Answer to Question #176500 in Economics for Esther Gathenya

Question

In public relations knowledge of the various publics is mandatory for a practitioner. Identify

various ways in which this knowledge is gathered.

Answer 1

A public is any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular situation.

The publics in PR can be categorized in many different ways: traditional and nontraditional; latent, aware, or active; intervening public; primary and secondary publics; internal and external; and domestic and international.

We can segment those publics, tailor communications for unique publics, send different messages to specifically targeted publics, and build relationships by communicating with publics who have an interest in our message. This type of planning research is called formative research.

It’s important to understand who all of your publics are including those who have many stakes and those who aren’t aware of their ties to your company. More than just knowing who they are we must understand their views of our companies and their values. Categorizing these publics helps make distinctions about how to best use resources in managing relationships with these numerous publics.