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COMM 106 – Intro to Public RelationsChapters 2, 3 and 4Fall 2013

Instructor: Tara Rummell Berson

CHAPTER TWO: THE HISTORY AND GROWTH OF PR

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The Fathers Of Modern Public Relations Ivy Ledbetter Lee

◦Entered PR work in 1903◦Based his work on honesty and candor

Edward Bernays◦Entered the field in 1913 and became the

first true “public relations scholar”◦Wrote first seminal works in public relations,

including “Crystallizing Public Opinion”◦Taught the first PR course at NYU in 1923◦Helped pave the way for women in public

relations with wife, Doris Fleischman

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CHAPTER 3: COMMUNICATION

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Goals of CommunicationTo informTo persuadeTo motivateTo build mutual

understanding

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Pat Jackson’s Theory Of Communication

• Use all standard PR vehicles (like advertising, press releases, word of mouth) to develop awareness of your company

Building awareness:

• At this stage, people begin to develop an opinion about your company, based not just on facts, but on emotion.

Developing a latent readiness:

• This is a trigger with the consumer that makes them want to change their behavior.

• A triggering event can be natural or planned by you.

Triggering event:

• This is the thinking and investigative phase of behavior phase. • At this point, the consumer is seeking facts to support what they believe.

Intermediate behavior:

• The sign of success - the consumer has changed their behavior.

Behavioral change:

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3 “Message” TheoriesThe Content is the

Message: the real importance of a communication is what it says, not how it says it.

The Medium is the Message: the content of the message is less important than how you hear about it.

The Person is the Message: the charismatic appeal of the speaker is the biggest influence.

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The Content is the MessageAccurate and

complete contentCareful crafting and

word choice based on the audience

Requires greatest writing skill

More often seen in written reports, press releases, PSAs, etc.

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The Medium is the MessageWhere the message is

read or heard has a direct effect on how it is perceived

Depends on the reputation of the medium conveying the message

Personal bias is in effectHardest to control

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The Man (or Person!) is the MessageCharismatic

delivery influences people’s perception of the message more than the content or medium

Cults of personality arise

Strongest “brand” attachment occurs here

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What biases the receiver of the message?

• The receiver has biases against certain groups. • Knowing this can help you tailor your message.

Stereotypes:

• Use of an iconic symbols common to a group can influence them.• A company’s logo can have ramifications with different groups.

Symbols:

• Words hold different meanings for different groups. • Tweaking the language can help the message.

Semantics:

• These influence attitudes and actions

Peer groups:

• The power of the media may be the determining factor, especially in politics.

Media:

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Feedback – hearing from the publicA communicator

must get feedback in order to know what messages are or are not getting through

All future communications depend on this.

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What happens next?It may change attitudes: the best

possible outcome, but also the rarest.It may crystallize attitudes: you have

succeeded in getting people to take actions that they’ve been thinking about taking, but hadn’t done yet.

It may create doubt: you have forced a person to modify their point of view, or to question their thinking on a subject

It may do nothing: sometimes you are just not successful. However, it may be that change will come in time.

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CHAPTER 4: PUBLIC OPINION

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FICKLE FINGER OF PUBLIC OPINION

The best public relations campaign in the world can’t build trust when reality is destroying it. If your product doesn’t work, or your client is a liar, then no amount of public relations will change that. You must change the “action” before credibility or trust can be built.

Public opinion is determined by three major factors:

Opinions

Actions

Attitudes

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What are attitudes?Personal - specific to the individual

Cultural - environment and lifestyle

Educational - the level and quality of a person’s educationFamilial - what a person has been raised to believeReligious - a person’s belief system

Social Class - position within society. Also includes wealthRace - ethnic origin

Gender and Sexual Orientation

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Changing attitudes - Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory:Biological

demandsSafety and

comfortLove and

acceptanceEsteem,

recognition and prestige

Self-actualization/self-fulfillment

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Changing attitudes - The Power of Persuasion

People understand things in terms of their own experience

People are persuaded by evidence

To persuade, you must cite evidence that coincides with people’s own beliefs, emotions and expectations.

What kinds of evidence persuades?

• Good PR programs always start with research: the facts.

Facts

• We can think, but we also respond to emotional appeals.

Emotions

• People respond to personal experiences and stories.

Personalizing

• People want to know, “What’s in it for me?”

Appealing to “you”

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Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Cantril’s Laws of Public OpinionOpinion is highly sensitive to important events.Opinion is determined more by events than words.At critical times, we are more sensitive to the

adequacy of leadership.Once self-interest is involved, opinions are slow to

change.People are able to form opinions more easily on

goals than on methods to reach those goals.If people in a democracy are provided with

education and access to information, public opinion reveals a hard-headed common sense.

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Managing your client’s image

Polishing the image:• Credibility is a

fragile commodity

• To maintain and improve public support, your client must have the “implicit trust” of the public

Managing reputation:• Reputation is

gained by what one does, not what one says

• “Reputation management” or “relationship management” is a growing PR sub-field

Tylenol Case Study: Managing ReputationTylenol’s response is the most

notable example of proper public relations practice in the face of crisis

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