Marital Attitude Trajectories Across Adolescence

The current study seeks to address the implicit assumption in the developmental literature that marital attitudes are static by investigating how various marital attitudes might change across adolescence. Longitudinal change for three marital attitudes in relation to family structure, educational aspirations, race and gender are examined. Utilizing a sample of 1,010 high school students (53% male; 76% white) recruited from a Midwestern metropolitan area, latent growth models were used to model marital attitude trajectories across adolescence. The sample was followed for 4 years from ages 14 until 18. Results revealed that adolescents placed a higher priority on marriage as they prepared to transition into young adulthood but that gender, race and educational aspirations all altered the degree in which marital attitudes changed across the time period of the study. Results highlight the importance of considering multiple constructs of marital attitudes and the need for more longitudinal work in this area of study.     

The “brand” of the Catholic Church in England and Wales: Challenges and opportunities for communications

This paper considers the concept of “brand” in relation to religious organisations and, in particular, the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It explores the application of marketing and branding concepts to the Church and reports on perceptions of the Church's brand and identity. The findings show that the Catholic Church in England and Wales has very strong brand equity and high levels of brand loyalty among its members, although conventional marketing language should be avoided due to the sensitivities involved. The findings suggest that the Church could usefully be regarded as a “brand community,” akin in many key respects to brand communities in the commercial sphere. It recommends that Church communications could be enhanced by leveraging the brand more effectively as within a true “brand community” for the purpose of encouraging brand loyalty and energising Church members.     

The importance of being genuinely sorry when organizations apologize: how the Australian Wheat Board (AWB Limited) was damaged even further by its response to a corporate scandal

This paper draws on the unique insights offered by the documents tendered to the Royal Commission into the Australian Wheat Board (AWB Limited) to examine the process for drafting an apology within a scandalized organization suffering reputational damage. The Royal Commission received an almost complete set of documents specifying the process by which AWB prepared a public apology, as well as details of the efforts of the company to suppress those documents and the testimony of key personnel not only on the scandal itself but also on how the company responded to the crisis it had caused. The documents tendered to the Australian Government's Royal Commission included the working notes, drafting edits and expert advice from an international crisis communication consultant. AWB initially sought to try and manage the impact of the United Nations Oil‐for‐Food scandal, rather than address the causes of the transgression that would then allow the company to begin the process of restoring trust and rebuilding the damaged reputation. This disingenuous response exacerbated the problems for the company and caused additional damage to its corporate reputation. The insights from the AWB case study provide invaluable guidance for organizations on how to respond effectively to a corporate scandal. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.