A longitudinal analysis of mergers and acquisitions patterns of U.S. public relations agencies between 1984 and 2004

This study was designed to examine the trends of M&As (mergers and acquisitions) in the public relations industry from 1980 to 2004. The results revealed that although M&A activities in the public relations industry increased in the decade between the early 1980s and early 1990s, they began to drop in the early 1990s. Also, it was found that public relations firms acquired or were acquired by other public relations firms.     

Comparing professional identities, attitudes, and views in public communication: A study of Chilean journalists and public relations practitioners

Public relations (PR) practitioners’ and journalists’ professional views and attitudes toward each other have been a subject of academic inquiry during the past decades; however, much of this research has focused on Europe and North America. In other regions of the world, for example in Latin America, historical developments and social understandings have led to slightly different conceptualizations of PR and journalism. Using Chile as a case study, this paper reports the results of an examination of Chilean journalists’ and PR practitioners’ professional conceptions. While both groups tend to have somewhat similar views of media relations and see themselves as part of the same profession, there are also important differences which are most likely based on professional socialization processes rather than educational backgrounds or sociodemographic and work related variables. Implications for contextually grounded approaches to the study of PR and journalism are highlighted.     

McDonald's Japan: A case study of effective public relations

This case study presents how McDonald's Japan improved its corporate image through food education as corporate social responsibility activity. Email interviews with a CSR representative and seven public school teachers who experienced the company's educational program reveal the company has successfully improved its corporate image, which may have contributed to its increased sales performance.     

How public relations works: Theoretical roots and public relations perspectives

Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective or a psychological, behavioral perspective. To understand the role of public relations in building trust or mistrust and to develop – or destroy – a license to operate, it needs also to be studied as a social phenomenon.     

Spinning out the asbestos agenda: How big business uses public relations in Australia

Although health warnings associated with asbestos were first documented in 1898, by 2020 there are expected to be 60,000 deaths associated with asbestos in Australia. This paper examines how Australia's dominant asbestos producer's used public relations to limit media coverage and influence government policy related to its asbestos liabilities. It then traces the company's failures to manage the resulting crisis when external stakeholders and media interests became alerted to the corporation's agenda.     

Introduction to this special section: The impact of globalization on public relations

Globalization has thrust public relations into the limelight providing new opportunities while posing immense challenges as well. Whereas globalization has impacted the public relations industry in many ways, public relations also has contributed to the spread of globalization. Using the global diffusion of the top 10 public relations agencies, this article argues that public relations is often erroneously perceived as only involving corporate activities. The body of knowledge is almost completely silent on the use of public relations for altruistic and information campaigns. This special issue presents some of the papers presented at the 14th International Public Relations Symposium (also popularly known as Bledcom 2007) whose theme was “The Impact of Globalization on Public Relations”.     

Understanding how health journalists judge public relations sources: A rules theory approach

The research presented here offers public relations practitioners and scholars insight about how health journalists (N = 598) view practitioners and evaluate the appropriateness of public relations materials by public relations source (e.g., nonprofit, government). Also assessed are differences in journalist perceptions according to medium (e.g., newspapers, magazines) and market (e.g., national, metropolitan). Rules theory guides the analysis, allowing practitioners to discern journalists’ general and specific rules for accepting publicity materials. Findings show that health journalists are least accepting of material from businesses and federal government agencies. Newspaper and freelance health journalists are more reluctant to use public relations materials than are other journalists.     

The Social Media Release as a public relations tool: Intentions to use among B2B bloggers

The Social Media Release (SMR) is emerging as a potentially powerful public relations tool in a world of social network media, particularly when targeted at influential bloggers. The research described here studies the factors that influence bloggers to use SMRs, using the Technology Acceptance Model as a theoretical framework, concentrating specifically on their perceptions of usefulness and ease of use.     

Journalists’ assessments of public relations subsidies and contact preferences: Exploring the situation in Spain

The aim of this article is to offer journalists’ assessment of their relationships with public relations professionals in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Spain). We analyzed quantitative interviews (questionnaires) and in-depth interviews conducted with 68 Catalan journalists regarding their relationship with public relations practitioners and investigated their assessments of public relations subsidies and contact preferences. An explanatory view is offered.     

Anthony Giddens and public relations: A third way perspective

In the article, the main theories of Anthony Giddens (structuration and late modernity theory) are presented and applied upon public relations. A review shows that there have been few attempts to use these theories in public relations. The analysis states that using Giddens leads to a questioning of the dichotomy between instrumental agency-oriented theories that neglects power structures as well as critical theories that only views public relations as hidden strategic action used by elites to dominate the public sphere. The conclusion is that there are two major arguments for applying Giddens to public relations: (1) the theory of late modernity may enhance our understanding of public relations as an evolving practice in socio-historical and spatial terms; (2) the structuration theory enhances the holistic understanding of how public relations communication, interpreted as a process, may be used both as a reproductive and a transforming social instrument. Giddens theory may in other words be used as a “third way public relations theory”.     

Carnivalesque activism as a public relations genre: A case study of the New Zealand group Mothers Against Genetic Engineering

This paper argues that carnivalesque protest comprises a particular genre of activist public relations which articulates conflict with, and resistance to, dominant discourses on controversial issues. A case study of the New Zealand group Mothers Against Genetic Engineering illustrates how the carnivalesque, by promoting community relationships and influencing public opinion through values of affect, can open up new spaces for public dialogue about social issues. It is argued that carnivalesque protest challenges the notion that collaboration should be a core professional value of public relations practice.     

A theoretical perspective on “fear” as an organizational motivator for initiating public relations activities

This exploratory study identifies the correlation between perceived fear and the public relations activities of an organization. A survey of forty public relations professionals in Florida confirms that fear is a critical causal factor that motivates an organization to initiate or undertake public relations activities. The effect of fear on the public relations activities of an organization differed by public relations area. In addition, there was a gap between perception and actual public relations activities. Crisis and issues management were the areas most affected by perception, but in application media relations was the most practiced.     

Structure of the public relations/communication department: Key findings from a global study

This paper reports on some of the core findings from a program of research focused on examining the structure of public relations/communication departments. It draws on a recent major global study that was sponsored by the former Research Foundation of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Analyzing the results from interviews with 26 Chief Communication Officers (CCOs) located in each of the five continents and from a survey sample of some 278 CCOs based in organizations headquartered across the globe, the study found quite notable variations in the type of departmental structures. No one dominant structural model emerged. In effect, each organization appeared to adopt a structural design to suit their individual circumstances, although there were nevertheless some reasonably common component functional elements within each department. CCOs identified those variables that they believed most influenced the design of the public relations department structure. While recognizing department structure is situation dependent, the evidence suggests that CCOs create hybrid structures unique to the circumstances. What was perhaps most surprising was that department structure did not appear to be strongly influenced by department size, other than in terms of the vertical structural design. In short, there do not appear to be any common formulas or prescribed solutions for how organizations should or do orchestrate the design of the public relations department structure, rather CCOs appear to be able to exercise a degree of latitude in determining what works best for them.     

Re-examining the economic roots of public relations

The present global financial/economic crisis affects virtually the whole world and has brought to light a neglected economic context in public relations. To anyone familiar with the field's early history, it is obvious that a large part of that history intertwines with the long struggle between corporate, purely economic, interests and the need to apply public relations to combat public hostility and to gain public favour. This article works with both functional and critical approaches to engage with the particular relevance that the economic context of public relations holds in times of economic downturn. In referring to economic context, it includes the following issues: the economic roots of public relations practice in the historical context, the interactions between public relations theory and theories of economics and political economy, and the importance of economics to public relations practitioners.     

Workplace adversity and resilience in public relations: Accounting for the lived experiences of public relations practitioners

Public relations practitioners face workplace challenges as they cultivate public relationships, resolve conflicts, and manage crises. Odds of adversities may be high in this role, requiring practitioners to be resilient. This qualitative study explores workplace adversities in public relations from a practitioners’ perspective, and examines how they enact resilience. By asking current practitioners about their lived experiences, we found workplace adversities occurred on multiple levels and ranged from mundane to life-altering events. Patterns of resilience were, metaphorically, bouncing forward, bouncing up, bouncing back, and bouncing around. This study contributes to public relations and resilience scholarship by (1) uncovering workplace adversities and resilience enactment in public relations, therefore connecting practice with scholarship, (2) extending the “bounce back” metaphor in the resilience literature, therefore making resilience more inclusive, and (3) exploring the connections of multi-level resilience, and suggesting the complex and negotiated nature of resilience among individuals embedded in collectives.     

Social media adoption among Turkish public relations professionals: A survey of practitioners

Social media is emerging as an important public relations tool and empowers two way symmetrical communications with publics and stakeholders. PR professionals are confronted with the swift rise of social media that forces practitioners to pay due and timely attention. They are not only excited about utilizing these tools together with conventional media, but are also excited about speaking directly to their publics and stakeholders without the involvement of any intermediaries. Through the perspective of UTAUT model, this paper examines the social media adoption of PR professionals in Turkey and how they employ social media tools both internally and externally. We employed a web-based questionnaire to 126 PR professionals who are members of the Turkish Public Relations Association. Findings reveal that Turkish PR professionals highly appreciate the importance of social media in recent PR practice. However, not all social media tools are equally adopted; e-mail is the most, and virtual world applications are the least adopted social media. It is also found that in the future, social networks are expected to be the most important social media, while corporate web sites get the second and mobile phone (PDA) applications get the third rank.     

A use of second-order co-orientation model in international public relations

This paper is an extension of a line of research that questions the possibility of applying the co-orientation theory in researching the communication behavior between “general” publics of nations. Here we included three nations, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia and questioned publics’ opinions on investment policies between mentioned nations. We extended the notion of co-orientation in international relations to include not only evaluations of two countries’ attitudes towards a third country, but also evaluations of opinions the two countries have between themselves (and to which the first is only an observer). We called it the second-order co-orientation. So far accuracy has been seen as the right objective for public relations using co-orientation. Our results question centrality of accuracy as the key performance indicator of effectiveness of public relations programs in the context of co-orientation model.     

A pilot qualitative study of the under-representation of Hispanics in public relations

This pilot study explored the under-representation of Hispanics/Latinos in the public relations profession by conducting focused interviews with Hispanic practitioners. The study found that public relations was not the Latinos’ initial career choice, identified three barriers to Hispanics entering the profession, elicited practical suggestions to attract more Hispanics, and also revealed opportunities for future scholarly research to address the under-representation of Hispanics in public relations.     

A case study of Congressional hostility to agency public relations: The Federal Reserve and Senator Heflin, 1922

This is an historical case study of one US Senator's effort to reduce the public information activities of a federal agency. In 1922, Senator Thomas Heflin, an opponent of the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank, took especial umbrage at the Bank's use of public relations to reply to his own attacks on it. This is an example of a politician trying to muzzle government public relations regardless of fairness or reciprocity.