TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolving Crisis and Changing Networks
T2 - NGOs’ Stakeholder Engagement on the Global Refugee Crisis
AU - Sun, Jingyi
AU - Yang, Aimei
AU - Saffer, Adam J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly utilize social media for strategic stakeholder engagement. This study proposes a network-oriented theoretical framework to understand how NGOs’ engagement with complex networks of stakeholders on the global refugee issue varies as the issue moves from low to high public attention stages. We draw from research on multistakeholder issue networks and issue niche theory and analyze a large-scale Twitter data set containing tweets from hundreds of organizations from more than 30 countries. This cross-national, longitudinal study tracks issue evolution and NGOs’ tie formation patterns among themselves and with complex stakeholders (i.e., government and media) as public attention to the refugee issue increases. The results of our exponential random graph models (ERGMs) show how cross-sector stakeholders interact dynamically and how different issue identities position NGOs uniquely in issue niches as the issue evolves. We also find that organizations’ country-level homophily influences tie formation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
AB - Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly utilize social media for strategic stakeholder engagement. This study proposes a network-oriented theoretical framework to understand how NGOs’ engagement with complex networks of stakeholders on the global refugee issue varies as the issue moves from low to high public attention stages. We draw from research on multistakeholder issue networks and issue niche theory and analyze a large-scale Twitter data set containing tweets from hundreds of organizations from more than 30 countries. This cross-national, longitudinal study tracks issue evolution and NGOs’ tie formation patterns among themselves and with complex stakeholders (i.e., government and media) as public attention to the refugee issue increases. The results of our exponential random graph models (ERGMs) show how cross-sector stakeholders interact dynamically and how different issue identities position NGOs uniquely in issue niches as the issue evolves. We also find that organizations’ country-level homophily influences tie formation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
KW - issue niche theory
KW - multistakeholder issue network
KW - network evolution
KW - refugee crisis
KW - stakeholder engagement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122098359&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/08997640211057407
DO - 10.1177/08997640211057407
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122098359
SN - 0899-7640
VL - 51
SP - 1423
EP - 1450
JO - Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
JF - Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
IS - 6
ER -