Context Of Public Relations Research Articles

Rupturing Public Relations Metanarratives: The Example of India

In keeping with the trend of international-intercultural public relations practice, research in this area has also been mostly top-down, "outside-in," or etic in nature. This study combines a cultural analysis approach with ethnographic fieldwork in an attempt to move away from the culturally constituted metanarratives of the 4 models and practitioner roles of public relations, and it provides an "inside-out" or emic analysis of the cultural context of public relations in India. In doing so, it is able to foreground some of the assumptions that underlie these metanarratives, assumptions that are not always congruent with the Indian cultural context. Overall, this study emerges as a critique of unquestioning global applications of public relations metanarratives in culturally diverse settings.

Intranet effectiveness: a public relations paper-and-pencil checklist

While Intranets have achieved considerable prominence in larger organizations, and claims have been made for their impact in the business press, there have been few serious academic attempts to measure managerial perceptions of their effectiveness. This paper describes a process directed at developing a simple paper-and-pencil checklist to assess Intranet effectiveness. Using the inputs from a large, international on-line focus group of Intranet experts, items were generated for initial testing. A scale purification process resulted in the distillation of a 15-item checklist to measure Intranet effectiveness, particularly in a public relations context. The checklist demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties. The three dimensions of Intranet effectiveness are identified as operations, culture, and facilitation. The article concludes by identifying managerial applications of the checklist, recognizing the limitations of the approach, and identifying areas for future research.

Beyond professionalism: a government relations model

This case study explored the nature of professionalism in UK Government public relations. In addition to using established functional models of professionalism, the study tested a market‐based model of professional value, first conceived by sociologist Thomas Brante, and sought to examine the concept of professionalism as one negotiated between the buyer and provider of a service. This is the first time that Brante’s relational model has been applied to a public relations context. The subject population was buyers and providers of public relations services within the UK Ministry of Defence. The study exposed imbalances of both power and knowledge. Public relations practitioners were found not to have a consistent level of functional professionalism, while their more powerful clients neither expected nor valued functional, strategic or ethical performance from their public relations practitioners.

Extending the communication process: the significance of personal influencers in UK motor markets

This research focuses on opinion formers and opinion leaders in the marketing communications process. The model underpinning the research is that of ‘multi-step flows of communication’ in a public relations context. The motor market has been selected because it is well known that this exhibits high levels of PR activity. The proposition is that motor companies target journalists through press releases, ‘events’ and other personal presentations because they are seen as opinion formers capable of significant influence within multi-step flows of communication. Opinion leaders (e.g. consumers in the car market who possess some perceived credibility according to other consumers) would be influenced by opinion formers as another of the ‘multi’ steps and in turn influence the ‘followers’. The research explores: the relationships between motor PRs, opinion formers and opinion leaders; the use of press releases and events; the degree of objectivity that can be attributed to the messages conveyed through this influencing process; and methods of measurement and evaluation of the effectiveness of PR through the multi-step flow model.

Communicating with the community

This article examines the context of public relations as a communication activity in today’s business organizations. This is one of the most important communication activities carried out by the organization. Maintaining favorable relations with the community is as essential as maintaining favorable relations with other audiences such as customers, clients and employees. An organization will not be successful unless it can relate favorably to the community in which it is located. As a major audience for organizational communication, the community consists of all people in all walks of life who are affected significantly by the organization and who, in turn, affect it. Public opinion is an emerging force in the world today, and public opinion is shaped by communication. Some of the community audiences with which a company will regularly communicate are employees, shareholders, creditors, consumers, the media, the public, and government agencies.

Public Relations Problem Solving: Heuristics and Expertise

This study examines one of the threats to successful problem solving identified by cognitive psychologists: error induced by the problem solver's use of heuristics. The 3 factors comprising expertise (experience, education, and training) are considered in a controlled experiment involving conjunction-rule problems framed in a public relations context. A novel approach to measuring expertise is used and discussed in this study. Training was found to significantly affect error rate. whereas experience and education, as operationalized in this study, had no effect. Implications for cognitive researchers are discussed. as are more pragmatic concerns for those interested in studying problem solving.

Broadening research in public affairs

The author of this article describes how difficult it is to conceptualize public affairs research, “crossing as it does so many academic boundaries,” and calls for applying to the field a critical stance that includes qualitative research as well as other promising methodologies in quantitative communication research. This article defines public affairs within the public relations context, discusses what theory-building would mean to understanding public affairs, presents two signature articles which advance public affairs theory, and proposes opening up theoretical discussions in public affairs to critical perspectives. Dr. Toth is an assistant professor of public relations at the Center for Communication Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.