'The Quest for Attention' Book Cover

The Quest for Attention

Nonprofit Advocacy in a Social Media Age
Chao Guo and Gregory D. Saxton

Award Winner

  • 2022: Outstanding Book in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research

    Winner of the 2022 Outstanding Book in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research Award, sponsored by the ARNOVA.
  • 2021: PNP Best Book Award

    Winner of the 2021 PNP Best Book Award, sponsored by the Public and Non-Profit Division of the Academy of Management.
Imprint: Stanford Business Books
July 2020
256 Pages
Hardcover ISBN: 9781503605015
Paperback ISBN: 9781503613072
Ebook ISBN: 9781503613089
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Today, social media offers an alternative broadcast and communication medium for nonprofit advocacy organizations. At the same time, social media ushers in a "noisy" information era that renders it more difficult for nonprofits to make their voices heard. This book seeks to unpack the prevalence, mechanisms, and ramifications of a new model for nonprofit advocacy in a social media age. The keyword for this new model is attention. Advocacy always starts with attention: when an organization speaks out on a cause, it must ensure that it has an audience and that its voice is heard by that audience; it must ensure that current and potential supporters are paying attention to what it has to say before expecting more tangible outcomes. Yet the organization must also ensure that advocacy does not end with attention: attention should serve as a springboard to something greater. The authors elaborate how attention fits into contemporary organizations' advocacy work and explain the key features of social media that are driving the quest for attention. Developing conceptual models, they explain why some organizations and messages gain attention while others do not. Lastly, the book explores how organizations are weaving together online and offline efforts to deliver strategic advocacy outcomes.