Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2015-05-01 Television Executive Producers' Use of Twitter as a Public Relations Tool Scott Joseph Nash Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Nash, Scott Joseph, "Television Executive Producers' Use of Twitter as a Public Relations Tool" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 5554. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5554 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Television Executive Producers’ Use of Twitter as a Public Relations Tool Scott Joseph Nash A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Kenneth Dean Plowman, Chair Pamela Jo Brubaker Loy Clark Callahan School of Communications Brigham Young University May 2015 Copyright © 2015 Scott Joseph Nash All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Television Executive Producers’ Use of Twitter as a Public Relations Tool Scott Joseph Nash School of Communications, BYU Master of Arts This study examines how television executive producers are utilizing the social media platform of Twitter as a public relations tool. Utilizing a qualitative textual analysis, this study examines 10 executive producers’ use of Twitter over a three-week period. The results of the textual analysis indicated executive producers primarily used Twitter as a public relations tool in five different themes: clarification, compliment, gratitude, promotion, and engagement. Future research should utilize additional qualitative research through in-depth interviews with industry professionals such as television executive producers or public relations firms that work directly with the television industry and those who specifically work with television executive producers. Keywords: Twitter, public relations, television, social media, strategic communications, stakeholder ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my committee chair, Kenneth Plowman, for his continued assistance and guidance. Dr. Plowman’s continued support, encouragement, and guidance was crucial to completing this study. I would also like to thank my committee members, Pamela Brubaker and Clark Callahan, for their support and help throughout the process. To my parents, Ken and Alyssa, I do not know if this would have been possible without your continued love and support. To my sister, Jennifer, I thank you for all the times you gave me advice and gave me somebody to talk to throughout this process. I would also like to thank Cassidy Wadsworth for her assistance in editing. TELEVISION EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS’ USE OF TWITTER iv Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 Rationale and Significance .......................................................................................................2 Research Plan and Scope ..........................................................................................................2 Chapter Two: Literature Review .....................................................................................................5 Television and Executive Producers ........................................................................................5 Twitter ......................................................................................................................................7 Twitter as a Medium .........................................................................................................7 Twitter as a Public Relations Tool ....................................................................................8 Theoretical Background .........................................................................................................11 Strategic Communications Theory .................................................................................11 Situational Theory of Publics..........................................................................................13 Stakeholder Theory .........................................................................................................13 Messaging .......................................................................................................................14 Excellence Theory ..........................................................................................................15 Four Models of Public Relations ....................................................................................16 Chapter Three: Method ..................................................................................................................19 Qualitative Research ...............................................................................................................19 TELEVISION EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS’ USE OF TWITTER v Textual Analysis .............................................................................................................20 Research Protocol ...................................................................................................................21 Scope of Research .........................................................................................................21 Data Collection ..............................................................................................................23 Data Coding and Analysis .............................................................................................23 Chapter Four: Results ....................................................................................................................25 Results for RQ1 ......................................................................................................................25 Results for RQ2 ......................................................................................................................35 Results for RQ3A ...................................................................................................................43 Results for RQ3B ...................................................................................................................45 Results for RQ4 ......................................................................................................................47 Themes ...................................................................................................................................50 Chapter Five: Discussion and Conclusion .....................................................................................51 Theoretical Implications .........................................................................................................51 Strategic Communications Theory ................................................................................51 Situational Theory of Publics ........................................................................................52 Stakeholder Theory .......................................................................................................53 Messaging ......................................................................................................................54 Excellence Theory .........................................................................................................55 Four Models of Public Relations ...................................................................................57 Practical Implications .............................................................................................................57 Limitations ..............................................................................................................................59 Future Research ......................................................................................................................60 TELEVISION EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS’ USE OF TWITTER vi Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................61 References ......................................................................................................................................63 Appendix A ....................................................................................................................................68 Appendix B ....................................................................................................................................71