The United Arab Emirates (UAE) became known to the world when oil was discovered. Since that tine, the country has modernized and developed into one of the largest trading centers in the world. The purpose of this research is to identify companies in the UAE who are currently using public relations, and those that would benefit from its use. The objective is to provide marketing managers with the knowledge of the benefits of public relations and how it could be used to advantage in their marketing plans. Primary and secondary data was selected for the study. Primary data consisted of a survey undertaken by a questionnaire with forty managers of various organizations in the private and public sectors of the UAE to learn how public relations was being used in their marketing strategies, and how much they know about public relations. The results of the survey indicated that most marketing managers were knowledgeable about public relations, but would benefit from learning about how it could be used to greater advantage. It was proposed that seminars be conducted for marketing managers focused on how public relations could be used and the benefits to be derived from its use.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017 / In popular opinion political public relations practitioners have long been regarded as spin doctors. Their lane of actions is mostly viewed as propaganda and they are perceived as spin doctors who manipulate power-relations. The pervasive role of public relations in political campaigns cannot be denied as political actors rely on communication to reach their key stakeholders. While it can be used as an important tool that can mediate in these power relations, the facts remain in the case of this study that the political party campaign communication was rather reactive than strategic. The answer lays in the accurate application of the strategic nature and role of public relations. I believe that there is a strategic public relations role that is evident and has to be played in political party campaign communication. As a matter of fact, public relations strives to ensure an effective and efficient communication on behalf of its organisation. The purpose of this study was to explore the application of public relations principles in political parties’ campaign communication of the Democratic Alliance, in the context of three other political parties in a regional newspaper during the build-up to the 2014 South African general elections. Four distinct political parties were at the centre of this research, namely African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters and Agang. Particular attention was given to the elite parties, African National Congress, and Democratic Alliance; the main environment of the study. It is true that political parties ‘communication with stakeholders reflects in essence public relations. Managing communication to promote the organisational agenda is to talk about issues important to both the public and the political party. This suggests that an effective political organisation will act on a two-way operation to build a common political position that influences public attitudes. Hence, a comparative case study was used as the strategy of inquiry. I conducted a content analysis of the political party campaign communication of the Democratic Alliance, covered in the Cape Times newspaper; as well as their election manifesto, to identify the public relations principles and strategies that were used. The daily newspapers were surveyed from January 8 to May 7, 2014. An overall of one hundred and forty-four related newspapers articles were analysed and formed the data for analysis. A close reading and counting of frequencies of varieties of themes in the newspaper revealed that the Democratic Alliance, as well as the African National congress, took a tactical and responsive approach, rather than a strategic and proactive approach, to their political party campaign communication. News coverage indicated that there was extensive counterpunching to other political parties ‘statuses, but very little promotion or management of the issues included in their election manifesto. Nkandla was the most controversial issue covered in the pre-election media coverage; while the proposed merger with AGANG; and the subsequent fall out was damaging to both political parties ‘reputation and relationship with voters. Therefore, more research on this topic needs to be undertaken, as public relations is crucial in translating public opinions to the organisation. In the political scope, this can serve as an attempt to adjust the socio-political environment to suit the political principles, as well as to help the political principles adjust to the environment by creating the right balance to mutual benefit an organisation and its publics that further ensures a real participatory democracy. Further studies should be done to investigate whether, the advocacy of the two-way symmetrical, as a way to central route to persuasion, along with the dialogical approach can impact on more effective decisions making, and ultimately create a more dynamic public sphere that seeks the resolution of socio-political conflicts. This new knowledge will lead to guidelines for public relations practitioners and can provide useful insights for political communication specialists.

"Since Claxton High School is among the few schools in its geographical area which have a physical education program, and since that program has been in effect for only a short period of time, it is felt that the people of the community need to be more fully acquainted with the program in order to appreciate its values. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine if the high school circus, presented as representative of the total physical education program, is valuable as a public relations project"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1954." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Kenneth D. Miller, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 25-26).

This qualitative research study comprised of six case studies explores museums’ practical usage of social media as an organization public relations tool. Analyzing six different museums using both surveys and interviews, this research provides a strategic, theory-based framework for any organization to utilize social media effectively by increasing public trust and engagement. Understanding the role that social media plays within organizational public relations is crucial for both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Because nonprofit organizations are often operating under time, personnel, and financial constraints, the accessibility and zero-cost of social media are hugely advantageous tools for non-profits organizations. However, without a strategy, their efforts to build meaningful relationships with their publics using these tools is futile. Museums are an under-studied but important field under this non-profit umbrella. The general ineffectiveness of museum usage of social media also target a key problem with social media usage by museums—the focus is on marketing, rather than on public relations, which leaves the communications from these institutions feeling robotic, inauthentic, and difficult with which to engage. Using Hon and Grunig’s (1999) four elements of OPR (Organizational Public Relations)—satisfaction, trust, control mutuality, and commitment—and the coorientaton model, this study provides insights into how museums and their patrons perceive the museum’s attempts at building OPR through social media. Findings indicate that while most museums and their patrons are in alignment of their perceptions of the museums’ efforts, many museums are ranking low on all four elements of OPR. In order for any organization to fully utilize social media, it must be used not simply as an arm of marketing or sales, but as an indispensable tool of building satisfaction, trust, control mutuality, and commitment, which in turn, lead to higher levels of engagement and future behavior intentions.

Largely developed as a professional occupation in the United States throughout the 20111 century, public relations now faces several changes and challenges as more American organizations venture onto the international landscape during the 21 st century. This study examined the evolution of public relations into an international practice, considering whether strategies and tactics are affected by cultural differences. The view that cultures can have an effect on the individual, communication processes and organizational practices is based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Palanca is a term used in Latin American societies, referring to the use of personal influence on one's behalf by relatives or friends. Guanxi, or personal connection, is a traditional practice of relationship marketing in the Chinese community. The literature review for the study examined the connection between cultural dimensions and this conceptualization of social networking in Latin America and China. The study investigated the effects of social networking on public relations practitioners in Latin America and China using a 15-item questionnaire conducted through email and telephone interviews. The analysis sought to determine how culturally-based social networking influences socialization, business practices, ethics and public relations strategies. The results for research question one indicated that palanca and guanxi were very similar in the cultural dimensions of individualism-collectivism and power distance; both are high collectivist and high power distance. They exhibited similarities related to uncertainty avoidance, though Latin America is high in uncertainty avoidance and China is medium. The two cultures differed along the dimensions of masculinity-femininity and long-term orientation. Research question two addressed business ethics related to culture. While practitioners did encounter ambiguous or unethical situations, their actions were largely dictated by the ethical standards and codes of their organizations. Research question three discussed public relations strategies and tactics. Public relations strategies were viewed as very similar to the U.S., regardless of where the respondents were based. Practitioners in both Latin America and China emphasized managing relationships as a vital component of public relations efforts. However, practitioners in China found media relations and the flow of communication to be underdeveloped in comparison to the U.S.

Researchers conducted a content analysis to measure framing of the public relations industry in 354 English language broadcast transcripts from the United States, Canada, and Australia from Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2010. The overall tone toward public relations was strongly negative. Mentions reflected one-way forms of communication and mentions of the pejorative term "PR" appeared more frequently than mentions of "public relations". The profession was almost always mentioned within the body of the broadcast, as opposed to the headline or the lead paragraph. Exploratory research showed 15 shows that included negative mentions 100% of the time. Additionally, 27 shows included zero positive mentions of either term. Of 251 speakers recorded during data analysis, 126 spoke of the industry negatively 100% of the time. American shows were most often negative. Stories about the public relations industry were most likely to reflect public relations as a two-way form of communication.

This study explores the theory of prosocial public relations as proposed by Wakefield, Burnett, and van Dusen (2011). The propositions put forth by the theory are that in gaining visibility and support for prosocial causes, an organization will engage in non-confrontational (prosocial) public relations by building up internal resources, reaching out to target publics, and making connections with those publics related to the cause. This single-case study explored the public relations and communication tactics of a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide aid and service to the poor. A Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul located in the Western United States served as the case. Observations from this study were made through analysis of documentation and archival records and were supported through interviews with key staff members of the Society and field observations. The findings support the theory of prosocial public relations in that communication and public relations are vital aspects in the work of the nonprofit as it strives to gain visibility and support for the cause. Observations from the case study support that the Society builds up, reaches out, and connects with key publics. In addition, based on data, a fourth element of prosocial public relations, nurturing relationships, is proposed. This study begins to establish some of the public relations methods of how a successful prosocial nonprofit organization can build up, reach out, make connections, and nurture relationships through communication.

Seventy-five directors of the Institutes of Religion of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California, responded to a questionnaire regarding their public relations' practices. Institute directors with formal training in public relations utilized more practices, an average of 30.4, than directors without formal training who used an average of 26.9 practices. Institute directors in different locations (divisions) did not differ in the average number of practices used. Seventeen percent of the directors had structured public relations' programs. Directors emphasized more frequently public relations practices relating to priesthood leaders (72 percent) and students (67 percent) than practices relating to parents (33 percent) and campus leaders (33 percent).

This study was an attempt to determine to what extent personal contacts, as a part of student recruitment, acquainted high school seniors of 1958 with Brigham Young University and influenced them in their enrollment. Opinions of college freshmen who were graduated from high schools visited by a B.Y.U. public relations representative were elicited by mail questionnaire. Respondents were asked to list the means through which they became "acquainted" with the University. They were also asked to list what "influenced" them to attend. Personal contacts by a public relations representative were considered among various means of "acquaintance" and "influence" of a public relations nature to provide relative comparison. A specific question also asked whether a visit by the public relations representative influenced students to enroll at B.Y.U. Accompanying the areas inviting opinions on means of "acquaintance" and of "influence" was an area inviting free response regarding what the students "reasons" were for enrolling. It was recognized that "reasons" for attending an institution are not necessarily attributed to the source of "acquaintance" or the source of "influence." "Reasons," it was recognized, were likely to be attributed to institutional characteristics established by ideals, objectives, location, course offerings, and others. A series of questions were included to determine students' opinions on whether a college representative could provide assistance toward college orientation of high school students, and whether he could provide assistance, in addition to orientation given by high school guidance personnel and a class unit of college orientation.

The purpose of this research is to identify best practices for public relations professionals when engaging with a Millennial performing arts audience, focusing on Hon and Grunig's relationship management theory (1999) and Kent and Taylor’s theory of dialogic communication (2014) to build interactivity in a digital space. Performing arts organizations have successfully engaged with previous generations, but are facing new challenges when communicating with millennial audiences. Changing demographics have led to a stagnation and decline of performing arts attendance as the millennial generation has come of age. This massive population has new priorities for spending and consumption of entertainment, and social media is their preferred channel of communication as opposed to print and broadcast media. The researcher distributed a survey to patrons of the Orlando Shakespeare theatre to identify their perspectives of current public relations practices. Results from 148 respondents indicated that the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre maintains strong relationships with Millennials (N=6) and non-Millennials alike, as made evident by their practice of Baumgarth's cultural consumer behaviors (2014). However, a larger sample of Millennial patrons is necessary to determine best practices for the specific population. The primary product of this research is the creation of a theory-driven survey that can be used to effectively measure the depth of a performing arts organization's relationship with its patrons, and a case study exemplifying a successful organization.