Online Public Relations
Anouk de Groot
Inhoud
Lecture 1: Introduction...........................................................................................................................2
Lecture 2: Online PR & CSR & Ethics.......................................................................................................6
Lecture 3: Online PR & Management...................................................................................................11
Lecture 4: Research on Online PR & Management...............................................................................18
Lecture 5: Online PR & Internal Communication..................................................................................25
Lecture 6: Research on Online CSR.......................................................................................................31
Lecture 7: Research on Online Internal Communication......................................................................37
,Lecture 1: Introduction
Online PR is everywhere
Social Media
Websites
Greenwashing: Shell says they have a sustainable energy future
Interaction with company or organization
E.g. Tilburg University
o Portray themselves as something positive for society
o Modern orientation towards humanities and social sciences
Defining PR
Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and
maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation
between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or
issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsible to public opinion;
defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public
interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, service as
an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and ethical
communication techniques as its principal tools
Grunig & Hunt:
o “the management of communication between an organization and its publics”
o “an organization’s managed communication behavior”
UK’s chartered institute of public relations (CIPR):
o “PR is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning
understanding and support and influencing option and behavior. It is the
planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual
understanding between an organization and its publics.”
o “about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others
say about you”
Guth & Marsh (2006): five core concepts that help to define PR
o 1. Management function
o 2. Two-way communication
o 3. Planned activity
o 4. Research-based social science
o 5. Socially responsible
And what about reputation?
o Corporate identity (organization itself, how they perceive their own identity) –
corporate image – corporate reputation
o Corporate identity: What the organization communicates: strategically
projecting a particular positive image of the organization, to build strong
reputations with stakeholders. Originally, it focused on logos and visual
design, now it focusses on all forms of communication
o Corporate image: Distinctiveness (onderscheidendheid) the stakeholder
has a clear picture of the organization, the employee can have more
motivation/higher performance and have a “we” feeling
, o Corporate reputation: why important?
Visibility: corporate themes are visible in all internal and external
communication
Distinctiveness: corporate identity is distinctive (onderscheidend)
Authenticity: organization communicates vales that are embedded in
its culture
Transparency: organization is open and transparent about its behavior
Consistency: organization communicates consistent messages through
all communication channels
o Reputation: The beliefs and opinions someone has about another person,
organization or objects
o Identity & image
o Reputation = foundation on which an organization builds
History of PR
17th and 18th century
Boeken
19 century – industrialization – mass media
th
Telegraph – kind of phone
o Way to communicate
Newspapers
20th century
Founder of modern public relations
Overview
Entwined with social, economic and political developments
Key date: 1984: study Grunig & Hunt
Distinguish among 4 categories:
, o 1. Propaganda (1-way, truth unimportant)
o 2. Dissemination of information (1-way, truth important)
o 3. Scientific persuasion (2-way, imbalanced effects)
They don’t do anything with feedback
o 4. Mutual understanding (2-way, balanced effects)
They try to find a mutual understanding and do something with
feedback form e.g. stakeholders
Nowadays, two-way balanced symmetrical PR is considered best
Ideal form:
o Building true relationships
o Dialogue and conversation
o Allow mutual influence to accommodate the need of the other
PR today
Key elements of Grunig & Hunt (1984)
o Research behind it
o Planning of communication
o Evaluation of communication
o Communication
o
Basic stakeholder model – the relationship onion
o The organization employees – corporate PR
o Customer or equivalent – marketing – communication includes PR as a
promotional tool
o All other publics or stakeholders – corporate PR
o Reputation – cumulative understanding of the organization by all stakeholders
o Good to see what stakeholder requires what communication
Anouk de Groot
Inhoud
Lecture 1: Introduction...........................................................................................................................2
Lecture 2: Online PR & CSR & Ethics.......................................................................................................6
Lecture 3: Online PR & Management...................................................................................................11
Lecture 4: Research on Online PR & Management...............................................................................18
Lecture 5: Online PR & Internal Communication..................................................................................25
Lecture 6: Research on Online CSR.......................................................................................................31
Lecture 7: Research on Online Internal Communication......................................................................37
,Lecture 1: Introduction
Online PR is everywhere
Social Media
Websites
Greenwashing: Shell says they have a sustainable energy future
Interaction with company or organization
E.g. Tilburg University
o Portray themselves as something positive for society
o Modern orientation towards humanities and social sciences
Defining PR
Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and
maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation
between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or
issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsible to public opinion;
defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public
interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, service as
an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and ethical
communication techniques as its principal tools
Grunig & Hunt:
o “the management of communication between an organization and its publics”
o “an organization’s managed communication behavior”
UK’s chartered institute of public relations (CIPR):
o “PR is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning
understanding and support and influencing option and behavior. It is the
planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual
understanding between an organization and its publics.”
o “about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others
say about you”
Guth & Marsh (2006): five core concepts that help to define PR
o 1. Management function
o 2. Two-way communication
o 3. Planned activity
o 4. Research-based social science
o 5. Socially responsible
And what about reputation?
o Corporate identity (organization itself, how they perceive their own identity) –
corporate image – corporate reputation
o Corporate identity: What the organization communicates: strategically
projecting a particular positive image of the organization, to build strong
reputations with stakeholders. Originally, it focused on logos and visual
design, now it focusses on all forms of communication
o Corporate image: Distinctiveness (onderscheidendheid) the stakeholder
has a clear picture of the organization, the employee can have more
motivation/higher performance and have a “we” feeling
, o Corporate reputation: why important?
Visibility: corporate themes are visible in all internal and external
communication
Distinctiveness: corporate identity is distinctive (onderscheidend)
Authenticity: organization communicates vales that are embedded in
its culture
Transparency: organization is open and transparent about its behavior
Consistency: organization communicates consistent messages through
all communication channels
o Reputation: The beliefs and opinions someone has about another person,
organization or objects
o Identity & image
o Reputation = foundation on which an organization builds
History of PR
17th and 18th century
Boeken
19 century – industrialization – mass media
th
Telegraph – kind of phone
o Way to communicate
Newspapers
20th century
Founder of modern public relations
Overview
Entwined with social, economic and political developments
Key date: 1984: study Grunig & Hunt
Distinguish among 4 categories:
, o 1. Propaganda (1-way, truth unimportant)
o 2. Dissemination of information (1-way, truth important)
o 3. Scientific persuasion (2-way, imbalanced effects)
They don’t do anything with feedback
o 4. Mutual understanding (2-way, balanced effects)
They try to find a mutual understanding and do something with
feedback form e.g. stakeholders
Nowadays, two-way balanced symmetrical PR is considered best
Ideal form:
o Building true relationships
o Dialogue and conversation
o Allow mutual influence to accommodate the need of the other
PR today
Key elements of Grunig & Hunt (1984)
o Research behind it
o Planning of communication
o Evaluation of communication
o Communication
o
Basic stakeholder model – the relationship onion
o The organization employees – corporate PR
o Customer or equivalent – marketing – communication includes PR as a
promotional tool
o All other publics or stakeholders – corporate PR
o Reputation – cumulative understanding of the organization by all stakeholders
o Good to see what stakeholder requires what communication
