2010 - Public Relations Society of America

elationship approach to PR provides fruitful insights concerning the concept of building and
maintaining organization-public relationships. The linkage of the organization-public
relationship approach to public relations is natural as most scholars agree that in the definition of
public relations, relationship is key. Broom (2009) defines public relations as “the management
function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization
and the publics on whom its success or failure depends” (p. 3). Ristino (2007), in his article
pertaining to public relations within the health services, speaks of the importance of managing
and enhancing relationships with those they serve. “The communication activities are based on a
two-way symmetrical communication process that ensures that publics served and the
organizations serving them build long lasting, mutually beneficial relationships” (p. 79).
Beneficial relationships with the public are important for the survival of an organization.
Public relations practitioners must build and maintain strong relationships between the
organization and its public to lead to a desired behavior by the public for the organization and
vice-versa. In O’Neil’s (2007) study examining the association between relationship factors and
strength and duration of donor support for a local food bank, she found that although strong
public relationships were not associated with the amount donated, they were associated with
years of support, happiness to continue donating, and willingness to recommend others to donate.
O’Neil (2007) stated, “The findings of this study are useful in that they demonstrate that longterm,
successful public relationships impact behavior” (p. 102).
Whether internal or external, relationships are needed in order to get key audiences to act
in a desirable way. In order to communicate successfully with target publics, public relations
practitioners must revert to communication basics. According to Newsom and Haynes (2008) the
basics include “message, public, and medium” (p. 109). Of particular interest to this study is the
medium. Whether traditional or social, the medium a public relations practitioner uses is key to
effectively building and maintaining public-organization relationships. One study that has been
conducted is Vorvoreanu’s (2008) Web site experience analysis. In her analysis of nine corporate
Web sites, she examined student-public relationship beyond usability, but actual experiences as
interpreted by the key public. In other words, was the relationship, in the way the student-public
viewed it, how the organization intended to be perceived? Vorvoreanu’s study offered readers
suggestions on how to improve the public’s Web site experience. This study is one that aims to
confirm that the student-public and organizational relationship is the same and not one that is
misconstrued through the medium.
Throughout studies that focus on public-organization relationships, all contain
multidimensional factors that contribute to the understanding of those relationships. Of particular
interest to this study is personal commitment. In one study conducted by Banning and Schoen
(2007) on a museum’s relationship with its key publics, the researchers found that the
relationships could help determine both those who were likely to continue membership with the
museum, as well as those who would not. “The information gained in the use of the three
relationship sub-scales can help practitioners reinforce successful programs or change ineffective
public relations initiatives, rather than simply measure the amount of communication produced
in a newspaper or magazine” (p. 439). Personal commitment to the museum was a vital part of
this study to discover those who would continue their relationship with the museum.
Social Media Tools Defined
Eyrich, Padman, and Sweetser (2008) gathered information from practicing public
relations practitioners and discovered that “overall, practitioners have adopted nearly six
different social media tools professionally” (p. 413). These six tools included e-mail, intranet,
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