A need for translation? Conceptualizing professional communication in Spain

Abstract

Research on global public relations is heavily focused on interpreting practice through the lenses of dominant US ideology. This is particularly the case for analyses of professional communication and public relations in Europe. This research explores the development and current practice of public relations in Spain, a country that has received little attention in global public relations research, but which has followed a unique path of public relations development. The context of Spanish public relations raises questions about the ability of researchers to broadly apply the principles of Excellence to a country’s public relations, and this study uncovers unique cultural principles that fall outside the purview of public relations in Spain, including models that emphasize creativity and improvisation. Perhaps even more importantly, this research reveals that Spanish communication professionals may be operating under a false standard of Excellent public relations, having translated normative US models into a mistaken conceptualization that communications exist as prescribed in the United States