So many things about this year’s International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC) were a departure from the “before time.” (Besides being on Zoom instead of being in Florida, in close proximity to a pool and a mojito.) One of the most intriguing was the number of papers focused on startups rather than huge recognizable brands. In the past, many presenters have studied major corporations because data on them is readily available. The shift this year to producing new research on startup communications was both refreshingly different and incredibly useful.
Agreeableness and enterprise are most likely to build customer loyalty and advocacy for startups
There are numerous times when I’ve heard a research presentation and mentally filed it away for future reference. But this was one of those times I found the data so riveting and relevant that I immediately forwarded the slides to a client.
Grace Ji of Boston University, Fay Chen of University of San Francisco, and Rita Men, of the University of Florida wanted to know how startups can build positive corporate character and how that character can affect PR outcomes. They chose to study companies that are still privately held with limited performance records and as yet no strong corporate identity or reputation. (“Carving startup character: Effects of symmetrical communication on startup corporate character, customer-startup identification, and customer advocacy.”)
They picked four aspects of character that could be applied to startups:
- Agreeableness
- Enterprise
- Competence
- Ruthlessness
Their basic question was: “Which, if any, of these characteristics spark customer advocacy?” They conducted an online survey of 641 customers who had purchased or used products or services from a startup company, and used a 7-point Likert Scale to measure the character constructs.
They found that agreeableness and enterprise are most likely to build loyalty and advocacy, while ruthlessness and competence were least likely. The low scoring on competence may be due to a perception that talking about competence when you have little track record is not credible.
While the results of this new research on startup communications weren’t totally surprising, they do provide some advice for any communicator working in a startup: Ensure that the culture and corporate character you are building is one that avoids ruthlessness and emphasizes agreeableness and an entrepreneurial attitude. Those characteristics are most likely to come from good communicators who practice two-way, customer-centered, and responsive symmetrical communication.
The authors stress the need to establish your own personal identity, not directly copy and paste features from other companies.
Employees find charismatic startup CEOs more engaging and motivating
Many startups are founded by scientists or engineers who are not by their nature charismatic. Over time that founder is frequently replaced by a more visible leader, generally under pressure from investors. New data from Lin Juan Rita Men, Yufan Sunny Qin, and Renee Mitson of the University of Florida explains why.
They conducted an on-line survey of 1027 employees of startups in China, to probe the impact of charismatic leadership on those employees. (“Engaging startup employees in China: The impact of charismatic entrepreneurial leadership communication.”)
They found that a charismatic leadership style:
- Increases employee engagement
- Enhances employee identification with the startup
- Motivates employees to contribute their talents to the success of the startup
- Conveys positive emotions and motivating messages
- Instills and mobilizes employees to become enthusiastic and actively engage
- Empowers employees to reduce their uncertainties and be more willing to engage with organizational activities
- Makes employees feel more competent and effective
Their advice to startup CEOs:
- Recognize the impact of leadership communication on employee outcomes. Consider the psychological needs of their people.
- Consciously develop charismatic leadership. Communicate vision, passion, and care within the organization in order to motivate, strike a deeper bond, and engage employees.
While you’ve got the CEOs ear…
…you might want to talk to them about their “Open Letter” strategy. Open letters from CEOs are public statements intended to reach employees, shareholders, and the general public with an expression of sympathy, support, or advocacy. Jiangmeng “Helen” Liu of Seattle University, Bora Yook of Fairfield University, and Cheng Hong of California State University Sacramento decided to analyze 140 open letters put out by the CEOs of Fortune’s 100 most admired companies. (“CEO as “Chief Crisis Officer” under Covid-19: A Content Analysis of CEO Open Letters Using Structural Topic Modeling”)
They found that they most often were trying to show leadership and/or support. Here are the specific topics they focused on:
They discovered that CEO letters fell into these categories:
Crisis Leadership Communication
- Topic 1. Crisis sense-giving: explain the impact of the global pandemic and the responsibility of the business
- Topic 2. A call for unity & enhanced collective efficacy: overcome the crisis together, support each other
- Topic 3. Corporate resilience: business development, financial performance, and recovery plan
General Support
- Topic 4. General support (for customers): Efforts made to support the essential needs of customers
- Topic 5. General support (for employees): Prioritize the safety and health of employees
Specific Support
- Topic 6. Emotional support: Wish and encourage people to take care and stay safes
- Topic 7. Information Support (for customers and employees): Hygiene procedures and preventive behaviors
- Topic 8. Tangible support (for customers): Provide financial resources to customers
- Topic 9. Tangible support (to community/health organizations): Support health organizations, healthcare worker, and patients
Diversity and Social Justice
- Topic 10. Commitment to diversity and inclusion
- Topic 11. Criticize racial and social injustice in the U.S.
As it turns out, some messages worked better than others. Messages about corporate resilience and offering financial resources to customers tended to be used by less admired companies, while information about hygiene and preventative behaviors were used by the most admired companies. ∞
