Construction and presentation of communication consultancy expertise: Turkish perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature on the construction of public relations consultancy expertise in the local context, by applying Erving Goffman’s “impression management” concept, as elaborated in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), to understand how the specific scripts co-created in consultant-client interaction at the “front” and the “back” stages of the Turkish PR consultancy industry guide the practice. The study is based on 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews with prominent consultants in the industry, most of whom are also the founders and owners of PR agencies in Turkey. The findings of the study demonstrate the shortcomings of the Turkish PR consultancy industry in the presentation of its expertise, underlining the need to develop mechanisms for validating this expertise. The insights of the study have practical implications for overcoming the specific challenges that impair proper presentation of industry and consultancy expertise. This is the first Turkish study that provides an analysis of PR consultancy expertise, deepening the understanding about the collective identity of the Turkish PR consultancy industry.