Four Models of Public Relations - Essay Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Four Models of Public Relations’ Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2011 Introduction The four models of public relations proposed by Grunig & Hunt’s are basically the most talked about theories in the discipline of public relations. The models introduced a diverse approach to public relations which has highlighted how public relations has evolved in a manner to reflect the changes in society and the varying needs of organizations and clients. In addition the models have provided practical applications within the framework of contemporary public relations. This particular essay will therefore evaluate Grunig and Hunt’s ‘Four Models of Public Relations which include the press agentry/publicity model, public information model, two-way asymmetrical model and the two way symmetrical models. The objective of the analysis will be grounded on highlighting the roles of the four models in the understanding of how public relations is conducted in contemporary society. According to Grunig and Hunt (1994, p8) the agentry/publicity model is a public relations program that has the objective of attaining favorable publicity for an organization within the mass media. The model emerged in the late 19th centaury and is mainly characterized by a one way communication or what is referred to as the source to receiver type of communication. This occurs regularly in the activities of publicists who promote movie stars, sports, products, senior managers or politicians. Grunig and Hunt (1994, p8) articulate that the main purpose of the model was largely propagandistic and the aspect of the truth was at times unessential. The agentry/publicity model has contributed to the understanding of what governs public relations in contemporary society. In a study conducted by Geaitani and Gwyneth (2007, p16), the findings revealed the fact that the publicity model is very practical in the arena of advertisement of products by contemporary marketers. Today consumers and audiences live in a society of message saturation whereby they are frequently exposed to varied messages that urge them to purchase a particular service or product. As a result marketers in most cases experience difficulty when it comes to successfully reaching out to their consumers or their audiences. Geaitani and Gwyneth (2007, p16) highlight that; this particular issue has significantly increased due to the aspect of heavy media proliferation or propagation that causes consumers to be fragmented. In order to effectively battle this particular problem, a section of marketers in contemporary organizations have employed public relations essentially the publicity model in order to order frontline their products as it is more effective than traditional communication and plain advertising. An evaluation of companies that adopted the publicity model within their media marketing strategies indicated reported that they were able to effectively reach consumers and audiences, furthermore persuading consumers towards the purchase path become much easier. It can therefore be argued that the relevance of the publicity model to contemporary organizations is that through the use of manipulation and persuasion to influence audiences, organizations are able to attain their outlined objectives. For instance in the context of marketing of products, the adoption of a one way communication approach, filled with propaganda and in a scenario whereby the complete truth does not exit , is actually an effective way in which marketers can reach out to their customers(Jacquie& Magda 2006, p12). The public information model on the other hand is the second model of public relations that can be described as similar to the press agentry model due to the fact that it is also a one way model or a source to receiver method that views public relations only in terms of dissemination of information. However the public information model puts into consideration the aspect of the truth as opposed to the agentry/publicity model that gives room to the elimination of the truth at times. According to Grunig and Hunt (1994, 8) the main intention of this particular model is to facilitate the dissemination of information, and it is grounded on the perspective that if the public has adequate information and that the information received by the public is truthful, then the public is bound to believe and also behave in a manner that is useful to the client. Practitioners of public relations that have adopted this particular model conduct research however it is basically minimal. Today the model is applied in organizations such as government agencies, small businesses and NGOs (Grunig and Hunt, 1994, p9). A case evaluation of the use of the application of the public information model was by the ministry for justice Golden targets awards of the year 2000. The ministry of justice introduced work camps in Western Australian correctional facilities. The project involved the use of a minimum of 12 prisoners who lived in old government buildings or a farm house in the heart of the community. The prisoners took a variety of community and environmental projects. Later on a comprehensive public relations campaign was organized which was aimed at turning around the potential negatives that the community members had concerning prisoners and ex-offenders. Rather than the community fighting the initiative they were given a chance to host a prisoner during the work campaign initiative. Through raising awareness and community consultations that were backed by sound field and desk research and campaigns the ministry for justice officials were able to attain outstanding results. These included aspects such as the community that hosted the work camps was able to acknowledge that they also have an essential role to play when it comes to the rehabilitation of offenders. In addition prisoners and prison officers felt welcomed by the members of the community. Furthermore the local community readily accepted to offer jobs to offenders after they had been released for instance elderly community members asked the offenders to come and help them with the maintenance of their households (Ministry for Justice, 2000). The public information model is relevant to modern organization essentially in terms of the emphasis on presenting clients with truthful facts. Jacquie & Magda (2006, 13) argue that the public in most cases has the desire to get authentic information concerning the products they buy and issues in society. As a result, it is important for organizations to put emphasis on providing truthful facts to the public (Jacquie & Magda, 2006, p13). As highlighted by the case study of the project by the ministry of justice, the community members had to be given factually and practical information concerning how prisoners can actually be beneficial to society. As a result community member were able to believe the notion that accepting ex –offenders back into society is beneficial. The two-way asymmetric model is another essential model of public relations proposed by Grunig and Hunt. The model took advantage of the public opinion and psychology in order to understand the public attitudes. The major characteristics of the model are grounded on the fact that it relies on a two way communication; that is from the sender to the receiver and from the receiver to the sender which brings about the attribute of feedback. Unlike the two previous models the two-way asymmetric model greatly depends on research concerning the public being targeted. Such kind of research is usually undertaken through focus groups and surveys (Grunig and Hunt, 1994, p9). The model is applied extensively today by public relations agencies and competitive business agencies. A case analysis of the application of the two –way asymmetric model is the Golden Target Award, 2008 won by the Reputation group. The initiative had the objective of reducing environmental pollution associated to cigarette butts. Due to the move by the Victorian government to abolish smoking within licensed venues in 2007, a prediction made by Sustainability Victoria was that butt litter would definitely increase. The project by Reputation group therefore came in handy in the reduction of this particular impending problem. The objective of the project was to foster community knowledge on the fact that butts are actually litter that pollute the environment. The project also aimed at increasing the awareness of smokers about the fact that they were personally accountable the butts they discarded and also to develop model of campaign which built the local governments capacity to take action against environmental pollution. Research was adopted as a strategy of development in order to adjust the tactics used in the campaign. The communication process entailed numerous consultations with various stakeholders such as the local council. Humorous and bold communication campaigns were also organized with smokers who also gave their opinion concerning the matter. As a result butt littering behaviour was recorded to have reduced in Victoria (Golden Target Award, 2008, p1). Jacquie and Magda (2006, p13) highlights that the relevance of the two-way asymmetric model to modern organizations is that they should listen to the public and undertake research in order to determine how best they can change their behaviour in a manner that can benefit the organization. Grunig and Hunt (1994) however believed that public relations experts had a calling of going beyond the asymmetric model, through creating a balance between the interests of the organization and those of the public an approach they referred to the symmetrical approach. The fourth model is the two- way symmetrical which is an approach that uses research and communication in order to manage conflict and create an understanding with the publics. When compared to the other models the two –way symmetrical model is more ethical. This is because it does not force the organization to just make choices; the choices have to be right. The model has to question the right aspects of a particular issue then resolves the matter through negation. Although the method has a great deal of similarity to the two-way asymmetric in terms of conduction research the differences that exist include the fact that the symmetrical method is grounded on mutual understanding as opposed to scientific persuasion. In addition the nature of research is based the evaluation of understanding while the research conducted by the two-way asymmetric model is grounded on the evaluation of attitudes (Grunig & Hunt, 1994, p10). Today, public relations practitioners consider this particular model to be fully developed and there are certain organizations that can fully benefit from the model. For instance a study conducted by Macnamara (2010, p8) highlighted that the adoption of new technologies such as the Web 2.0 has transformed communication in marketing and corporate practice in many modern organizations. This is because the web 2.0 media has increased interrelations between organizations and their clients. There has been a shift for the command driven type of communication to the symmetrical type of communication whereby the web 2.0 takes advantage of interactive two way communication through communication building between organizations and their clients. In addition the web 2.0 has facilitated the adoption of ethical and practical ideas by organizations (Macnamara 2010, p1). The relevance of the two -way symmetrical model to contemporary organizations as propagated by Grunig and Hunt, (1994) is that it promotes an environment of ethical public relations, which is mainly constructed in surroundings free from propaganda, essentially when striving to create a balance between the organization and the public. Ethical relations are also developed by the fact that the symmetrical model entails an organization using the opinion of the public, engaging the stakeholders or the public in a dialogue in the process of the development of the objectives of the organization. Jacquie and Magda (2006, p14) argue that the model can therefore be perceived as an attempt of advancing public relations as an ethical and an acceptable practice that is built upon the idea of democracy. Another relevance of the two -way symmetrical model to contemporary organizations is that organizations can increase their levels of engagement with the public in order to make an assessment of the course of action that will benefit both the public and the organization. In order for organizations to effectively respond to the public, they need more substantive changes in the decisions concerning the objectives and direction of the organization. Jacquie and Magda (2006, p15) therefore argue that in the long run, the symmetrical approach is more effective when, ‘’ organizations acquire more of what they want when they give up some of what thy want‘’. From this particular view point the public can be viewed as active contributors in a dialogue that results to the formulation of the organizational goals and policies. Conclusion From the above analysis Grunig and Hunt’s four models of public relations have greatly contributed to public relations in contemporary organizations. What is evident is that each model has contributory factors that can be beneficial to modern organizations. However more research should be undertaken in order to fully ascertain their practicability in various types of organizations. References Golden Target Award, 2000, ‘’Adult Prisoner Work Camps-Community Communications’’ Community Program, Ministry for Justice Retrived From Golden Target Award, Environmental Category, 2008, ‘’Don't be a Tosser, Bin Your Butts’’ Sustainability Victoria, The Reputation Group Retrived From Hunt, T & Grunig, J 1994, ‘Four models of public relations’, Public relations techniques, Harcourt Brace, Fort Worth, Texas, pp. 8–10 Jacquie L and Magda P, 2006, Public relations: critical debates and contemporary practice, Routledge, p12-15.   Macnamara, J, 2010, ‘’Public communication practices in the Web 2.0-3.0 mediascape: The case for PRevolution.’’ Prism, 7(3) , p8. Retrived From < http://www.prismjournal.org/fileadmin/Social_media/Macnamara.pdf>  Sylvia Geaitani , S and Gwyneth VJ ,2007,  ‘’Public relations no longer on the backburner ‘’, Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, University of Western Sydney, .Volume 8, p16-18. http://www.pria.com.au/journal/area?command=record&id=24&cid=16 Read More