Abstract
This chapter gives an answer to the basic questions of the communication process, i.e., who delivers the messages, why they do that, who the recipients are and how the messages are delivered. After having established that the focus of the book is institutional communication as carried out by space Agencies and Research Centres, it analyses the practice’s strengths and weaknesses in today’s society. One of space communication’s greatest strengths is certainly in the messages that it conveys, but it faces several problems, including the following: a good part of the public is not interested in it, or is even hostile towards it; it is hard, in today’s media world, to make your voice heard; public awareness tends to be very superficial, and space research can be subject to severe criticism when it comes to such matters as launch failures. Despite all of these difficulties, the chapter stresses how important space communication is, and underlines its benefits, not only for space research, but for the society as a whole, providing strategies on how to create awareness, how to attract and retain larger and larger portions of the public and how to defend space organisations in crisis situations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The group of people that a communication campaign aims to reach and possibly influence.
- 2.
Not all target groups are interested in each space activity. For example, a mission cataloguing stars will not raise any curiosity in the general public, and efforts dedicated to that target group will largely be a waste of time and money. On the other end, some space endeavours, like, e.g., some astronaut missions, may appeal to the public more than they do to the scientific community.
- 3.
Education and outreach activities such as museums, planetaria, etc., are not dealt with in this book.
- 4.
See previous note.
- 5.
Sophisticated big data analytics tools exist today to help in understanding the behaviour of the public.
- 6.
Sentiment analysis means the mining of computer text for the purpose of understanding if opinions are positive, negative, or neutral.
- 7.
People like to be entertained more than they like to be informed or educated. This has to be kept in mind during content production.
- 8.
This last point will be further discussed in Sect. 4.3.1.
- 9.
- 10.
The importance of a consistent Corporate Identity for fans of space-related activities is particularly relevant and will be dealt with in Sect. 4.3.1.
- 11.
- 12.
The concept was developed by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898. The relevant model was presented in (Strong 1925). Subsequent versions have been introduced by many marketing experts.
- 13.
Apart from failures, one can also expect that, in the future, space debris will become more and more of an issue of crisis communication.
- 14.
Decision-makers and the scientific community are usually stakeholders in cases of crisis communication. A space organisation should know very well what its target groups are. For more on this, see Sect. 3.1.
References
About Pew Research Center: www.pewresearch.org/about/ (2019). Accessed 9 July 2019
Bundy, J., Pfarrer, M.D., Short, C.E., Coombs, T.: Crises and crisis management: integration, interpretation, and research development. J. Manage. XX(X), 1–32 (2016). https://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2017/03/BundyPfarrerShortCoombsinpress.pdf. Accessed 26 July 2019
Chambers, L.: Climate is changing—but some believe the threat has been exaggerated. YouGov. https://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/09/23/climate-change-real-it-man-made/ (2013). Accessed 9 July 2019
Cox, D., Navarro-Rivera, J., Jones, R.P.: Believers, Sympathizers, and Skeptics: Why Americans are Conflicted about Climate Change, Environmental Policy, and Science. PRRI/AAR, Religion, Values, and Climate Change Survey. https://www.prri.org/research/believers-sympathizers-skeptics-americans-conflicted-climate-change-environmental-policy-science/ (2014). Accessed 10 July 2019
Dahlgreen, W.: Space Exploration Still Seen as Important. YouGov. https://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/11/08/space-exploration-still-important/ (2013). Accessed 11 July 2019
Fan Page List: http://fanpagelist.com/category/top_users/ (2018). Accessed 28 Feb 2018
Friend or Follow: http://friendorfollow.com/twitter/most-followers/ (2018). Accessed 28 Feb 2018
Kuefler, J.: Media Fragmentation: 10 Things You Can Do Right Now. http://www.callahancreek.com/media-fragmentation-ten-things-you-can-do-right-now-1/ (2019). Accessed 9 July 2019
Moore, P.: Younger Americans are Much More Skeptical of Vaccination than their Elders. YouGov. https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/01/30/young-americans-worried-vaccines (2015). Accessed 26 July 2019
National Research Council of the National Academies: Pathways to Exploration -Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. https://www.nap.edu/read/18801/chapter/5#89 (2014). Accessed 23 July 2019
Newport, F.: On Darwin’s Birthday, Only 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution—Belief Drops to 24% Among Frequent Church Attenders. Gallup. http://news.gallup.com/poll/114544/darwin-birthday-believe-evolution.aspx (2009). Accessed 10 July 2019
O’Brien, J., Sherden Amy: Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returns from record-breaking space mission, becomes internet sensation. ABC news, 24 Feb 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-08/astronaut-samantha-cristoforetti-internet-sensation/6604868sensation/6604868. Accessed 12 July 2019
Pew Research Center: Public and Scientists’ Views on Science and Society. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/ (2015). Accessed 9 July 2019
Pew Research Center: Majority of Americans Believe It is Essential That the U.S. Remain a Global Leader in Space. Public’s policy priorities reflect changing conditions at home and abroad. http://www.people-press.org/2015/01/15/publics-policy-priorities-reflect-changing-conditions-at-home-and-abroad/1-15-2015-priorities_01/ (2018). Accessed 12 July 2019
Strong, Jr., E.K.: The Psychology of Selling and Advertising. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York (1925)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Drigani, F. (2020). Institutional Space Communication. In: Communicating Space Exploration . Space and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33212-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33212-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33211-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33212-9
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)