Public Relations Literature Research Articles

2024 practice analysis: a comparison of expectations vs actual performance of essential competencies in public relations

PurposeWe conducted the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB) practice analysis to examine perceptions of US public relations practitioners and educators regarding the essential competencies for entry-level and mid-career professionals. This is a trend analysis survey that is conducted every five years to assess changes in required competencies.Design/methodology/approachThe survey was distributed via email to organizations affiliated with the UAB. Two variations of the survey were available to differentiate between practitioners and educators. The study was conducted from February through March of 2024.FindingsWe found practitioners’ expectations for others exceeded their own actual performance levels. This may be attributed to social comparison bias. We have provided recommendations for updating the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) and certificate exams based on our findings. For example, we recommend senior professionals adopt a nurturing leadership style when mentoring young professionals. The study also revealed that educators overestimated generative artificial intelligence (AI) use in the workplace, as practitioners exhibited a slower rate of adoption of AI. The literature and theories that guided the paper were AI use, the history of accreditation in public relations and the diffusion of innovation theory.Originality/valueThis research paper provides insights related to the diffusion of AI competencies in the workplace. Additionally, this research adds to public relations literature by revealing the gap in expectations of senior professionals for beginning and mid-career professionals and their own job performance.

Leading to Social Impact Communication: Understanding Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) from Industry Professional Perspectives

ABSTRACT This study aims to understand how practitioners define and describe corporate engagement with social issues within the larger context of their organization’s social obligations. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 20 communication professionals involved in CSA practices of large U.S. corporations. This study proposes an expanded definition of CSA as a part of social impact communication. Additionally, we present a social impact valuation process model, offering an initial theoretical grounding for understanding CSA decision-making processes. The study contributes to public relations literature by extending our understanding of the dynamics of CSA in practice and bridging the gap between practice and theory.

Managing Negative WOM on Social Media: Impact of Accommodative Versus Defensive Strategies, Reputation, and Communication Style on Consumer Responses

abstract: This study examined optimal strategies for companies managing negative social media comments, viewing these situations as public relations opportunities to build relationships and reduce negative word of mouth. Utilizing SCCT and attribution theory and public relations literature on two-way communication and relationship building, a 2×2×2 full factorial experiment was conducted with consumer samples. Results show that effective management of negative comments on social media can build stakeholder relationships and yield positive outcomes. However, the effectiveness of the response strategy depends on the company’s existing reputation. For companies with a positive reputation, a defensive strategy is more effective in reducing perceived responsibility, whereas, for those with a poor reputation, response strategy choice has minimal impact. Two-way communication enhances external attribution, which is especially beneficial for disreputable companies using a defensive strategy. External attribution positively influences trust and satisfaction, ultimately affecting corporate outcomes.

Dimensions of Corporate Governance in Public Relations Literature: A Systematic Review

Abstract This article aims to uncover the dimensions or characteristics of corporate governance in the literature of public relations that are also related to communication. We employed a methodological approach based on a systematic review of scientific articles in the field of public relations using the PRISMA method, along with content analysis through axial coding, the use of the Atlas.ti tool, and meta-analysis. After reviewing two major online research databases, Science Direct and Emerald, we narrowed our search to Public Relations Review as the fundamental scientific journal in the field of public relations. We identified 19 communication dimensions of corporate governance, consolidating related concepts into ten. The originality of this research lies in identifying key communication dimensions of corporate governance as an institutional framework for public relations. The research results reinforce the significant role of communication even in the processes of institutionalizing corporate governance.

Can we build a relationship through artificial intelligence (AI)? Understanding the impact of AI on organization-public relationships

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of agent type and voice tone on publics’ perceived organization-public relationships and behavioral intention towards an organization. Through a 2 (agent type: human vs. AI) x 2 (voice tone: conversational human vs. organizational) between-subjects experiment, the study shows that organizational messages communicated by a human agent generated significantly higher perceived control mutuality among participants in a Twitter setting than messages communicated by an AI agent. The use of conversational human voice resulted in significantly stronger relational outcomes. A significant interaction effect was found between agent type and voice tone on control mutuality. This study contributes to the public relations literature and practice by examining the potential role of AI agents in organization-public relationships and supportive behavioral intention towards an organization in the setting of Twitter.

The State of Crisis Communication in Contemporary Nonprofit Literature

ABSTRACT Emergency and disaster management and public relations literature both apply crisis communication strategies and theories, although the nonprofit sector is rarely examined. To deliver services effectively and disseminate critical information, nonprofit leaders must adapt to various contexts while also considering their reputation following crises. In addition to providing a theoretical framework for crisis communication in the nonprofit context, this study systematically examines recent literature on nonprofit crisis communication. The study reveals a set of crucial insights from nonprofit crisis communication literature, particularly surrounding four themes: 1) crisis sensemaking and crisis understanding; 2) nonprofit leadership and governance; 3) nonprofit structure; and 4) communication tools and networks. The findings open up a wide range of possibilities for further investigation into the dissemination of nonprofit crises, particularly empirical work utilizing longitudinal analysis. The findings provide applications for nonprofit leaders for becoming more aware of their crisis communication tactics.

Organizational Voicing Architecture in the Age of Social Media – a Case Study in Professional Service Organizations

ABSTRACT Digital communication technologies, particularly social media, enable members of organizations at all levels and across all functions to communicate with external stakeholders. This has required organizations to rethink and restructure their strategic communication management, especially the orchestration of their communicative human resources. Using a qualitative case-study approach, this article examines how professional service organizations create and maintain their stakeholder relations in the contemporary media landscape through the orchestration of employee voice and enactment as organizational spokespersons. The findings show that organizations have created structural architectures that they use as a basis for strategic communication management. Based on these findings, the study introduces a novel concept of organizational voicing architecture, which refers to the conceptual structure and overall logical arrangement of organizational spokespersons who act as organizational representatives in the corporate communication system. Additionally, by integrating the findings related to the voicing architecture with existing knowledge about organizational listening, the study broadens understanding of the mechanism with which organizations strategically orchestrate their stakeholder relationships, and hence contributes to the strategic and corporate communication and public relations literature.

Framing, agency, and athlete activism: The case of simone biles at the 2020 olympics

In July of 2021, Simone Biles shocked the world with her withdrawal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics citing “mental health” as her rationale. Mental health remains a taboo subject within the realm of professional sports, and is often devalued, in stark contrast to the value placed on physical health. The present study explored Biles’s framing of her withdrawal and publics’ reactions to the withdrawal across two distinct social media platforms. Critical rhetorical analysis was used to analyze the Instagram posts made by Biles and a press conference transcript announcing and reifying her withdrawal, as well as 100 TikTok videos and 1000 comments illustrating publics’ reactions. Findings demonstrate that Biles’s framed her messages through genuineness, responsibility, resistance, and consistency. As a result of the frames used in the withdrawal messages, and the modality allowances afforded on TikTok (e.g., video, text, text and video, stitching), the space for dissent, as well as the ability to critique current power structures was created. From these findings, theoretically I argue that (1) framing theory can be used to create the space for resisting power, reclaiming agency, and challenging attacks of morality, and (2) theorize the ability of public relations to shape broader societal discourse. Practically, this research adds to the public relations literature (1) the value of new frames for image cultivation and the new role of publics for engaging in the acceptance, rejection, or co-creation of frames put forth by organizations and (2) the role of message modality for cultivating discourse and dissent.

The Past, Present, and Future of Internal Communication in Public Relations: A Computational Review of the Emerging Literature

ABSTRACT Utilizing a full-text 15,926,460-word database of all peer-reviewed articles published in six public relations journals between 2012 and 2022 (N = 2,675), we employ a variety of computational methods to investigate the past, present, and future of internal communication in public relations. We first situate internal communication studies in the wider public relations literature, document its growth, identify a set of “internal-communication papers” (N = 407), and conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis. Next, we investigate the theoretical, empirical, and epistemological origins of internal communication by analyzing all identified internal communication papers’ reference lists and providing core readings for the research community. Finally, we compare internal communication papers with non-internal-communication counterparts, quantify literature gaps, and illuminate promising research directions to guide the future of internal communication studies.

Delving into disengagement as a distinct construct: A proposed research agenda for public relations scholars

Public relations scholars have greatly impacted the understanding of employee engagement in terms of definitions, theory development, antecedents, outcomes, and progressing scholarship to explore changes in the modern workplace. Yet, understanding the nuances around being disengaged is absent from most of the public relations literature. In addition, although much is known about the connection between employee engagement and internal communication, little has been identified about how internal communication contributes to or ameliorates the experience of being disengaged. Therefore, public relations researchers have the chance to move scholarship on disengagement forward by examining it as a unique concept separate from engagement and exploring the function of internal communication with disengagement.

Forms and strategies of personal influence in “public” relations practices: evidence from Italy

PurposePersonal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.FindingsThe findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.Practical implicationsThis study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.Originality/valueThe study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.

Exploring leisure and municipal government public relations for community: A case example of parks and recreation

The concept of community expresses a variety of responsibilities that public relations has in building connections, good will, and wellbeing amongst collectives of people. Community also parallels many U.S. expectations of government; however, public relations has few studies that investigate the collaboration between government and citizens or how different government services (e.g., public works, public health, building enforcement, etc.) influence community building. Specifically, parks and recreation has been overlooked in the public relations literature as citizens and government collectively support these lifelines of community wellbeing and social connectedness. Through qualitative analysis of focus groups with city residents and interviews with city parks and recreation personnel, I present thematic findings that explicate how citizens and city staff engage in community building and the specific role that leisure plays in community building processes. Lastly, I offer implications for public relations theory that argue to shift local community and governance theory to be citizen-centered and use the concept of family to explicate the function of community in small municipal contexts.

Prospects and risks of digitalization in public relations research: mapping recurrent narratives of a debate in fragmentation (2010–2022)

PurposeThe debate on digitalization in the public relations (PR) literature has fragmented considerably over the past decade because of its focus on upcoming media-technological innovations, required professional skills and management concepts. Yet the field has difficulties in developing an integrative perspective on the implications of digitalization as a broader socio-technological transformation with a balanced consideration of prospects and risks.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes an integrative perspective that focuses more on the enduring imaginaries of how digitalization can transform society for better or worse. It traces the historical roots of five imaginaries of digitalization, which have already emerged over the past century yet have experienced a significant revival and popularization in the current debate. Based on these five imaginaries, the authors performed a narrative literature review of the digitalization debate in 10 leading PR journals from 2010 to 2022.FindingsThe five imaginaries allow for a systematization of the fragmented digitalization debate in the field, reconstructing recurrent narratives, prospects and risks.Originality/valueThe originality of this contribution lies in its reconstructive approach, tracing societal imaginaries of digitalization and their impact on the current disciplinary debate. This approach provides context for a balanced assessment of and engagement with upcoming, increasingly fragmented digital advancements in PR research and practice.

Should relationships be at the heart of public relations? A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of organization-public relationships

Organization-public relationships (OPRs) have been central to public relations theorizing for decades. Guided by Broom et al.'s (1997) foundational three-stage model of OPRs, this study contributes to the public relations literature by conducting the first meta-analysis of the associations between each of the four dimensions of OPRs (trust, satisfaction, commitment, and control mutuality) and their most frequently studied antecedents and consequences. A total of 454 correlations from 67 empirical studies (N = 30, 223) were included in the analysis. The results confirmed the strong correlations among OPRs and the nine most frequently studied antecedents: engagement, involvement, authenticity, transparency, interactivity, two-way communication, interpersonal communication, mediated communication, and symmetrical communication. The research also confirmed the strong connections among OPRs and six commonly researched consequences: reputation, attitudes, positive word-of-mouth communication, purchase intentions, advocacy, and information seeking. We identified the sampling method, employee-organization relationships (EORs), organization type, and country as significant moderators for certain relationships. Overall, the findings support OPRs as a mature and well-supported theory that continues integrating with other public relations theories. Findings also enrich the three-stage model of OPRs with integrated empirical evidence. Areas for future scholarship are discussed relevant to the insignificant potential moderators, such as channel and crisis topic, along with important limitations in the extant scholarship.

Factionalism and schisms: Analyzing network structure and characteristics of online opinion leaders in an international religious crisis

AbstractThis study addresses gaps in the crisis communication literature by examining the role and influence of online opinion leaders in an overlooked type of crisis—organizational factionalism and schisms. This study examined network attributes and characteristics of online opinion leaders during an international religious crisis by conducting a social network analysis of 27,710 posts on Twitter concerning the impending schism within the United Methodist Church. By bridging research on religious crises, organizational factions and schisms, and online opinion leadership in the public relations literature, our results advance theorizing in crisis communication, particularly for Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). Results reveal online opinion leaders are influential entities and sources of information regarding the crisis, and are not homogeneous in their opinions, thus reflecting the ideological diversity present within factionalism crises. This study confirms and advances previous research by arguing that traditional methods of categorizing crises according to SCCT should not be solely relied on for factionalism and organizational schisms.

Why Relationships Fail: Donor Insights on Defining and Understanding Successes and Failures in Nonprofit Stewardship

ABSTRACT Stewardship in public relations is how nonprofits deepen relationships with donors over time. However, reality has demonstrated many instances where organization-donor relationships still fail despite communication. This study takes a unique look at the practice of stewardship in public relations by examining why some donor-nonprofit relationships are unsuccessful. Drawing upon theories of contingency and dialogue as well as concepts related to donor dropout, this paper seeks to apply recent developments in public relations literature to stewardship and donor OPRs. The paper takes a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews with 26 donors from nonprofits across the United States to examine their experiences with nonprofits. Inductive analysis found seven key themes relating to stewardship practices that could make or break a donor relationship: Irresponsible Reporting, Meaningless Engagement, Unsanctioned Recognition, Legal and Policy Constraints, Financial Instability, Poor Fit with Mission and Personal Interests, and Social Mismatch. Together, these elements show that donors leave when they do not find opportunities to engage in true dialogue, that good relationships can fail over time, and donor disloyalty is worth further investigation.

Addressing participation, belonging, and temporality in public formation and maintenance: Advancing a rhetorical approach to publics

This paper expands the conceptualization of publics as rhetorical constructs in recognition of non-functional perspectives to public relations scholarship. After reviewing the functional/issue-based approaches and the non-functional/discursive-based approaches to theorizing publics within public relations research, we note the significance of the stranger relationality and temporality that is invoked when considering the circulation of discourse and texts as the basis for public existence. We suggest four premises to a rhetorical understanding of publics, expanding upon the public relations literature that has previously suggested a discursive nature of publics, but has not articulated the consequential details of public formation, maintenance, and existence. These premises decenter the organization by highlighting the circulation of and attention to texts, emphasize public existence as allowing a fluidity of participation, suggest further understanding belonging rather than behavior, and underscore questions of temporality and collective memory. We then suggest some implications for public relations research, including how a rhetorical understanding connects to the non-functional approaches of the field, as well as how it may extend studies of relationships and counterpublics.

Putting stakeholders’ engagement in the equation: Proposing the integrated network engagement model

Research on engagement and relationships in the public relations literature tends to focus on individual stakeholders’ psychological states or traits. Researchers have not fully considered how stakeholders’ social environments impact their engagement with organizations. To advance theorizing on engagement and relationships, this study considers stakeholders’ social environments by examining the social ties they activate when engaging with an organization. Thus, we propose and examine the Integrated Network Model of Engagement to understand the stakeholder side of engagement. Through an egocentric network survey, we identify multiple sources of influence on indicators and outcomes of engagement, and assess the relationship between engagement indicators and outcomes. Results suggest that stakeholders’ network structures positively associated with indicators of relational engagement and outcomes of engagement, specifically OPR. On the other hand, the composition of stakeholders’ networks consistently had mixed associations with engagement indicators and outcomes. We argue it is critical for public relations scholars to account for these complexities and for practitioners to understand stakeholders’ social environments when attempting to engage them.

Revisiting The Oxymoron: A Theoretical Discussion On Public Interest And Public Relations

The concept of public interest, which is used as a way for public relations to differentiate itself from propaganda or other negative connotations, is among the basic concepts utilized by public relations practitioners and academics working in the field of public relations. Compliments or criticisms of public relations are generally shaped by the discussion on whether public relations serve the public interest, although there is no direct reference to the concept. While mainstream approaches in public relations claim that public relations serve the public interest and the public interest is the raison d’être of public relations, critical approaches underline that public relations serve the market interest instead of the public interest. This study, which focuses on the public interest debates in the public relations literature with a theoretical discussion over the tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and confectionery industries, aims to examine the relation between public interest and public relations by opening the discussion on the axis of the concepts of dialogue, ethics, and democracy. In this context, the study claims that public relations cannot work the common good due to examples of the aforementioned industries that do not comply with the concept of public interest; however, public relations is a rhetorical instrument that makes corporations appear as if they serve the public interest.

What do we know about government public relations (GPR)? A systematic review of GPR in public relations literature

Despite the importance of public relations within local, national, and international government organizations, government public relations (GPR) is still an understudied field in public relations research when compared to its corporate and nonprofit counterparts and has been critiqued for lacking theoretical development (Liu & Horsley, 2007). To present the accumulated knowledge about GPR, this study used content analysis and bibliometric network analysis to systematically review 155 articles published in key public relations journals from 1976 to 2021. Our findings illustrate the status of GPR scholarship in terms of publication trends, authorship, research contexts, research topics, theoretical knowledge structure, methodological approaches, and ethical considerations. Findings suggest that GPR is a fast-growing field attracting international and multidisciplinary scholarly interests; yet has not been clearly defined and theorized. With strong theoretical roots in relationship management, GPR has the potential to develop context-relevant theories capturing the distinctive relational dynamics in various government communication situations. This study proposes a work-in-progress definition of GPR, identifies critical research gaps, and suggests future research directions to assist GPR in developing into a distinct and promising subfield of public relations research.