An Empirical Analysis of the Influence of Perceived Attributes of Publics on Public Relations Strategy Use and Effectiveness

TLDR

The study replicates and extends prior work by examining how problem recognition, constraint recognition, involvement, and goal compatibility affect the use of informative, facilitative, persuasive, and cooperative problem‑solving strategies. Members of the Public Relations Society of America (n = 403) were surveyed via direct mail and online modes. Perceived attributes of publics significantly influence both strategy use and effectiveness, with goal compatibility emerging as the strongest predictor across strategies.

Abstract

Abstract This study replicates and extends previous research by examining the influence of problem recognition, constraint recognition, involvement, and goal compatibility on use of informative, facilitative, persuasive, and cooperative problem-solving strategies. Members of the Public Relations Society of America (n = 403) were surveyed using direct mail and online modes of administration. The results indicate that perceived attributes of publics significantly influence public relations strategy use in organizations. In addition, attributes of publics were significant predictors of strategy effectiveness. Goal compatibility was found to be the strongest predictor of effectiveness across strategies.