Theories of Public Relations

Summary

This video script delves into four key theories in public relations: System Theory, Situational Theory, Social Exchange Theory, and Diffusion Theory. It explains how these theories guide practitioners in understanding relationships with various publics and stakeholders, categorizing publics for effective communication, assessing exchanges in relationships, and the stages of communication impact from awareness to adoption. The script highlights the importance of feedback, categorization, cost-benefit analysis, and the diffusion process in shaping public opinion and organizational strategies.

Takeaways

• 📚 The script discusses four key theories used in public relations: system theory, situational theory, social exchange theory, and diffusion theory.
• 🌐 System theory views publics as part of an organization's social environment and emphasizes the importance of feedback for adjustments.
• 🔄 It differentiates between closed systems, which rely on past performance, and open systems, which actively seek new information from public relations.
• 🔍 Situational theory categorizes publics based on their awareness of a problem and their level of action, aiding PR professionals in targeted communication strategies.
• 👥 The four categories of publics identified by situational theory are aware publics, latent publics, active publics, and non-publics.
• 🤝 Social exchange theory combines economic, psychological, and sociological principles, focusing on the balance of benefits and costs in relationships.
• 💡 It suggests that individuals evaluate relationships based on what they give and receive, seeking to maximize benefits and minimize costs.
• 📈 Diffusion theory outlines a five-step process for communication effectiveness: awareness, interest, trial, evaluation, and adoption.
• 🎯 The first step in diffusion theory is identifying the target market and audience to create awareness about a product or service.
• 📚 Following awareness, the interest stage involves providing more information about the utility of a product or service to engage potential consumers.
• 🛍️ The trial stage is about offering a product for trial, particularly for new or expensive items, to encourage consumer interaction.
• 📊 Evaluation involves assessing consumer behavior to determine if it aligns with the organization's goals and to make necessary adjustments.
• 🔄 Adoption is the final stage where consumers, convinced by the product or service, are likely to make a purchase and potentially share their positive feedback.

Q & A

What are the four theories discussed in the video script related to public relations?

The four theories discussed are the System Theory, the Situational Theory, the Social Exchange Theory, and the Diffusion Theory.

How does the System Theory define the relationship between an organization and its publics?

The System Theory views publics, such as customers, employees, and neighbors, as forming a social environment for an organization. It emphasizes the interdependence between the organization and its internal and external environment, focusing on feedback for adjustments.

What are the two types of systems mentioned in the System Theory?

The two types of systems in the System Theory are the closed system, which does not seek new information and focuses on past performance, and the open system, which uses public relations to gather information on productive relationships with various stakeholders.

What does the Situational Theory contribute to public relations practice?

The Situational Theory helps public relations professionals categorize people into different publics based on their awareness of a problem and their level of action. This categorization allows for more effective communication strategies tailored to each public group.

What are the four categories of publics according to the Situational Theory?

The four categories of publics are the Aware Publics, the Latent Publics, the Active Publics, and the Non-Publics, each representing different levels of recognition and involvement with a problem.

How does the Social Exchange Theory apply to the field of public relations?

The Social Exchange Theory, combining principles from economics, psychology, and sociology, suggests that individuals and organizations seek to minimize costs and maximize benefits in their relationships. It helps PR professionals understand the dynamics of relationship building based on perceived benefits and costs.

What are the five steps outlined by the Diffusion Theory in the context of public relations?

The five steps of the Diffusion Theory are Awareness, Interest, Trial, Evaluation, and Adoption. These steps describe the process by which an organization can effectively communicate and influence its target audience.

Why is it important for PR professionals to understand the Diffusion Theory?

Understanding the Diffusion Theory is crucial for PR professionals as it provides a framework for how communication can shape opinions and behaviors. It helps in strategizing communication campaigns to guide the audience through awareness to adoption of a product or service.

How does the video script emphasize the importance of feedback in public relations?

The script highlights feedback as a critical component of the System Theory, where it is necessary for adjustments and understanding the relationship between an organization and its publics. Feedback helps in managing and improving these relationships.

What role does research play in the initial step of the Diffusion Theory as described in the script?

Research plays a vital role in the Awareness step of the Diffusion Theory by helping organizations identify their target market and audience. This identification is essential for launching campaigns that create awareness about the organization's products or services.

How does the script suggest that bad experiences are more impactful than good ones in public relations?

The script suggests that bad experiences are shared more widely than good ones, emphasizing the importance of managing consumer satisfaction in public relations. It highlights the need for organizations to be aware that negative feedback can reach a larger audience than positive feedback.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Public Relations Theories

This paragraph introduces the final video of Unit 2, focusing on four key theories used in public relations: system theory, situational theory, social exchange theory, and diffusion theory. It explains that theories are frameworks that predict and understand relationships between actions and events. Public relations practitioners use these theories to plan activities and build successful relationships with various publics. The paragraph also mentions a model trial to be included in the study and transitions into discussing the system theory, emphasizing its importance in managing an organization's relationship with its stakeholders and publics through feedback mechanisms.

05:01

🔍 Deep Dive into Public Relations Theories

The second paragraph delves deeper into the individual theories starting with the situational theory, which classifies publics based on their awareness and action regarding a problem. It highlights the importance of this theory for public relations professionals to effectively communicate with different publics. The social exchange theory is then introduced as a blend of economic, psychological, and sociological principles, focusing on the balance of benefits and costs in relationships. The diffusion theory is explained as a five-step process—awareness, interest, trial, evaluation, and adoption—that describes how communication shapes opinions and behaviors. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the significance of understanding consumer behavior and the spread of information in public relations.

Keywords

💡Public Relations (PR)

Public Relations is the practice of managing and maintaining a favorable public image for an individual, company, client, or organization. In the context of the video, PR professionals use various theories to understand and build successful relationships with different publics, which is central to the theme of the video.

💡System Theory

System Theory in PR is based on the premise that an organization and its publics form a social environment. It emphasizes the interdependence between the organization and its internal and external environments, focusing on feedback for adjustments. The video explains its utility in managing the organization's relationship with stakeholders, highlighting the concepts of closed and open systems.

💡Feedback

Feedback in the context of System Theory refers to the information received from the public that helps an organization to understand and manage its relationship with various stakeholders. The video mentions that adjustments require feedback, illustrating its importance in the open system where PR practitioners gather information on productive relationships.

💡Situational Theory

Situational Theory categorizes publics based on their awareness of a problem and their actions towards it. The video describes this theory as important for PR professionals to understand the psychology behind public behavior, allowing them to formulate strategies for effective communication with different publics such as aware, latent, active, and non-publics.

💡Social Exchange Theory

Social Exchange Theory combines principles from economics, psychology, and sociology to explain how humans seek to minimize costs and maximize benefits in relationships. The video discusses this theory in the context of business, where the exchange of benefits is crucial, and how it influences the perception of a relationship based on what is given and received.

💡Diffusion Theory

Diffusion Theory explores how communication shapes opinions and influences thought processes. The video outlines five steps of this theory: awareness, interest, trial, evaluation, and adoption. It is a popular theory in PR for understanding the effectiveness of communication and the process of opinion formation.

💡Awareness

In the context of Diffusion Theory, awareness refers to the first step where an organization identifies its target market and creates awareness about its products or services. The video script uses this term to describe the initial phase of a PR campaign aimed at informing the target audience about the organization's offerings.

💡Interest

Interest, as mentioned in the video, is the second step following awareness, where people who are aware of a product or service seek more information. The PR specialist's role is to provide additional information about the utility of the product or service to pique the interest of the target audience.

💡Trial

Trial is the third step in the Diffusion Theory process described in the video. It involves giving potential customers a chance to try a product, which is a common strategy when launching a new or expensive product. The video emphasizes the importance of this step in the consumer's decision-making process.

💡Evaluation

Evaluation is the fourth step in the Diffusion Theory, where consumers assess their initial experience with a product or service. The video mentions the necessity of evaluating consumer behavior to understand whether it favors the product, which is crucial for the adoption phase.

💡Adoption

Adoption is the final step in the Diffusion Theory process, where a consumer fully convinces themselves of the product's value and decides to purchase it. The video script highlights the importance of satisfaction leading to adoption and the potential for sharing feedback, which can significantly impact the product's reputation.

Highlights

Introduction to the final video of Unit 2 on theories used in public relations.

Explanation of what a theory is and its role in predicting and understanding relationships between actions and events in public relations.

The importance of theories for public relations practitioners in decision-making and building successful relationships with publics.

Overview of the four main theories covered: system theory, situational theory, social exchange theory, and diffusion theory.

System theory's premise that publics form a social environment for an organization and its significance in managing relationships with stakeholders.

The concept of feedback in system theory and its role in adjustments within an organization's relationship with its publics.

Differentiation between closed and open systems in system theory and their respective approaches to information and decision-making.

Situational theory's approach to identifying and classifying publics based on their awareness and actions regarding a problem.

The psychological depth of situational theory in understanding public behavior and its influence on organizational decision-making.

Categorization of publics into aware, latent, active, and non-publics according to their level of engagement with a problem.

Importance of situational theory for public relations professionals in effectively communicating with different publics.

Introduction to social exchange theory and its combination of economic, psychological, and sociological principles.

The role of perceived benefits and costs in human relationships as explained by social exchange theory.

Diffusion theory as a popular public relations theory exploring the impact of communication on shaping opinions and behaviors.

The five-step process of diffusion theory: awareness, interest, trial, evaluation, and adoption.

The significance of identifying target markets and audiences as the first step in the diffusion theory process.

The role of providing more information and utility of products and services to generate interest among consumers.

Strategies for trialing products and evaluating consumer behavior to assess the success of a product launch.

The final step of adoption in diffusion theory and the potential for satisfied consumers to share feedback with others.

The impact of bad experiences being shared more widely than good experiences and the importance of reaching large demographics in PR.

Transcripts

yes friends

now we come up to the last video of unit

number

two that is theories used

in public relations we have got

four theories the system theory

the situational theory the social

exchange theory

and the diffusion theory

what is a theory now theories

predict the way things work or happen

they provide an understanding of

relationship

between actions and events

public relation practitioners

consider several theories

when they take a decision about how they

can build

successful relationship with their

publics now you find

theories provide a useful

starting point

for planning of public relation

activities

for external publics of an organization

now in this study it will be included

a model trial for the same

let us go into the first one

that is the system theory system

theory essentially works from the

premises that

publics like customers

employees and neighbors all these form

a kind of social environment for an

organization

the reason system

theory is of particular concern in

public relation is that

adjustments require

feedback adjustments require

feedback it explains how public

helps to understand and manage the

relationship

an organization has with its different

stakeholders and public to make up this

environment

now system theory is especially useful

for public relation because it helps

a practitioner to manage the

organization's relationship

it emphasizes interdependence between

the organization and

internal and external environment it has

two systems the closed system

and the open system now in the closed

system

it does not seek any new information

it focuses on the history of the

organization

and makes a decision based on the past

performance as i told you in the closed

system

no need information is taken focus on

history of the organization

and on the basis of the past experience

a decision is taken

now in the open system it uses

public relations people

to bring back the information on how

productive relationships are with the

clients customers

and other stakeholders

so the system theory

works with the public's like customers

employees neighbors and all

others second we come up to the

situational theory

now the situational theory of public

defines

that public can be identified and

classified in the context to which

they are aware of the problem and the

extent to which they

do something about the problem so

awareness of the problem

and what they do about the problem now

this

theory it explains

it explains in depth of the psychology

behind

public behavior being active or

passive in decision making of an

organization

pr categorizes people into different

category based on the degree of

associations

with array variables like recognition of

the problem recognition of the

constraints

and the level of involvement after

crucial

consideration careful consideration the

pr formulates the strategies to

effectively deliver

a message to the people

there are four categories of public

according to

the situational theory the aware publics

the latent publics the active publics

and the non-public now the aware publics

are

those who identify and recognize the

problem

late in public are those who ignore or

turn a blind eye to the problem

active public are those who take

initiative

actively about a problem and a

non-publics

are those who do not have any

or encountered a

problem now situational theory why it is

important

for public relation professional because

it

helps them to categorize people into

different publics so that they can

communicate

to the target audience more effectively

their communications with the aware

publics with the latent publics with the

active publics for the non-public

all will be different under

situational theory the traditional

theory

is important for the public relations

professional because it helps them to

categorize people into different publics

so that they can communicate to the

target audience more

effectively then you come up to the

social

exchange theory now social exchange

theory is a combination of the

principles of economics

psychology and sociology in the world of

business

it implies exchange benefit

the theory states that human being

always tries to minimize cost and

maximize

profit when trying to develop a

relationship with someone

we look at the benefits we may derive

from that relationship

but the benefits are great and we may

express ourselves to the other persons

more and develop a close intimacy of

bonding

with the person social exchange theory

tells

that how we perceive a relationship is

based on these factors

what we give in and what we get in

return

we all have our ideas about the kind and

the quality of relationship we deserve

and there is always a possibility of

having another person with whom

we can have more fulfilling

relationship and the last theory

we come up to the diffusion theory the

division theory

is one of the most popular theories of

public relations

the theory tries to explore what

is it about communication that

shapes our opinion and makes us

think in a particular way

why is some communication

more effective than others

now your diffusion theory it talks about

five different steps the awareness

the interest the trial the evaluation

and the adoption let us look into the

individual aspect of it

awareness the organization must do

research to find out its

target market and audience once it is

identified

the role of pr specialist is to launch

the campaign

in the identified market to create

awareness

about the product or services of the

organization

so identification of the target market

and the audience is the first step

to create an awareness second is the

interest once the companies are

successful in creating

interesting people they would like to

have more information about the product

and services

at this point the company should provide

more information of the utility of its

product and services

the third one is the trial giving people

or customers

a product of trial is a good strategy

that the companies

do when launching a new expensive

product

fourth one is the evaluation now it is

necessary to evaluate

initially the consumer behavior in order

to know

whether the behavior is in the favor or

not

and last one is the adoption if the

consumer is fully convinced of the

product

the consumer is likely to buy the

product or service

if the satisf if he's satisfied he may

share his feedback to

some of his friends but in case if he's

dissatisfied

it will reach hundreds of people and

bad experiences are shared more than

good experience remember one thing

in the context of pr it must be

remembered that information reached to

the

to the largest demographics

so here we end to your part

two