Issue advocacy to community stakeholders: A structural equation model of potential outcomes

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate how community stakeholder attitudes are influenced by marketplace advocacy, a type of issue advocacy that focuses on building acceptance for a product or service while addressing public concerns toward the product or service or the manufacturing processes associated with it. Specifically, the dissertation examines attitudes toward a coal industry-sponsored marketplace advocacy campaign seeking to gain acceptance for the coal industry and policies associated with coal mining within a resource community. Given their increased exposure to physical, environmental, and social risks, resource community stakeholders are an especially important target audience for these campaigns since they live where the business or resource is located.; The dissertation uses survey data and structural equation modeling to test a model of outcomes of issue advocacy examining how attitudes toward the coal industry are mediated by perceptions of trust in the industry, agenda building, and environmental concern. The dissertation suggests that campaign awareness heightens the salience of industry-promulgated issues among community stakeholders and directly influences perceptions of trust in the industry, including perceptions of corporate trustworthiness and public accountability. Both perceptions of trust in the industry and the salience of the campaign issues among community stakeholders mediate approval for the industry. Environmental concern moderates this relationship by lowering levels of trust in the industry. Secondary analyses also examine the strength of the three dimensions of accountability (intent, rule-based trust, and transparency) and the four agenda-building issues (economy, energy, environment, and community identity) in garnering approval for the industry. The results offer insight for researchers, professionals, and educators interested in understanding the persuasive potential of issue advocacy.