Advertising and Public Relations

Advertising and public relations study strategic, persuasive communication on behalf of organizations to shape attitudes and relationships.

Scope

It covers persuasion and branding, public-relations strategy and models, reputation and crisis communication, and the ethics of strategic communication.

Core questions

• How do organizations persuade and build relationships with publics?
• How does advertising shape attitudes and behaviour?
• How is reputation managed?
• What are the ethics of strategic communication?

Key concepts

• Persuasion
• Branding
• Two-way symmetric communication
• Reputation management
• Crisis communication
• Strategic communication

Key theories

Engineering consent

Bernays articulated the deliberate shaping of public opinion by organizations.

Models of public relations

Grunig and Hunt's models (from publicity to two-way symmetric communication) framed PR theory.

History

Strategic communication grew from early publicity and propaganda (Bernays) to professionalized public relations theory (Grunig & Hunt) and integrated marketing and reputation management.

Debates

Persuasion versus dialogue

Whether strategic communication is fundamentally manipulative persuasion or can be ethical, two-way dialogue.

Key figures

• Edward Bernays
• James Grunig
• Todd Hunt

Seminal works

• bernays-1928
• grunig-hunt-1984

Frequently asked questions

What is two-way symmetric communication?

Grunig and Hunt's ideal PR model based on balanced, mutually beneficial dialogue between an organization and its publics.