The Publics inPublic Relations

What Is a Public?

Public: Any group whose members have a common interest or value in a particular situation.

Stakeholder: A person, or public, that has a stake or an interest in an organization, or an issue that involves the organization.)

Why Are RelationshipsNecessary?

Resource dependency theory: Different publics have different resources that

organizations need to achieve their goals. Values-driven and therefore acquiring resources

helps to fulfill these values. Two-way symmetrical public relations is simply

supply/demand.

The Publics in Public Relations

Traditional Publics: Groups in which we have on-going, long-term relationships with.

Nontraditional publics: Unfamiliar to an organization but has the possibility of becoming a traditional public.

Intervening publics: When an organization delivers a message with the expectation that it will be passed on to another; such as the news media.

The Publics in Public Relations

Primary: Those that can directly affect an organization’s ability to achieve its goal.

Secondary: While still important, they have minimal ability to affect an organization.

Internal and External publicsDomestic and International publics

What Do We Need to Knowabout Each Public?

How much can the public influence our organization’s ability to achieve our goals?– How dependent are you on this public?

What is the public’s stake, or value, in its relationship with our organization?

Who are the opinion leaders and decision makers for the public?– If you are seeking media coverage, reporters and

editors are the decision makers.

What Do We Need to Knowabout Each Public?

What is the demographic profile of the public?

– age, gender, income, education

What is the psychographic profile of the public?

– what they think, feel, or believe

What is the public’s opinion of our organization?

– This shapes your values and your approach

Employee

Executives say employee and internal

communication is a top priority.

However, studies show many employees

rely on the grapevine and don’t believe that

their organizations tell them the truth.

Changes Reshaping Workforce

A distributed workforce– Home offices, work sites across the world.

The increasing use of “temps”– 2.5 million are temps. Hard to produce long-term

relationships

As the technology required for managing information changes, so does the need for training.

Changes Reshaping Workforce

The growth of diversityThe aging of the baby boomers

– Median age in the workforce today: 45

Generation X (1966-1980)Generation Y (1980-1984)

– Different generations have different motivations

News Media

Serves as gatekeepers to the larger public. Today there are more than 30,000 outlets.– Newspapers

– Magazines and other periodicals

– Radio stations (AM and FM)

– Television (network and cable)

– The World Wide Web

Government Publics

Government officials play an important role in

the success of public relations efforts.

Governments exist at several levels (local,

state, and federal).

Advice from lobbyists: Be well-prepared and

work fast.

Investor Publics

Individual shareholdersFinancial analystsFinancial news mediaMutual fund managersInstitutional investorsEmployee investors

Investor Confidence

Even after 9/11, 82 percent believe remaining in the stock markets is a good idea.

66 percent say they’re more cautious about investments than they used to be.

Almost two-thirds say they’re concerned about corporate scandals.

Energy costs and loss of jobs to overseas employers are the top concerns.

Investor Profile

Average age: 49.9Median household income: $89,00069 percent are college graduates.56 percent are male.83 percent are married.91 percent are white; 2 percent are black; 2

percent are Hispanic; 2 percent are Asian-American.

Community Publics

Leaders

– Public Officials

– Educators

– Religious Leaders

– Professionals

– Executives

– Bankers

– Union Leaders

– Ethnic Leaders

– Neighborhood Opinion Leaders

Media– Mass Media– Specialized Media

Community– Civic– Business– Service– Social– Cultural– Religious– Youth– Political– Special-Interest Groups

Consumer/Customer Publics

Consumer spending is the most powerful force in the U.S. economy.

Average annual U.S. household income is $49, 430 -- average household spending is $40,667.

The biggest spenders are age group 45-54.

Women account for 83 percent of US spending.

On-line shopping continues to grow.

Constituent (Voter) Publics

Voters are important to government practitioners.Voters are important to anyone seeking to influence

public policy.Not all eligible voters vote.

– The United States ranks 139th among the world’s 170 democracies in voter turnout.

Age is the greatest indicator of who votes in the United States:– Age 65 and older vote in the highest percentages.

Who Votes in the United States?

Married citizens: 55 percent; single citizens: 29 percent

College graduates: 61 percent; high-school dropouts: 28 percent

Household income of $50,000-plus: 57 percent; household income of less than $10,000: 25 percent.

Who Votes in the United States?

Women: 47 percentMen: 46 percent White citizens: 49 percentBlack citizens: 42 percentAsian-American citizens: 31 percentHispanic citizens: 30 percent

Business Publics

B2B: Business-to-business communication

– Publics can include vendors, distributors, retailers,

customer businesses and even competitors.