Public Relations as a Maturing Discipline: An Update on Research Networks

Pasadeos, Renfro and Hanily (1999) investigated the public relations literature's most-cited works in the 1990s and identified research networks. In the present study we expand that work by examining public relations scholarship ten years later. We identify current authors and their publication outlets, taxonomize most-cited works, and draw a co-citation network. Further, we compare current findings with those of ten years earlier and speculate on the state of public relations as a scholarly discipline.     

A Social Networks Approach to Public Relations on Twitter: Social Mediators and Mediated Public Relations

This study proposes theoretical and practical frameworks to systematically examine mediated public relations in social media spaces. We applied a social network conceptual framework to identify and characterize social mediators that connect the US State Department with its international public. The results showed that social mediators vary in terms of their formality and interdependence. Formal social mediators were primarily US government agencies while informal social mediators were nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals. Notably, relationships with populations in the Middle East and North Africa were mediated primarily by informal actors, and formal mediators played a key role in connecting the public with everywhere else in the world. Government-related formal mediators and informal social mediators showed similar levels of bilateral relationships. In contrast, news media, the most traditional public relations mediators, were rarely found as social mediators and demonstrated the most unilateral relationships.     

It Depends: A Contingency Theory of Accommodation in Public Relations

We argue here for a contingency theory of accommodation in public relations based on a continuum from pure accommodation to pure advocacy. The theory posits that antecedent, mediating, and moderating variables lead to greater or lesser accommodation. We identify 87 variables for inclusion in the matrix of factors affecting the degree of accommodation undertaken by public relations practitioners. We offer the theory as an alternative to the normative theory of excellence in public relations based on the two-way symmetrical model.     

Public Relations and Chinese Modernity: A 21st-Century Perspective

ABSTRACT

This study approaches the history of China's public relations (PR) industry from the perspective of modernity. Coupled with China's modern transformation and modernization since the late 1970s, Chinese PR industry and practitioners sought to establish legitimacy in the following 30 years. Three developmental stages are identified: Introduction and Enlightenment (1978–1992), Marketization and Professionalization (1992–2003), and Diversification (2003–present). In each stage, the theme and practice of PR interplayed with China's modernization and modern transformation. Situated under unique political, economic, and social contexts, China's PR faced, and is still facing, crises in reputation, utility, social values, identity, legitimacy, and professional ethics.     

A Bibliometric Analysis of Public Relations Research

From time to time, scholars in an academic or professional discipline need to assess the quality and stature of their field. Studies of citation patterns in journals—of who cites whom and of the nature of the citations—offer a method for taking stock of a discipline. This article reports the results of the first citation study of public relations. The results show that public relations has matured greatly as a discipline over the 15-year period studied. In articles published early in the period, most citations were to other fields, especially to the social sciences. In more recent articles, public relations scholars cite each other more often—showing that the discipline is coalescing around its own body of knowledge. We conclude that public relations developed a literature that is not only voluminous but also relevant during this period. The study also shows that public relations has become a scholarly discipline as well as a professional one. There was a dramatic increase in the relative number of educator-authors, and a relative decrease in the number of practitioners, contributing to the scholarly public relations literature over the 15-year period examined in this study.     

Investor Relations as a Public Relations Function: A State of the Profession in the United States

There are no majors, or even minors, in investor relations for undergraduate students in the United States. Yet, the association of investor relations professionals, the National Investor Relations Institute, has 4,300 members. The questions, then, become who works in the investor relations departments and investor relations agencies, where do they come from, and, more important, what does it mean for the status of investor relations as a profession? This study addresses these questions by conducting a random probability sampling of investor relations professionals to investigate their educational backgrounds, organizational structures, reporting relationships, and other variables. The study concludes that investor relations is still primarily a financial function: Investor relations professionals have financial or business backgrounds and report to the financial executives rather than to the communication executives or to the Chief Executive Officer.     

Public Relations and Technology: Practitioner Perspectives

The purpose of this research was to gather detailed information about public relations practitioners' new technology use. Seventeen semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted. This study describes how use of communication technologies can affect public relations roles. It discusses practitioner challenges associated with diffusing new technologies; practitioner perceptions of technology, organizational status, and power; and how public relations professionals are employing new technologies to improve research, increase productivity, and advance two-way symmetric communication in their organizations.     

Contested Notions of Issue Identity in International Public Relations: A Case Study

The Open University's circuit of culture model, which comprises a melding of critical or cultural and postmodern perspectives, encompasses 5 central discursive moments: regulation, production, consumption, representation, and identity. Using the World Health Organization's smallpox eradication campaign as a case study, we gathered data from a wide variety and in-depth collection of materials to examine how the moment of identity informs our understanding of international public relations practice and theory by recasting identity as a central, discursive concept within public relations.     

A Provisional Conceptual Framework for Intentional Positioning in Public Relations

Positioning within public relations is a concept not often addressed in public relations literature. This article reports on the progress of a project that aims to develop a way in which positioning could be usefully conceptualized within public relations. It suggests a conceptual framework that takes positioning beyond the marketing definitions that have limited use in the broader public relations field. The article reports on the development of a provisional conceptual framework for intentional positioning within a public relations context. Drawing from recent developments in positioning theory in the field of psychology, a framework was developed and applied to 57 award winning public relations campaign entries. Findings reveal that the positioning framework has the potential to be applied both as an heuristic to aid analysis of practice and also as a framework to aid practitioners in designing positioning strategies. Possibilities for further research are discussed.     

Communicating Public Relations Research

In this article, I report a study on the extent and nature of research in the public relations industry. I begin with a document analysis of all campaigns submitted to a national industry awards in 1991 and 1992 and then investigate the research experience of public relations practitioners by using interviews with a sample of award-winning practitioners. The discussion provides insights into attitudes toward research. The implications of the study are useful for assessing the development of the profession, the issues facing practitioners in competing for resources, and the usefulness of initial and continuing public relations education. Critical theory is used to examine the way individuals conceptualize their research activity and focus on the importance of the language used by practitioners to describe their data-gathering processes, its significance for understanding and rewarding public relations contributions to organizational effectiveness, and its relevance for communicating across disciplines.     

Remembering the Public in Public Relations Research: From Theoretical to Operational Symmetry

In an attempt to reconcile public relations research with a range of critical concerns, J. Grunig and colleagues have proposed a two-way symmetrical model that reformulates public relations as a more inclusive, balanced, and ethical practice. A contradiction exists, however, between two-way symmetrical theory and the asymmetrical research agenda it perpetuates: an agenda that continues to subsidize commercial and state communications at the expense of other segments of the population. To achieve real inclusion and balance in public relations, research must begin to address the public communications needs and constraints of previously excluded segments of the population     

Global Public Relations: A Cross-Cultural Study of the Excellence Theory in South Korea

This study applies the global theory of generic principles and specific applications, based on the excellence study, to South Korea. Data were collected using the International Association of Business Communicators's excellence questionnaire and Hofstede's cultural values questionnaire. Results show that the excellence theory could be used to explain South Korean public relations practice. In addition, findings on influence of societal culture show that excellent public relations practice in South Korea may be enhanced by collectivism and dynamic elements of Confucianism.     

Institutionalizing Public Relations: An International Multiple-Case Study

This research predicts and supports a model of potentially ascending cultural competence beginning with public relations practitioners' preparation for international assignments, leading to assignment-seeking behavior, success, and satisfaction in those assignments, leading to consequently increased cross-cultural competence. Results indicate that academic and professional preparation for international assignments among U.S. practitioners is limited, but that preparation correlates positively with success and satisfaction in international assignments.