A Losing Strategy: The Impact of Nondisclosure in Social Media on Relationships

Abstract

Using a posttest-only experimental design with control (N = 409), this study investigated the role of nondisclosure and its impact on perceived relational maintenance strategies in the context of social media campaigns through the relational theory of public relations. As one of the first studies investigating what an organization can do to damage—rather than build—a relationship with their publics, this experiment manipulated a single ethical construct to determine whether that unethical behavior degraded the organization–public relationship. Results indicate that unethical behavior (i.e., lack of disclosure) indeed damaged the organization–public relationship within several relational maintenance strategies: communicated relational commitment, responsiveness/customer service, positivity/optimism, and responsiveness to criticism. Implications to both the practice and the further development of relationship management theory are discussed.