Lennart Rettler, M.A.

Research Focus

• Virtual communities and community management
• Strategic communication on social media
• Reciprocity and social capital
• Sustainable strategic communication
• Authenticity
• Science public relations

Short CV

Studies in Media Studies, Politics, Economics and Society at the Ruhr University Bochum. Subsequent Master's degree in Strategic Communication at the Department of Communication in Münster. Since June 2021 PhD student and research assistant in the department of strategic communication headed by Prof. Röttger. Also externally active as a lecturer in further training courses for social media management.

Projects

Sustainable Strategic Communication – How can communication management become sustainable?
(01.06.2023 – 01.03.2024) – Prof. Dr. Ulrike Röttger, Lennart Rettler M.A.

What characterizes sustainable strategic communication at a time when sustainability messages are omnipresent? Sustainability is currently considered one of the most important topics in communication management. Research and practice focus primarily on examining communication about sustainability. The question of how strategic communication itself can be sustainable has so far remained unaddressed. The research project aims to provide an answer to this question.

Community Management on Closed-Media-Plattforms
(03/2022 – 02/2023) – Prof. Dr. Ulrike Röttger, Lennart Rettler, M.A.

Advancing digital networking is constantly changing how individuals communicate with each other, but also how individuals communicate with companies and other organizations. As a response to the challenge of communication in social media, community management has developed into a significant corporate communication practice in recent years. Increasingly, the focus is not on what general stakeholder groups think, but on how the community evaluates corporate actions.

Publications

• Rettler, Lennart; Röttger, Ulrike; Viertmann, Christine (2023): Being close(d). How community management on closed media channels contributes to social capital. (Communication Insights, Issue 17). Academic Society for Management & Communication. Online verfügbar.
• Rettler, Lennart (2023): Community Management. In: Günter Bentele, Manfred Piwinger und Gregor Schönborn (Hg.): Kommunikationsmanagement. Aktualisierungslieferung Nr. 199. Januar 2023. Köln: Wolters Kluwer, S. 1-36.

Talks

• Rettler, L. & Röttger, U. (2023, September). Is this responsible communication? - Characterizing sustainable strategic communication for professionals and researchers. Paper presented at the 24th Annual Congress of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association.
• Rettler, L. & Röttger, U. (2022, November). Being close by being closed? Potenziale geschlossener Kommunikationskanäle für die Gestaltung digitaler Beziehungen und Communities. Vortrag im Rahmen der Tagung "Sichtbarkeit und Beobachtbarkeit und ihre Bedeutung für die digitale Kommunikation" der Fachgruppe digitale Kommunikation der DGPuK, Düsseldorf.
• Rettler, L., Löffler, N., Dudenhausen, A., & Röttger, U. (2022, May). Strengthening local administrations’ perceived trustworthiness through public relations: Effects of media use and sociopsychological factors. Paper presented at the 72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association, Paris.
• Röttger, U., & Rettler, L. (2022, February). Cornerstones of the digital city? Consideration of local subreddits of major German cities. Presentation at DIGISTA Final Conference, Augsburg.

Teaching

• SS 2024: "Abhängigkeiten im Journalismus" (BA-Vertiefungsmodul: Journalismusforschung)
• WS 2023/24: "Organisationen und Gesellschaft - Soziologische Ansätze in der PR" (BA-Vertiefungsmodul: PR- und Werbeforschung)
• WS 2022/23: „Selbstdarstellung, Image und Authentizität“ (BA-Vertiefungsmodul: PR- und Werbeforschung)
• SS 2022: „Herausforderungen des Wissenschaftsjournalismus“ (BA-Vertiefungsmodul: Journalismusforschung)
• WS 2021/22: „Wahrheit, Täuschung und Glaubwürdigkeit in der strategischen Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation“ (BA-Vertiefungsmodul: PR- und Werbeforschung)