies. For organizations in this sphere, English is the main language of business communication, but its use goes beyond professional slang and terminology, creating characteristic forms of language codes mixing. The purpose of the research presented in the article is to identify and analyze situations of mixing English and Russian in the corporate media discourse of IT companies. The research material was corporate media texts in Russian and English posted on the pages of official websites, corporate blogs and in the social networks Twitter and Facebook. In the analyzed texts in Russian, English inclusions (phrases, individual words and their parts) are often observed to denote work programs and tools, corporate events. As part of the professional slang of IT professionals, English words are transmitted using the Cyrillic alphabet and in accordance with the rules of Russian grammar. The influence of English on Russian media discourse in the IT field is also observed in the expansion of the meanings of some words. In Russian media texts, there are also phrases that are not typical for the Russian language, but represent a literal translation of English phrases. English-language sentences are used in Russian texts as mottos or slogans of the company, as congratulations or advice. As a result of the content analysis of the selected media texts, it was also found that along with the English language, the values typical for the discourse of American corporations are being borrowed. It was found that the value dominants of the corporate discourse of IT companies are change and progress, success, equality, partnership.

Relational cultivation strategies and community building on Fortune 500 company corporate blogs

PurposeAs the number of corporate blogs has continued to increase over the years, this study examines the use of relationship cultivation strategies of Fortune 500 companies on their corporate blogs. Moreover, it focuses on how companies use corporate blogs as interactive online communication channels to create a sense of community among their publics.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis of Fortune 500 company corporate blogs was conducted to examine the use of relational cultivation strategies and their methods of promoting a sense of community.FindingsFindings indicate that networking and sharing tasks are used most frequently among all relational cultivation strategies on corporate blogs, and that there are statistically significant differences among industries for using relationship cultivation strategies on corporate blogs. The most frequently used dimension of sense of community on corporate blogs is shared emotional connection.Originality/valueStudies analyzing social media as public relations tools have not yet focused on community building. In fact, few studies have examined the community building aspect of corporate blogs in the public relations field. To fill this gap, this study focuses on community building and analyzes how companies use corporate blogs as an interactive online communication channel to create a sense of community among their publics.

Impacts of brand familiarity and brand responses on perceived brand credibility, similarity, and blog recommendation intention: a study of corporate blogs

PurposeAdopting the theory of parasocial interaction (PSI) and schema theory, this study proposes that a brand’s personalized response and brand familiarity on a corporate blog will lead to higher perceived brand similarity, credibility and blog recommendation intention.Design/methodology/approachA 2 (brand familiarity: high, low) × 3 (brand responses: none, automated and personal) experimental design was developed to test the hypothesized relationships. A total of 474 qualified data were collected using an online survey. ANOVA was utilized to test the research hypotheses.FindingsStudy results revealed that personalized messages lead to stronger perceived brand similarity, credibility and blog recommendation intention than those exposed to automated and no response. Brand familiarity also significantly influenced perceived brand similarity, brand credibility and blog recommendation intention. Further, the study analysis revealed an interesting interaction effect between brand awareness and brand response on recommendation intention.Originality/valueThe study provides meaningful implications and suggestions for the effective corporate blogging strategy to influence consumers’ attitudes and image toward brands and establish strong brand equity and relationships with customers.

ФОРМУВАННЯ БРЕНДА РОБОТОДАВЦЯ НА РИНКУ ПРАЦІ

The article notes that today the concept of «employer brand» has become firmly entrenched in the professional vocabulary of many HR professionals. Moreover, not only foreign but also domestic companies have begun to develop programs to form a positive brand of the employer. This function of personnel management specialists has occupied an important place along with other personnel functions. The concept of brand as a set of all human experience, his perception of a thing, product, company is defined. Brands exist in the minds of either specific people or society as a whole. It is established that HR-branding is not only work with the company's reputation as an employer, but also a targeted long-term strategy for managing the awareness and perception of employees, candidates and all stakeholders. HR-branding includes all aspects of work in the company, all HR-processes and practices that shape the perception of employees and candidates. The main stages of employer brand formation are outlined: search and study of the target audience of HR-brand, identification of problem areas of the employer brand, formation of EVP, development of strategy for promoting the employer brand, evaluation of the result. The main components of the value proposition of the employer are given. The concept of EVP is defined as a value proposition of the employer, which includes both emotional and rational benefits. It is important that the real work environment and processes in the company correspond to the proposals of the HR-brand: you can promise only what can be provided in reality. A dishonest offer not only destroys the company's HR brand in the labor market, but also weakens employee loyalty and involvement. It is established that all tools of employer brand formation can be divided into two groups: external and internal. External tools include: employment websites, media; advertising; conferences, seminars, open days; competitions for the title of the best employer; cooperation programs with recruitment agencies, educational institutions; social networks, forums, corporate blogs, etc. Internal tools include: corporate website; corporate magazine, digest, news block; seminars and trainings with employees; corporate events.

The role of company’s top officials in corporate communications

In contemporary society, corporate communications are becoming an increasingly important and significant component of management. This field includes not only building an external and internal image of a company but also interacting with stakeholders and achieving business aims. This research aims to define the potential and features of company’s top officials (owners, CEOs, presidents, and other top managers) involvement in corporate communications and representing a business. It is based on the content analysis of corporate websites of the first 100 international companies from the Forbes list. The study demonstrated that most (62%) world successful firms involve their owners, CEOs, and top managers in corporate communications as speakers. At the same time, business owners appear on corporate websites less often (only 2%). CEOs engage in such communications in 47% of cases. Most often, other authorized representatives are speakers of companies (51%). A descriptive analysis of topics helped to distinguish the most common types of texts: formal ideological speeches, corporate news, corporate blog texts, and personalized corporate storytelling. Most texts are posted on corporate websites in the News chapter (28%). This suggests that news as a genre may be the most appropriate form of communication on behalf of management. Thus, some recommendations are proposed regarding the participation of top officials as speakers. From a practical point of view, companies can be guided by the outcomes of this research when deciding to engage their leaders in corporate communications.

THE BLOG AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL IN THE ASSESSMENT OF YOUNG CONSUMERS - THE RESULTS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

The aim of the article is to explore the attitudes of young people towards the use of company blogs as a communication tool between the company and clients and source of information about products and/or the company. In the first part of the article, based on the analysis of secondary sources, the history of the development of modern blogs is presented. This part also discusses the classification of blogs and the potential of the blogosphere as a virtual community as well as the numerous benefits resulting from running a corporate blog. The second part of the study presents the results of the primary research carried out among a representative sample of young people (aged 15-24), whose aim was to recognize their attitudes towards the use of corporate blogs in marketing communication.

ІНДИВІДУАЛІЗАЦІЯ НАВЧАННЯ У ТРАНСНАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ КОРПОРАЦІЯХ КАНАДИ: ЗАРУБІЖНИЙ ДОСВІД І ШЛЯХИ ІМПЛЕМЕНТАЦІЇ

The corporations perceive human capital as the greatest potential for competitive advantage, and staff training as a prerequisite for achieving the company’s strategic aim since business success and market competitiveness directly depend on the ability of employees to provide life long learning. In the context of searching the ways of optimizing this process, the aim of our study is to determine the features and opportunities for the development of individualization of learning by means of information and communication technologies in multinational corporations in Canada in order to use their experience in Ukrainian higher education. The set of interrelated general scientific research methods was used to achieve this goal: analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, systematization, which were used to study the scientific literature, programs and corporate training courses in multinational corporations in Canada. Analysis of training in Canadian multinational corporations shows that the use of the advanced information and communication technologies in independent non-formal learning, including mobile learning, social networks, Massive Open Online Courses, electronic coaching, corporate blogs, gamification, wikis, etc., contributes to the deepening of individualization of training, and the practice of employee’s independent planning and implementation of his/her learning process is becoming more common. The study concludes that individualization is an important aspect of training in Canadian multinational corporations. The basis of individualization of learning is self-direction, autonomy of students, their willingness to take responsibility for planning and implementation of all stages of their learning.

The corporate blogs : What can they offer to brands ?

The internet, the last and most revolutionary medium that the planet has ever known. A medium that challenged all the other traditional media that humans have used for centuries. A medium that gave to every signle human-being the opportunity to be a journalist, to have a voice heard in all the continents and to participate in the brands’ marketing. Among the social media platforms, the corporate blog is one of most influential Internet tools. They do offer to brands a lot of benefits starting from promotion, reputation improvement to the creation of long-lasting brand-consumer relationship. The current paper highlights via an accurate literature review all the advantages of having a corporate blog.

"You Don't Have Time to Think Up There. If You Think You're Dead" – A Corpus-assisted Study of Discursive Strategies to Engage Readers in Corporate Blogs

This study investigates recurrent language resources employed in corporate blogs to connect with readers and (to a lesser extent) express authorial positions. It is based on the premise that constructing identity and enhancing image underpins most, if not all, corporate discourse and blogs are no exception. Based on a corpus of 500 different posts (totalling 318,296 words) from the Business Process Outsourcing and Information Technology sectors, we use standard Corpus Linguistics (Partington et al. 2013) techniques (keywords, cluster analysis, concordancing) to identify linguistic features associated with the expression of engagement: reader pronouns and their co-occurrence with selected modal verbs, questions, adverbs marking shared knowledge and directives. These are then interpreted in in terms of a model of textual interactions proposed in Hyland (2005). We argue that the communication found in this relatively new and underresearched genre is essentially effected one-way establishing a pseudo-dialogue, with virtually no or very low level of interactivity between blog writers and blog readers.

Use of information and communication technologies as a factor in the effectiveness of corporate training in American companies

The effectiveness of American corporate education in the knowledge economy is ensured by the diversification, variability and flexibility of forms, methods and learning technologies, the choice of which largely depends on the purpose, objectives and content of learning, individual characteristics of the learners, material base and financial support of the learning process. Our analysis shows that these methods and technologies are highly interactive, innovative and practice focused, which ensures a high quality of training and its compliance with the needs of today’s global market. Both traditional and electronic learning methods are widely used, though a tendency has been observed over the last ten years to the decrease in the percentage ratio of traditional classroom training hours and the increase in the percentage ratio of technology-based learning hours. The use of technology-based learning methods is rapidly promoted in view of the increasing mobility of employees whose learning needs cannot be met in the traditional classroom only and this process is accelerating in the context of further globalization of the economy. Internet and intranet technologies in American companies create conditions for distance learning of employees. Flexibility and accessibility of e-learning technologies also provide for extensive use of new methods of non-formal learning: mobile learning, social networks, e-coaching, corporate blogs, corporate online libraries (wikis) etc.

A Mixed Methods Examination of How People Assess the Credibility of Sources Used by Public Relations Practitioners

This study examined how people assess the credibility of sources—earned news stories, traditional advertisements, native advertisements, independent blogs, and corporate blogs—used commonly by public relations practitioners. Researchers conducted five focus groups with 46 participants and implemented a survey with 1,500 participants recruited from a consumer panel. Participants viewed earned media stories as the most credible. Regardless of the source utilized, people value strong writing, copious facts, and balanced perspectives when processing public relations messaging.

CONCEPTS OF RECRUITING IN LABOR LAW OF UKRAINE

The article explores the nature and characteristics of the processes of recruitment and staff development as a factor of safety of personnel. Proved that the recruitment and staff development should take into account the need to ensure the safety of personnel of the enterprise, and the formation of human resources in the enterprise security is closely linked to the processes of recruiting and staff development.
 The lexico-semantic analysis shows that the word "recruiting" comes from the French "recruit", "to recruit", ie to recruit anyone, to recruit, to recruit anyone, to hire for money. Recruiting is based on elements such as search, selection, selection of employee incentives to work.
 In general, there are various HR-branding channels through which employees are recruited, from which the following main channels can be distinguished: social media (social networks, forums, corporate blogs) - a universal tool for building an HR-brand; a career site is an extremely effective tool in the hands of a skilled employer; Job search sites are very popular due to the ability to reach a large target audience; brand advocates are a strategic channel for building an HR brand within the company through interaction with internal and external clients, which can serve as employees of the company as well as external candidates, clients, partners, contractors, etc .; referral programs are designed to accelerate the closing of vacancies and find candidates with the help of company employees. Everyone who invites or recommends a candidate; HR-branding as a tool for promoting the employer brand in the labor market - media, conferences, seminars, competitions.

Reputation Anxiety: Consumer Background Checks and the Cultivation of Risk

Abstract This article examines the role consumer background check companies play in the construction of reputation anxiety. Through an examination of corporate blogs and sponsored stories, this article argues these companies cultivate risk along two related axes: (a) fear of dangerous others; and (b) fear of the threat posed by personal information available to others. Through sponsored stories and promotional material, these companies encourage people to mitigate risk by using consumer background check services to seek out information about others and review available details about themselves. Consistent with other forms of risk anxiety in modern cultures, the advice offered by these companies encourages the acceptance of personal responsibility around the acquisition of and response to this information. This article concludes by arguing the cultivation of reputation anxiety around digital skeletons—belonging both to others and to oneself—is rooted in gendered notions of safety and personal responsibility.