Available via license: CC BY 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
International Business & Economics Studies
ISSN 2640-9852 (Print) ISSN 2640-9860 (Online)
Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes
138
Original Paper
How Public Relation Exist and Operate in the Organisation?
Jian Wu1
1Lecturer at Hubei Business College, Wu Han, China
Received: January 9, 2023 Accepted: February 16, 2023 Online Published: October 14, 2024
doi:10.22158/ibes.v6n5p138 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ibes.v6n5p138
2021 School-level scientific research project of Hubei Business College (KY202117)
Abstract
With the development of technology and the change of life style, organisations are seeking more
effectiveness and efficient way to practice the public relations. How public relation works in the
organisations has been studies extensively. This essay will focus on how public relation exist and
operate in the organisation from three different aspects which are traditional media, social media and
stakeholder engagement which link one-way or two-way Grunig and Hunt’s models. The one-way or
two-way Grunig and Hunt’s models will be explained in the essay as well. Moreover, the essay will take
M&M’s chocolate, Brisbane City Council and Manila Water Company as three examples to testify how
the three approaches working in the public relations in society. Finally, it is recommended that the
organisations are better to choose the suitable method basing on the organisations’ strategy and which
ethical framework they applied.
Keywords
Public relation, traditional media, Social media, stakeholder engagement, feedback
1. Introduction
Nowadays, public relation is essential for business government and the public to engage with each
other about the decision making and social issues. Different parities use different approaches to practice
the public relations around the world. This essay is aim to analyse three approaches that organisations
used to communicate with the public. They are traditional media, social media and stakeholder
engagement which link one-way or two-way Grunig and Hunt’s models. Some researches about the
three approaches and how organisations engage with the public by using them will be analysed in the
essay. Meanwhile, three different real world organisations’ behaviour will be discussed and explained
to make further classifications about how public relation exist and operate in these organisations and
the ethical perspective view about their behaviour.
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
139
2. Traditional Media
Traditional mass media is an economical, effective method for organisations to communicate with large
and widely dispersed publics. Skills in using newspapers, magazines, trade publications, AM and FM
radio, television, cable, books, and so on are required when working in public relations (Broom, Cutlip,
& Center, 2009). For profit organisation, practitioners of public relations use these channels to promote
the products or publish business relevant information for organisations to create brand awareness. Thus,
the organisations are connected with the public. The contents are usually some information about the
new products, the applications and the prices of the products, as well as the new services. However,
there are some weaknesses about the traditional media, which is related to the characteristics of the
traditional media. The first characteristic of traditional media is centralised/top down. Since the time
and length of the advertisement is limited, practitioners have to put the essential information ahead the
advertisement. Because customers are usually read the title firstly to find some information that they
may interest. Otherwise, the message will not reach to the public. Secondly, the traditional media is
costly to publish. Organisations have to pay much to issue their messages on traditional media.
Moreover, whether something is reported or not, what will be reported, how, when and to whom it is
reported is decided by the media gatekeepers (Broom, Cutlip, & Center, 2009). The traditional media is
not only controlled by the professional gatekeepers, but also a one-way communication with limited
feedback channels. Customers can not response to the organisations through the traditional media. They
can only receive the information which showed on the traditional media. When the organisations’
targets are widely, the method may be useful. However, it is not easy for organisations to collect the
feedbacks of their targets, when they try to delivery some information to the society.
Traditional media is one-way communication method and it links to the earliest form of Grunig and
Hunt’s public relations model – press agentry and the public information model. Firstly, Organisations
promote their products or publish the information about their business through newspapers, magazines,
radio, television, cable and books. Moreover, the truth of the information is also depends on the media
gatekeepers’ decision. Therefore, organisations use traditional media method is aim to build brand
awareness and get publicity at any cost and the truth of the information to the public are not ensured.
Many researches and reports show that the news on the traditional media channels such as newspaper,
TV, radio, magazines and so on are not always right and true. They may be forged by the editors or
reporters. Press agentry is a one-sided pattern that rarely uses research to disseminate emotional
messages that may be used manipulatively (Waters & Jamal, 2011). It is all about getting publicity
through the media at almost any cost. Therefore, using traditional media may be costly. Nevertheless,
sometimes ogranisations’ strategy only need to focus on specific targets. If they use traditional media,
the cost may over the benefits. “The press agentry model describes public relations programs with the
sole purpose of attracting favorable publicity for an organization using mass media” (Matthews, 2010).
When public relation practitioners deliver message to other party or governments publish some
information to the society by traditional media, the information has to be truthful. The public
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
140
information model is a one-way communication model that uses “journalists-in-residence” to
disseminate information to the media (Jackson & Lilleker, 2004). Public information depends on
transferring the truthful messages (Matthews, 2010). Thus, press agentry and public information are
models that organisations used to engage with publics by using traditional media.
M&M’s chocolate candies conducted a national contest to name a new color for M&M’s candies.
Public relations activities generated 1.06 billion impressions from 10,000 TV, radio and print placement
(Wilcox, Cameron, & Reber, 2015). In order to promote their products, they use the Spokescandies,
Red and Yellow, along with others from time to time. That still can be seen on the street nowadays. By
using relatively the same format in promoting their product makes the consumer more aware that the
product advertised is M&Ms and will be more likely to buy it because of that brand awareness
(M&M’s History timeline, 2015). What M&M did was using press agentry model on the traditional
media including advertisement, personal appearances and product placement. By spending a lot of
money on TV advertisement, radio and print placement, as well as sponsor race competitions to publish
their brand to the publics. The purpose of M&M is attracting more consumers and also informing the
public about their brand to get competitive advantages. The big-budget TV advertisement starring
M&M’s animated duo has jumped in at number two in the week’s Adwatch chart. The advertisement
shows Mr Red and Mr Yellow taken hostage, with the kidnapper threatening to eat one of them. (Top
10 ads of the week: M&M’s hostage ad misses out on top spot, 2015). According to the ethical
framework of Aristotle’s Golden Mean, organisation’s behaviour is ethical when it is best for the
majority. Therefore, M&M posted this advertisement on the TV is ethical. The reason is because it will
benefit the company by effectively attracting consumers, and the main target of M&M is children.
Moreover, even though people know the advertisement is not real in the world, but it creates fun for the
public, regardless the age and gender. Therefore, despite the cost of traditional media method, it is good
for the majority.
3. Social Media
In the 21st century, with the technological advances, social media has been used by organisations to
communicate with the publics. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, most people prefer to communicate
through social media rather than face to face. Many companies have spotted the potential opportunity
in social media, then use it to replace the traditional way of promoting and selling products. Hence, it
brings the rapid growth in the use of social media. Social media tools offer practitioners new ways to
implement the traditional elements of public relations practices (Matthews, 2010). Social media
applications such as social network sites, blogs, microblogs, and location-based services were on the
verge of becoming mainstream, led by sites such as Facebook and YouTube, and Blog (Vestergaard,
2014). Due to sustainable growing internet users and the raising of the advanced mobile device, social
media becomes widespread broad. Especially, the emergence of we-media era, there are plenty of users
started to get information or online shopping through applications such as Tik Tok or AAuto Quicker.
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
141
Therefore, organisations found it is the most efficient way to reach customers and communicate with
the society, they can easily publish the video through mobile devices instead of advertising on TV or
newspaper. More and more organisations have started to use social media to replace the traditional
media because they are able to promote their products with a lower price or free and sell the products
through the social media platforms. A lot of money will be saved for the organisations by using social
media. Moreover, the social media provides more new distribution channels and advertising paradigms
for the organisations. Now, organisations can promote their products and inform messages on the
internet or mobile devices. By using social media to engage with public, it is more effective and
efficient. The messages on the internet will easily spread to the world. It is a better way to attract
customers by comparing with the traditional media. With the access to the large user group,
organisations can still increase their sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Facebook, blogs or
we-media is a two-way method to communicate with publics for organisations. Organisations can
receive feedbacks from public and improve their persuasion with the feedbacks. However, the large
flowing information may not be all true and some of them may be useless or worthless. Therefore, the
public relation practitioners need to filter the feedbacks before using them.
According to the characteristics of the social media, it is relevant to the two-way asymmetric model.
Two-way asymmetric model attempts “scientific persuasion” rather than the crude and sometimes
manipulative techniques used by publicists (Butterick, 2011). Organisations still use social media as
one way communication to their target audience. The social media is just a tool for the organisations to
persuade those on the receiving end of public relation campaigns to take a form of action, whether to
buy a product or in the case of a charity to support its campaigns. By using Facebook, blogs and also
posting advertisement on the YouTube is aimed at changing customers’ behaviour or opinion about the
product. There is no actually dialogue between organisations and the public, or if there is it is only in
order to improve the sales message. In the two-way asymmetric model, the communicator gets
feedback from the public and then applies it the latest communication and persuasion theories to
persuade that audience to accept the organisation’s point of view (Butterick, 2011). Social media to the
organisations is more like to be free or easy accessed channel to find out the public opinion in order to
improve their messages delivering. Practitioners of public relation will not actually communicate with
the public through this channel. The public opinion or feedback will not be taken by the practitioners.
For example, Brisbane City Council is planning an upgrade of the skate facility located in Neal
Macrossan Park at the intersection of Hale and Caxton Streets, Paddington. Council announced that
they will fund the upgrade of the Paddington Skate Park for the current and future generations of skate
facility users (Paddington Skate Park Upgrade Project - Neal Macrossan Park, 2015). The city council
has posted the information on different channels of social media to announce the public about the park
facility upgrade. They pointed out that they need the public’s helps to shape the design. However, they
have worked with the experienced designers for the concept designs preparation about the facility
upgrade, and the design of the upgrade works is currently being finalised. They also indicated that the
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
142
final decision on the skate park design will be made by the council. Which means the public feedback
is not really necessarily important for them and the decision is all on them. They used social media
such as Facebook to inform the public about the project. They received many feedbacks from the public,
but they did not actually consider all the public feedbacks. It shows that this is a kind of two-way
asymmetric model by using social media.
From the ethical perspective, Brisbane City Council post the information on the Facebook, YouTube
and other social media channels is trying to widely spread the message of park facility upgrade project.
Therefore, the public can immediately receive the news about what will happen around them. Even
though the council will not go along with all the feedbacks, but they asked the public’s opinions about
the project at least. The public gets benefits from the council’s behaviour and the projects. The
consequence can justify their behaviour. Thus, their behaviour conforms to the ethical framework of
teleology.
4. Stakeholder Engagement
As social awareness increased, government, public and organisations started to engage with each other
to make decision or find out solutions on different issues that may affect the involved stakeholders.
Therefore, stakeholder engagement is aim to provide balanced, objective, accurate and consistent
information to assist stakeholders to understand the problem, alternatives, opportunities and/or
solutions. In order to ensure the stakeholders’ concerns and needs are consistently understood and
considered, practitioners of public relations need to work directly with stakeholders throughout the
process and obtain feedback from stakeholders on analysis, alternatives and/or outcomes (Bolt, 2011).
Organisations and stakeholders associate with each other and give feedback or opinions to each other
are two-way communication. All parities engage in the dialogue to share information, ideas and
different perspective views on the same issue. Therefore, the feedbacks will be more directly and easily
to obtain. Therefore, two-way symmetric model fits the situation when stakeholder engagement occurs
in the business. Two-way symmetric model of Grunig and Hunt’s Models can be explained as the views
of the public are sought, and are given as much importance as the views of the organisation. Either the
organisation or the public may change its mind, or they might just end up understanding one another
better (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber, & Shin, 2013). The model advocates a free and equal flow of
information between organisations and the public, leading to a pattern of mutual understanding and
response distinguishes this pattern from the concept of asymmetry (Grunig & Grunig, 1992). The
model combines two-way communication and research-based methods to delivery information.
Practitioners of public relation prefer to increase the the understanding between the organisation and its
public by using this approach. The communication needs of both the organisation and the public are
realised through this model, and they have the balanced effects to each other. By using this model to
negotiate with publics, it can ecourage the understanding. Practitioners of public relation need to
associate with different stakeholders such as public, employees, competitors, suppliers and
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
143
communities. In order to effectively giving and receiving messages or useful information, practitioners
need to choose the suitable method of engagement and determine the key messages to communicate. In
order to improve decision-making and accountability, organisations need to engage with their
stakeholders to find out what social and environmental issues matter most to both parties and the issues
will influence their performance. Thus, two-way symmetric model is the best model for organisations
to engage with its stakeholders, especially when organisation has a specific target group.
Manila Water Company in the Philippines has sought to have a proactive and open relationship with its
stakeholders, including customers, local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and government.
Providing clean, safe water and sewage services to about half of Manila’s population is about building
good stakeholder relationship, which is the fundamental to the company (Manila Water Story, 2015).
When Manila Water acquired the East concession from the government operator, it launched a “Walk
the Line” program in which all employees visit their customers, including residents of informal
settlements, to consult with community on the delivery of these essential services. As a result, Manila
Water has significantly improved its service delivery. The percentage of households who can have
24-hour water supple increased from 26% in2004 to 95% in 2006. Meanwhile, there is a significant
drop on the water losses from 63% to 35.5%. The population which is supplied by the company’s water
system is still increasing. Local communities, including the housing reconstruction have been benefited
from the company’s proactive stakeholder engagement strategy, and this strategy leads to some
partnerships. Manila Water has also established Engagement Plans for key NGO stakeholders, the
media, and investors that include quarterly dialogues and visits to the company’s sustainable
development and community projects (Sequeira & Warner, 2007). The company is improving their
water services to the society and reducing the water waste by engaging with the stakeholders and
cooperating with them on different projects or issues. Therefore, according to Aristotle’s Golden Mean
ethical framework, Manila Water’s behaviours can be treated as the contribution to the majority.
6. Summary
To conclude, the purpose of this essay is aim to demonstrate that traditional media, social media and
stakeholder engagement are three different approaches for organisations engage with the public. The
practitioners of public relation need to decide which approach should be applied in different situation or
stages. Traditional media is one-way model that used to get publicity for the organisations. However,
organisations send out the information but not really care about the feedbacks or difficult to get
responses from the public. Social media is imbalanced two-way communication model. If the
organisations aim to gain sales or profits, it is recommended to use social media, which is the best way
to obtain large number of customers. Besides, organisations can quickly acquire feedbacks about their
services and products. Stakeholder engagement is mainstream approach that organisations associate
with stakeholders to make better decision for the involved parties. Thus, The approach used by
organisations is mainly depending on the final purpose of the organisations’ strategy. The ethics in
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
144
practices of M&M, Brisbane City Council and Manila Water Company depends on which ethical
framework applied to the three parties.
References
Bolt, R. (2011). Stakeholder Engagement Framework. Melbourne, VIC: Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development.
Broom, G. M., Cutlip, S. M., & Center, A. H. (2009). Effective public relations (10th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Butterick, K. (2011). Introducing public relations: Theory and practice. Sage.
Grunig, J. E., & Grunig, L. (1992). Models of public relations and communications. In J. E. Grunig,
Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 40-47). New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Jackson, N. A., & Lilleker, D. G. (2004). Just public relations or an attempt at interaction? British MPs
in the press, on the web and ‘in your face’. European Journal of Communication,19(4), 507-533.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323104047671
Manila Water. (n.d.). Manila Water Story. Retrieved May 25, 2015, from
http://www.manilawater.com/Pages/ManilaWaterStory.aspx
Matthews, L. (2010). Social media and the evolution of corporate communications. The Elon Journal
of Undergraduate Research in Communications,1(1), 17-23.
M&M. (n.d.). M&M’s History timeline. Retrieved May 25, 2015, from
http://www.mars.com/global/about-mars/history.aspx
Paddington Skate Park Upgrade Project - Neal Macrossan Park. (2015). Retrieved May 25, 2015,
from
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facilities-recreation/parks-venues/parks/parks-suburb/paddington-
parks/paddington-skate-park-upgrade-project-neal-macrossan-park
Sequeira, D., & Warner, M. (2007). Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for
Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets. International Finance Corporation, Washington
DC, USA.
Top 10 ads of the week: M&M’s hostage ad misses out on top spot. (2015). Retrieved May 25, 2015,
from
http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1231058/top-10-ads-week-m-ms-hostage-ad-misses-t
op-spot
Vestergaard Kjeldsen, M. (2014). Social media--social genres. NORDICOM Review: Nordic Research
on Media and Communication,35(1), 155.
Waters, R. D., & Jamal, J. Y. (2011). Tweet, tweet, tweet: A content analysis of nonprofit organizations’
Twitter updates. Public Relations Review,37(3), 321-324.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.03.002
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ibes International Business & Economics Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, 2024
Published by SCHOLINK INC.
145
Wilcox, D. L., Cameron, G. T., & Reber, B. H. (2015). Public relations: Strategies and tactics. Harlow,
Essex: Pearson.
Wilcox, D., Cameron, G., Reber, B., & Shin, J. (2013). Think public relations (2nd ed). Boston, Mass.:
Allyn and Bacon.
