Journal of Public Relations Research

Walker, Gael F.

1994 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1207/s1532754xjprr0603_01

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.

Lauzen, Martha M.; Dozier, David M.

1994 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1207/s1532754xjprr0603_02

Issues management (IM) is the process that allows organizations to know, understand, and interact effectively with their environments. In this study, the approach to IM practices in organizations is posited to mediate the relation between perceived environmental complexity and the type of public relations practiced in organizations. Outer directed IM is a proactive, open-systems approach based on symmetrical presuppositions that uses IM instrumentally to make strategic decisions. Such an approach to IM is fostered by participative organizational cultures. When organizations face complex environments, outer directed IM and participative organizational culture increase the involvement of public relations practitioners in dominant coalition decision making. This, in turn, is positively related to practitioner enactment of the manager role. A study of public relations practitioners and IM specialists (N = 182) within large U.S. corporations confirmed the mediating influence of outer directed IM and participative culture on public relations practices.

Cameron, Glen T.

1994 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1207/s1532754xjprr0603_03

The claim made in public relations that editorial content has greater value than an advertisement of the same size was tested. Results of an infomation-processing experiment indicate there may be some basis for claiming that a third- party endorsement by editorial staff adds credence to editorial copy. I found that moderate better recognition memory for editorial content than for one type of advertisement was not significantly eroded by a 2-week delay. However, when making claims that publicity outperforms advertising, public relations practitioners should bear in mind that advertisements used in this study were in advertorial format. Further study is needed to determine how the credibility of publicity performs against the broad array of persuasive appeals available in display advertisements (visual effects, humor, sex appeal, emotional impact, etc.).