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Signal Theory
Signal theory (or signaling theory) describes how actors selecting among a choice set can successfully make determinations about the unobservable quality of their selection via observable signals. The theory grew out of labor economics, wherein job applicants signaled their unobservable quality via observable educational credentials, and has since been applied to diverse selection scenarios that run the gamut from anthropology to zoology. This entry explains the fundamentals of signal theory, describes four basic types of signals, and considers these in view of reputation.
Fundamental Principles
The key to understanding signal theory lies in knowing the difference between what is a signal in the vernacular and what constitutes a signal within signal theory. To do so requires that one should be able to clearly elucidate why high-quality actors ...
- Global and International Aspects of Corporate Reputation
- Legal, Moral, Ethical, and Social Issues
- Anonymity and Privacy
- At-Risk Populations
- Authenticity
- Character Assassination
- Complex Adaptive Systems
- Complexity Theory
- Conflict Management
- Corporate Apologies
- Corporate Communication Law
- Corporate Diplomacy
- Corporate Governance
- Corporate Political Activity
- Corporate Political Reputation
- Corporate Public Figures
- Corporate Social Irresponsibility
- Corporate Social Performance
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Corporate Social Responsibility, Communication of
- Corporate Social Responsibility, Company-Sponsored Events
- Corruption
- Critical Theory
- Defamation
- Disclosure
- Distorted Images
- Engagement
- Ethical Business Practice
- Ethics of Reputation Management
- Ethos
- Expectancy Violations Theory
- Expectation Management
- Facework
- Feedback
- Financial Restatements
- First Amendment
- Guilt by Association
- Hypocrisy
- Image Repair Theory
- Impression Management Theory
- Justice
- Legal Sanctions
- Legitimacy
- Libel
- Litigation
- Mindful Learning
- Moments of Truth
- Naming and Shaming
- Organization Development
- Organizational and Corporate Image
- Organizational Character
- Organizational Deviance
- Organizational Dysfunction
- Organizational Effectiveness
- Organizational Health
- Organizational Integrity
- Organizational Learning
- Organizational Listening
- Organizational Renewal
- Organizational Trust
- Organizational Wrongdoing
- Organization-Public Relationships
- Paradoxes in Reputation Management
- Postcolonial Theory
- Postmodern Theory
- Product Recalls and Public Safety
- Public Esteem
- Publicity, Paradox of
- Rebranding
- Reciprocity
- Reputation Capital
- Reputation Crisis
- Reputation Gaps
- Reputation Management Problems
- Reputation Repair
- Reputation Risk
- Reputational Bliss
- Reputational Discounting
- Reputational Penalties
- Reputational Spillovers
- Resilience
- Revisionist History
- Rumor and Gossip
- Simulacra and Simulations
- Slander
- Social Accounting
- Social License to Operate
- Social Theory
- Source Credibility
- Spiral of Silence Theory
- Stereotypes
- Stigma
- Strategic Aspirations
- Strategic Inaction
- Strategic Silence
- Transparency
- United Nations Global Compact
- Valorization
- Value
- Whistleblowing
- Reputation and the Environment
- Activist Campaigns
- Big Fish in Little Ponds
- Branch Identity
- Brand Bully
- Brand Co-Creation Model
- Brandjacking
- Business Journalism
- Cause-Related Marketing
- Conformity and Differentiation
- Co-Orientation Theory
- Corporate Associations
- Corporate Communication Law
- Corporate Diplomacy
- Corporate Governance
- Corporate Political Activity
- Corporate Sponsorships
- Country-of-Origin Effects
- Credit Rating
- Credit Reporting
- Crisis
- Cross-Sector Partnerships
- Edelman Trust Barometer
- Environmental Performance
- Field Theory
- Financial Intermediaries
- Firm Celebrity
- First Amendment
- Guilt by Association
- Guru Theory
- Halo Effect
- Information Intermediaries
- Institutional Theory
- Issue Ownership Theory
- Issues Management
- Journalism
- Legacy Organizational Identity
- Markets
- Media
- Media Law
- Media Reputation
- Mediatization
- Message Design
- News Media
- Noise
- Organizational Deviance
- Partnerships and Alliances
- Political Positioning
- Public Opinion
- Public Sector Reputation
- Reciprocity
- Regulatory Agencies
- Reputation Capital
- Reputation Cascades
- Reputation Council
- Reputation Crisis
- Reputation Gaps
- Reputation Monitoring
- Reputation Rankings
- Reputation Renting
- Reputational Commons
- Reputational Criteria
- Reputational Dynamics
- Reputational Spillovers
- Reputational Stickiness
- Signal Theory
- Social Capital Theory
- Social Construction of Reality
- Social License to Operate
- Social Media
- Stakeholder Media
- Stakeholder Orientation
- Status
- Symbiotic Sustainability Model
- Systems Theory
- Third-Party Endorsements
- Thought Leadership
- United Nations Global Compact
- Velcro Effect
- Venture Capital Reputation
- VT4 Framework of Organizational Media Salience
- Whistleblowing
- Whuffie
- Reputation Contents and Dimensions
- Accreditation and Certification
- Alignment Between Identity and Reputation
- Brand
- Business History
- Capability Reputation
- Categories
- CEO Celebrity
- Codes of Conduct
- Corporate History
- Corporate Identity
- Corporate Political Reputation
- Corporate Social Performance
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Environmental Performance
- Executive Leadership
- Expertise
- Familiarity
- Financial Performance
- Innovation
- Legacy Organizational Identity
- Legitimacy
- Multiple Reputations
- Names
- Organizational and Corporate Image
- Organizational Culture
- Organizational Demographics
- Organizational DNA
- Organizational Identity
- Organizational Performance
- Prestige
- Product Performance
- Prominence
- Public Esteem
- Ratings
- Reputation, Dimensions of
- Reputational Criteria
- Workplace Performance
- Research, Measurement, and Evaluation
- Benchmarking
- Best Practices
- Case Studies
- Content Analysis
- Edelman Trust Barometer
- Indicators of Reputation
- Network Analysis
- Neuroscience
- Objectives
- Polling
- Ratings
- Reputation Monitoring
- Reputation Rankings
- Research Methodology in Corporate Reputation
- Research Methods in Corporate Reputation
- Return on Investment
- Rhetorical Profiling
- Scales for Measuring Corporate Reputation
- Semantic Network Analysis
- Valorization
- Value
- Web Analytics
- Whuffie
- Strategy and Engagement
- Accountability
- Action and Performance
- Activist Campaigns
- Ad Hominem Argument
- Advertising
- Anonymity and Privacy
- Anticipatory Impression Management
- Apologia Theory
- At-Risk Populations
- Attitudes
- Audiences
- Authenticity
- Brand Communities
- Brand Journalism
- Brand Orientation
- Channels
- Coherence
- Collective Intentionality
- Commercial and Political Speech
- Communication Management
- Communication Strategy
- Conflict Management
- Conformity and Differentiation
- Constituents
- Corporate Advocacy
- Corporate Agenda Setting
- Corporate Apologies
- Corporate Communication
- Corporate Communication Axioms
- Corporate Communication Policies
- Corporate Public Figures
- Corporate Social Responsibility, Communication of
- Corporate Social Responsibility, Company-Sponsored Events
- Corporate Sponsorships
- Crisis Response Strategies
- Cross-Sector Partnerships
- Curation
- Disclosure
- Engagement
- Ethical Business Practice
- Ethics of Reputation Management
- Excellence Theory
- Executive Leadership
- Expectation Management
- Expertise
- Facework
- Feedback
- Firm Celebrity
- Integrated Marketing Communications
- Interpersonal Communication
- Issues Management
- Key Messages
- Leadership’s Role in Reputation
- Management, Corporate Reputation
- Marketing
- Meaning
- Media Relations
- Message Integrity
- Messages
- Mindful Learning
- Moments of Truth
- Naming and Shaming
- Nonmarket Strategy
- Objectives
- Organization Development
- Organizational Identification
- Organizational Integrity
- Organizational Learning
- Organizational Listening
- Organizational Performance
- Organizational Renewal
- Organization-Public Relationships
- Partnerships and Alliances
- Political Positioning
- Public Relations
- Publics
- Rebranding
- Reputation Change
- Reputation Change Management
- Reputation Continuity
- Reputation Council
- Reputation Formation
- Reputation Management
- Reputation Management, Role of Communication in
- Reputation Orientation
- Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprises
- Social Accounting
- Social Construction of Reality
- Source Credibility
- Spokesperson
- Stakeholders
- Startups, Corporate Reputation of
- Storytelling
- Strategic Alignment
- Strategic Aspirations
- Strategic Inaction
- Strategic Silence
- Strategy
- Third-Party Endorsements
- Thought Leadership
- Timing
- Transparency
- Use of Social Media in Crisis Situations
- Users
- Visual Identity
- Word of Mouth
- Theories
- Actor-Network Theory
- Agency Theory
- Agenda-Building Theory
- Agenda-Setting Theory
- Apologia Theory
- Attribution Theory
- Autocommunication Theory
- Balance Theory
- Brand Co-Creation Model
- Chaos Theory
- Co-Creation Theory
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Communicatively Constituted Organization Theory
- Complex Adaptive Systems
- Complexity Theory
- Co-Orientation Theory
- Critical Theory
- Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
- Excellence Theory
- Expectancy Violations Theory
- Field Theory
- Framing Theory
- Guru Theory
- Image Repair Theory
- Impression Management Theory
- Information Processing
- Institutional Theory
- Issue Ownership Theory
- Media Dependency Theory
- Media Effects Theory
- Message Design
- Network Theory
- Postcolonial Theory
- Postmodern Theory
- Reasoned Action Theory
- Resource-Based Theory of the Firm
- Rhetorical Theory
- Sensemaking Theory
- Signal Theory
- Simulacra and Simulations
- Situational Crisis Communication Theory
- Social Capital Theory
- Social Cognition Theory
- Social Exchange Theory
- Social Judgment Theory
- Social Theory
- Spiral of Silence Theory
- Stakeholder Theory
- Symbiotic Sustainability Model
- Systems Theory
- Theories of Corporate Reputation
- Theory of Planned Behavior
- Uncertainty Reduction Theory
- Upper Echelon Theory
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