COMM350 Midterm Study Guide Public Relations organizational function which develops executes and evaluates the organization s goals creates a positive image for it as well as successful relationships with internal and external publics Definition and characteristics of publics Public group of people who share a common interest and are united by common goals objectives or share an opinion important to know your public can do this through research Ex people supporting a particular politician a class a sports team clubs sorority fraternity In PR o Internal employees executives and senior management o External government investors customers the media competitors Demographic vs psychographic Demographic studying of populations based on age sex location etc Psychographic classification based on attitudes aspirations as well as other psychological characteristics Communication tools skills used by PR professionals Ability to write design and produce media materials Public speaking Group leadership Event planning Good listening Time management The concept of public opinion Current trends in society One of the 5 factors that regulates social conduct The definition and types of persuasive communication PR is a form of persuasive communication so are marketing advertising campaigning propaganda Levels of persuasion o Awareness o Attitudes o Beliefs o Behavior Factors affecting persuasion o Source sender o Message content o Receiver audience The profile of the average public relations professional Average age is 39 and dropping annually for the last decade 2 3 65 are university graduates and almost 1 3 hold masters degrees Average salary of 69 000 annually 70 are females but men hold the top managerial positions because men entered the field first and climbed up the ladder women are at more technical jobs as opposed to managerial but in the future women should be gaining managerial positions Misconceptions and stereotypes around PR Same as advertising marketing No special skills training necessary Unnecessary part of a company All about parties receptions and other social events All glamorous business dealing with celebrities and propaganda History of PR First stage rhetorician and press agent tradition Second stage journalistic and publicity tradition Third stage the persuasive communication campaign tradition Fourth stage relationship building and two way communication o Global information society One way and two way communication One way started by Edward Bernays sender message receiver Two way based on the exchange of messages including feedback sender message receiver feedback sender circular Important PR figures Barnum one of the first leading figures of PR Ivy Lee father of PR introduced a number of ethical and professional standards o Always telling the truth to the public o Publicity has to be supported by good work performance determines publicity o Always balance the organization s interests with the publics interests Edward Bernays leading advocate of persuasion in PR o Introduced the concept of staged media events o Believed that PR should depend on creating events that are newsworthy but don t appear staged o Believed that publics could be persuaded of the that message supported their needs and interests o Saw PR as conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses o One way communication techniques Arthur Page introduced the Two way model of communication o New vision of PR as a broad based management function based on diagnosing and interpreting the public o Set of principles Tell the truth Prove it with action doing it 90 talking 10 Listen to the consumer Manage for tomorrow anticipate predict Conduct PR as of the whole company depends on it Remain calm patient and good humored Theories help us understand ongoing trend predict find out relationships generalize resolve problems manage crises Systems theory organizations are part of larger systems involving many parts media investors government customers community environment financial institutions o Importance of relationships interdependency and mutuality o Not all organizations are the same some are flexible and some are rigid Situational theory of publics stresses the various demographic psychographic characteristics which situate audiences differently audience level of activity is determined by 3 factors o Problem recognition problem or not o Constraint recognition what will happen if you take action o Level of involvement how are you willing to get involved ex liking something on Facebook vs petitioning something o These all try to interpret the audience behavior and explain why some audiences are active on one issue only others are active on many issues and why some are always apathetic Social exchange theory o Economic metaphor of cost and benefit or give and take o Emphasizes reciprocity and exchange Social learning theory introduced by Albert Bandura about learning by modeling observing others and that we should have role models to follow we model behaviors that seem to be rewarding and have positive effects o Ex In a working environment follow what people wear their punctuality if its important if they re happy when they take lunch breaks model good behavior and understand the bad Agenda setting theory Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw o The media can t tell people what to think but they can tell them what Diffusion theory people adapt an idea only after going through five stages to think about o Awareness o Interest o Evaluation o Trial o Adoption users of media Uses and gratifications theory asserts that people are active and selective o Shifted in the attention from what the media does to people to what people do with the media highlights three stages Selective exposure Selective interpretation Selective retention Technical vs Managerial Roles and arranging special events Technical requires crafts and skills such as writing editing taking photos Managerial identifies problems attempts to solve them comes up with a strategic plan executes it and evaluates it Professional associations in PR PRSA PR society of America IABC International association of business communicators Both offer professional continuing education programs as well as accreditation programs to PR professionals The difference between law and ethics Laws legal regulations Ethics standards set by oneself or the organization profession to distinguish right from wrong The First Amendment and exceptions Grants US