2. What Is a Public?
Public: Any group whose members have a
common interest or value in a particular
situation.
Stakeholder: A person, or public, that has a
stake or an interest in an organization, or
an issue that involves the organization.)
3. Why Are Relationships
Necessary?
Resource dependency theory:
Different publics have different resources that
organizations need to achieve their goals.
Values-driven and therefore acquiring resources
helps to fulfill these values.
Two-way symmetrical public relations is simply
supply/demand.
4. The Publics in Public Relations
Traditional Publics: Groups in which we
have on-going, long-term relationships with.
Nontraditional publics: Unfamiliar to an
organization but has the possibility of
becoming a traditional public.
Intervening publics: When an organization
delivers a message with the expectation that
it will be passed on to another; such as the
news media.
5. The Publics in Public Relations
Primary: Those that can directly affect an
organization’s ability to achieve its goal.
Secondary: While still important, they have
minimal ability to affect an organization.
Internal and External publics
Domestic and International publics
6. What Do We Need to Know
about Each Public?
How much can the public influence our
organization’s ability to achieve our goals?
– How dependent are you on this public?
What is the public’s stake, or value, in its
relationship with our organization?
Who are the opinion leaders and decision
makers for the public?
– If you are seeking media coverage, reporters and
editors are the decision makers.
7. What Do We Need to Know
about Each Public?
What is the demographic profile of the public?
– age, gender, income, education
What is the psychographic profile of the public?
– what they think, feel, or believe
What is the public’s opinion of our organization?
– This shapes your values and your approach
8. Employee
Executives say employee and internal
communication is a top priority.
However, studies show many employees
rely on the grapevine and don’t believe that
their organizations tell them the truth.
9. Changes Reshaping Workforce
A distributed workforce
– Home offices, work sites across the world.
The increasing use of “temps”
– 2.5 million are temps. Hard to produce long-term
relationships
As the technology required for managing
information changes, so does the need for
training.
10. Changes Reshaping Workforce
The growth of diversity
The aging of the baby boomers
– Median age in the workforce today: 45
Generation X (1966-1980)
Generation Y (1980-1984)
– Different generations have different motivations
11. News Media
Serves as gatekeepers to the larger public.
Today there are more than 30,000 outlets.
– Newspapers
– Magazines and other periodicals
– Radio stations (AM and FM)
– Television (network and cable)
– The World Wide Web
12. Government Publics
Government officials play an important role in
the success of public relations efforts.
Governments exist at several levels (local,
state, and federal).
Advice from lobbyists: Be well-prepared and
work fast.
14. Investor Confidence
Even after 9/11, 82 percent believe
remaining in the stock markets is a good
idea.
66 percent say they’re more cautious about
investments than they used to be.
Almost two-thirds say they’re concerned
about corporate scandals.
Energy costs and loss of jobs to overseas
employers are the top concerns.
15. Investor Profile
Average age: 49.9
Median household income: $89,000
69 percent are college graduates.
56 percent are male.
83 percent are married.
91 percent are white; 2 percent are black; 2
percent are Hispanic; 2 percent are Asian-
American.
16. Community Publics
Leaders
– Public Officials
– Educators
– Religious Leaders
– Professionals
– Executives
– Bankers
– Union Leaders
– Ethnic Leaders
– Neighborhood Opinion Leaders
Media
– Mass Media
– Specialized Media
Community
– Civic
– Business
– Service
– Social
– Cultural
– Religious
– Youth
– Political
– Special-Interest Groups
17. Consumer/Customer Publics
Consumer spending is the most powerful force
in the U.S. economy.
Average annual U.S. household income is $49,
430 -- average household spending is $40,667.
The biggest spenders are age group 45-54.
Women account for 83 percent of US
spending.
On-line shopping continues to grow.
18. Constituent (Voter) Publics
Voters are important to government practitioners.
Voters are important to anyone seeking to influence
public policy.
Not all eligible voters vote.
– The United States ranks 139th among the world’s 170
democracies in voter turnout.
Age is the greatest indicator of who votes in the
United States:
– Age 65 and older vote in the highest percentages.
19. Who Votes in the United States?
Married citizens: 55 percent; single citizens:
29 percent
College graduates: 61 percent; high-school
dropouts: 28 percent
Household income of $50,000-plus: 57
percent; household income of less than
$10,000: 25 percent.
20. Who Votes in the United States?
Women: 47 percent
Men: 46 percent
White citizens: 49 percent
Black citizens: 42 percent
Asian-American citizens: 31 percent
Hispanic citizens: 30 percent