Abstract
Introduction or preface
(33)
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This paper looks at the changing communication environment of public sector organizations and examines how the traditional
understanding of citizen engage-ment is becoming outdated. Building on literature on customer engagement from marketing and
civic engagement from the field of political science, this article es-tablishes the process of citizen engagement in the public
sector. Our propositions for future citizen engagement include the following: (i) a willingness and empow-erment to engage
from both sides, (ii) the potential for either positive or negative manifestations, (iii) realistic expectations for outcomes,
(iv) an understanding of its process-form and (v) having the aim of improving society. We tested these propo-sitions in the
context of young opinion leaders in Finland in the Covid-19 related communication aiming to engage citizens to wear protective
face masks. Our data confirmed the five propositions, and two new ones also emerged from the data: citizen engagement (vi)
occurs in the global information environment and (vii) is enforced by others in society.
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Account Management
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