Public relations practice operates along a spectrum of theoretical ideologies from defensive to organisational conscience.

There is no universal theory of public relations. Instead, various ideologies have developed over the last century or so, each attracting its own sphere of study and academic support. Understanding different public relations ideologies helps frame an organisation’s approach to practice and the management of its relationship with its stakeholders and the societal or public construct in which it operates.

The boundaries between these different ideologies are blurred but nonetheless they provide a useful framework for understanding public relations practice and its application as either a management or tactical function within organisations. Organisations is used throughout this blog post as a catch all phrase for charitable, corporate, public sector entities. Likewise, the public and the societal construct in which an organisation operates are interchanged.

The corporation is a capitalist vehicle to generate value for shareholders. It’s the legal responsibility of company directors to act in the interests of shareholders first and foremost. They must operate within the legal framework and values of the society in which the company operates. The public relations function represents a broader stakeholder group and society itself, but whatever its contextual situation within an organisation, it cannot serve both the organisation and society as equals. The former is likely to be the dominant coalition.

Charitable and public service organisations operate along different principles. While they must be well managed and financially responsive, they seek to serve the public or a subset of the public. The priorities of these organisations are therefore most likely to be aligned with the public.

The tension between an organisation and its publics is reflected throughout public relations theory and broadly different approaches. Seven ideologies are set out below.

1. Defensive

Leila A. Sussman suggests that public relations practice emerged following the First World War as a way for corporations to defend themselves against public criticism and political attack. Practice boomed in the 1930s as public relations agencies and in-house departments sought to build trust with the public. A thematic analysis of contemporary books, articles, and speeches from 1938 to 1942 explored the profession’s ideology. The body of work was collated based on its contribution to a definition of practice and written by a well-known practitioner. 

The study determined that the role of the public relations function is to provide an effective two-way channel of communication between a corporation and its stakeholders, notably management and the public. Sussmann suggests that public relations is a defensive practice to defend the indefensible. Criticism of an organisation is not met through argument or persuasion but by publicity aimed at establishing goodwill.

2. Rhetorical

Robert L. Heath argues that public relations provide a rhetorical function within organisations. It’s a development of Sussman’s defensive argument whereby an organisation seeks to persuade the public of its point of view within the context of societal interests, norms, and values. It is a common approach in political campaigning. Rhetorical devices such as framing, messaging, and storytelling are applied within practice as means of communication and engagement.

In a rhetorical context an organisation seeks to build support for its perspective within the value system of the community in which it operates. It is based on an understanding of the societal context in which the organisation operates to build relationships around common interests between the organisation, its stakeholders, and publics.

3. Excellence

James Grunig and Todd Hunt proposed a model of communication based on four components. It describes different forms of communication between an organisation, its stakeholders, and society. The first model is publicity or press agent, the second is public relations information model, the third asymmetric persuasion, and the final one — the two-way symmetrical model — has become established in practice as a shorthand for theoretical best practice for communication between an organisation and its publics.

The Excellence Theory developed over the next decade from a research programme commissioned by the Research Foundation of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in 1984. The Excellence Study set out the features of an effective public relations department within an organisation in four areas: situation of the public relations function; role of practitioners; organisation of public relations department; and model of public relations. It sought to explore how public relations could evolve from a tactical craft that broadly focused on publicity and media relations to become a management discipline.

Excellence has been developed as a platform by the European Communication Monitor (ECM). The longitudinal study has been conducted annually since 2007 by the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) and the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD). The research team has determined that there are three levels at which communication excellence can be observed, namely individuals, departments, and organisations.

4. Capitalism

Anne M. Cronin, Lee Edwards, and Jacquie L'Etang are among a group of critical British scholars that view public relations from a sociological perspective as a means for organisations to protect their corporate interests irrespective of societal concerns. Thy argue from a sociological perspective that public relations practice corrupts public discourse. Cronin urges us to examine the behaviour of corporations versus the values that they portray.

Public relations practice inserts itself between the activities of an organisation and how they are reported to the public via earned, owned, and social media. It mediates and manipulates information flow through the strategic use of language and use of third-party advocacy and endorsements.

5. Purpose

There is growing discourse among theorists such as Anne Gregory that the public relations function should act as the conscience of an organisation in serving a broader societal purpose. It’s an idealistic perspective that has its origins in a development of corporate social responsibility broadly framed under the label of environmental, social, and governance concerns. 

There are two driving forces that are aligned in their expectation. Investors are calling on organisations to respond to contemporary governance initiatives such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the outcome of United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting. In a societal context, issues related to socio-economic inequality and ethnic diversity have been heightened by COVID-19 and the growing public discourse around the Black Lives Matter movement.

Organisations must demonstrate that they exist to contribute to the creation of sustainable value and social wellbeing. Practitioners are called upon to support organisations in defining and promoting a purpose through engagement and negotiation with stakeholders.

6. Activism 

Activism seeks to challenge the status quo between organisations and society. It has developed to effect change by breaking down social constructs and norms. Disruptive communication techniques and media are used to secure a disproportionate share of voice in the public sphere. It is a relatively new area of public relations study.

Kristin Demetrious is among a group of critical scholars that challenges the dominant models of public relations in the twentieth century claiming them to be arrogant, politically offensive, and unethical in suggesting such a significant imbalance between an organisation and society. Demetrious proposes an alternative dynamic to relationships between an organisation and its publics to those proposed by twentieth century scholars. It is constructed from the communicative practices of grassroots activists and synthesises a range of theoretical constructs.

7. Negative

Public relations is an amoral activity. Several perspectives of public relations practice have already been presented including promotion, rhetoric, sociological, and various forms of dialogue between an organisation and its publics. Each ideology or worldview assumes that to be successful, public relations practice must operate within the ethical, legal, and moral context of the society in which it is practised.

There is limited research on the negative use of public relations techniques among the public relations academy. However, there is a growing body of literature that suggests that organisations are using public relations activities for negative intent, for example to discredit a competitor or to confuse a public. This ideology is applied as a communication strategy in healthcare, oil and gas, tobacco, and military action. Tactics include astroturfing, the application of the law to limited public disclosure, and misinformation.

I’m a PhD research student at Leeds Business School. This article is related to my study of public relations theory as it relates to practice.