This chapter covers some research methods used in the field of PR and its importance in the various stages. I had a misconception at first when I saw the title of the chapter, thinking of research more in the traditional sense, that is to look into the subject and discover new things about it, much like scientific research. It is only when I read on that I discovered that 'research' here, is more of finding out things from the target publics to gain an insight (as we have learnt a few weeks back, where research => insight) instead of actually advancing the field, in a sense).
Chia and Synnott (2009) first discuss the hierarchy of effects model as a guide to what the PR practitioner can do in a publicity campaign, first by formulating a message, before disseminating it out. The public will receive it, and then begin the process of comprehending it before being able to change their attitudes and hence behaviours. It is noted for the second time since Chapter 3 that behavioural change may occur first instead of attitude change.
We thus see that in this hierarchy, there are at least two timeframes in which to conduct research: before the campaign, and during the campaign. Before-campaign research (also known as input research) is done to know more about the issue at hand and the ground sentiments, this will gain us insight such as the the fact that there was no beer-infused barbecue sauce in the Australian market mention in Post 3(ii), or maybe, that the Australian public generally do not prefer to barbecue food over live coal, but feel that such food is superior in taste (case study located here). In addition, ethical considerations should also come into place here. With these thoughts in place, goals can then be set and strategies, tactics, etc. hammered out.
During-campaign, or output research is done to see how well the campaign has been executed thus far with a view to improve it if necessary. Page 136 of Chia and Synnott (2009) offers a short list of tools and tactics that we can use to perform said research. But there is something missing here: the post-campaign, evaluatory/outcome research which allows the practitioner to evaluate the effects of the campaign to see if the initially-set goals were achieved. I remember now some of the evaluatory means showed to us in our lectures, such as media coverage - the number of mentions and positive reviews of said product in the media, for example. A list of research methods and how they are classified is offered in Figure 6.2, page 146 and 147 of Johnston and Zawawi (2004)'s text.
I personally feel the discussion on other research applications is the next most important part of this chapter. Because much of PR deals with getting the message across to the public, we are heavily reliant on finding out public opinion. Not only must we do this for consumer marketing campaigns, there is also a need to find out what they are thinking especially for crisis management. In this case, the public needs to be monitored to find out any possible issues that require intervention if necessary. A good example of this would be the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform oil spill (also known as the 'BP oil spil'), where PR practitioners for British Petroleum had to scramble to limit the fallout after the event, especially when public opinion turned against the company after their then-CEO, Tony Hayward's insensitive remarks. He issued an apology later on, but no doubt the damage was done. Among other things, BP's PR campaign after the spill focused on their efforts to clean up the mess, and owning up to their mistake which caused the spill in the first place. You can see a short opinion piece from Brian McDonald (including a YouTube video message from Tony Hayward), a veteran of the PR industry, over here.
The text (Chia & Synnott) also covers some research methods, with a slant towards promoting new media research tools such as online surveys, social networking, and even blogs. In addition, some issues affecting PR research was mentioned. I think that statistical implications is a pretty important issue to be looking at, because choosing an appropriate sample to represent the population, and without bias is fundamental to being able to interpret quantitative results properly and not have a skewed representation. In that regard, I'd have to go back to my statistics textbooks and refresh my knowledge on this.
Else, this ends my reflection on Chapter Five.
Chia and Synnott (2009) first discuss the hierarchy of effects model as a guide to what the PR practitioner can do in a publicity campaign, first by formulating a message, before disseminating it out. The public will receive it, and then begin the process of comprehending it before being able to change their attitudes and hence behaviours. It is noted for the second time since Chapter 3 that behavioural change may occur first instead of attitude change.
We thus see that in this hierarchy, there are at least two timeframes in which to conduct research: before the campaign, and during the campaign. Before-campaign research (also known as input research) is done to know more about the issue at hand and the ground sentiments, this will gain us insight such as the the fact that there was no beer-infused barbecue sauce in the Australian market mention in Post 3(ii), or maybe, that the Australian public generally do not prefer to barbecue food over live coal, but feel that such food is superior in taste (case study located here). In addition, ethical considerations should also come into place here. With these thoughts in place, goals can then be set and strategies, tactics, etc. hammered out.
During-campaign, or output research is done to see how well the campaign has been executed thus far with a view to improve it if necessary. Page 136 of Chia and Synnott (2009) offers a short list of tools and tactics that we can use to perform said research. But there is something missing here: the post-campaign, evaluatory/outcome research which allows the practitioner to evaluate the effects of the campaign to see if the initially-set goals were achieved. I remember now some of the evaluatory means showed to us in our lectures, such as media coverage - the number of mentions and positive reviews of said product in the media, for example. A list of research methods and how they are classified is offered in Figure 6.2, page 146 and 147 of Johnston and Zawawi (2004)'s text.
I personally feel the discussion on other research applications is the next most important part of this chapter. Because much of PR deals with getting the message across to the public, we are heavily reliant on finding out public opinion. Not only must we do this for consumer marketing campaigns, there is also a need to find out what they are thinking especially for crisis management. In this case, the public needs to be monitored to find out any possible issues that require intervention if necessary. A good example of this would be the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform oil spill (also known as the 'BP oil spil'), where PR practitioners for British Petroleum had to scramble to limit the fallout after the event, especially when public opinion turned against the company after their then-CEO, Tony Hayward's insensitive remarks. He issued an apology later on, but no doubt the damage was done. Among other things, BP's PR campaign after the spill focused on their efforts to clean up the mess, and owning up to their mistake which caused the spill in the first place. You can see a short opinion piece from Brian McDonald (including a YouTube video message from Tony Hayward), a veteran of the PR industry, over here.
The text (Chia & Synnott) also covers some research methods, with a slant towards promoting new media research tools such as online surveys, social networking, and even blogs. In addition, some issues affecting PR research was mentioned. I think that statistical implications is a pretty important issue to be looking at, because choosing an appropriate sample to represent the population, and without bias is fundamental to being able to interpret quantitative results properly and not have a skewed representation. In that regard, I'd have to go back to my statistics textbooks and refresh my knowledge on this.
Else, this ends my reflection on Chapter Five.
What a lengthy post haha, well without research anything you have planned will probably crumble. 4 phrase of PR campaign management, Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation. If research is done poorly, the campaign would be a very poor one. Maybe thats why so many models of research is developed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Julian, research is certainly a very important phase of any PR campaign. From it we can gain valuable insights with which we can apply for the implementation phase as you have mentioned.
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