A Framework for Understanding the Effects of Strategic Communication Campaigns

Decades of research on strategic communication campaigns has generated myriad insights. However, this valuable knowledge is often fragmented across many fields and topic areas, making it difficult for researchers and practitioners to distill this knowledge and map the key strategic considerations. In this article, we present an overarching framework for understanding the effects of strategic communication campaigns. We define the driving force as all the efforts, contexts, and systems that advance the campaign's goals, and the restraining force as those that restrict the campaign's goals. The total impact of any driving or restraining force can be understood as the product of its reach, effect, and durability. Reach refers to the proportion of people in the target population that are exposed to the corresponding driving or restraining force. Effect refers to the size of the impact of that force, among those who are exposed. Durability refers to the extent to which the effect of that force lasts over time and/or resists opposing forces. We highlight how this framework can be used to distill, connect, and interpret large amounts of extant research and theory, and how it can be used by researchers to design research programs and identify persisting knowledge gaps.

Automated summary

Decades of research on strategic communication campaigns have produced a wealth of insights, but this knowledge is often scattered across different fields and topics, making it difficult to distill and map key strategic considerations. In this article, we propose a comprehensive framework for understanding the effects of strategic communication campaigns. We define the driving force as efforts, contexts, and systems that advance campaign goals, and the restraining force as factors that restrict those goals. The total impact of any force is determined by its reach, effect, and durability, and this framework can be used to connect and interpret existing research and theory.