Abstract:

The chapter takes stock of studies that focus on regulatory agencies’ deliberate use of strategic communications as a form of reputation management, discussing the critiques that have recently surfaced and responding to them. To shed light on these issues, the chapter defines core concepts and reviews the major findings in this field, paying particular attention to regulatory agencies’ decisions concerning whether and how to communicate. It thereafter describes unanswered questions that can inspire and guide future research. Future agendas include, for example, the selection of audience segmentation strategies, and the management of competing and even contradictory communication for segmented audiences when agencies enjoy exclusive jurisdiction, in contrast to instances in which agencies share regulatory authority.