ABSTRACT
The program of research reviewed in this chapter seeks to identify, describe, and explain the message variable in the strategic communication process. While discipline-specific public relations scholarship provides the strategic messaging framework advanced in this program, the multidisciplinary nature of strategic communication facilitates the integration of theories and concepts from many fields to enable a fuller understanding of organizational communication processes and outcomes. This chapter reviews the theoretical growth of this program of research from a discipline-specific public relations approach to a multidisciplinary approach positioned in the strategic communication domain.
