Functions of Public Relations

Functions of Public Relations Paper

University of Phoenix

March 12, 2008

Functions of Public Relations

Public relations have many definitions, but the key functions are communicating and presenting an organization strong public image. Public relations activities include helping the public to understand the organization and the products. Effective public relation functions will identify the organization audience; communicate the organization goals and determining the best way to handle situations. This paper will discuss the organizational and societal functions of public relations; identify an issue in Wal mart with both societal and organizational implications and how both audiences would be address.

Organization and societal functions of PR

The societal function of public relations is to convey to society the goals and mission related to the organization. Communication is a key tool in communicating to the public. Today, public relations use many technologies. Media is the most effective way of presenting mass communication. When the initial goals of awareness and interest are reached, public relations actions should move away from the obvious to more subtle forms of communication through significant others and unbiased third parties. Public relations deal with dispensing information to the company target audience. Five steps are used to dispense the information to society: awareness, interest, evaluation, trials, and adoption. (Lattimore, Baskin, Heiman, Toth, Leven, 2004) A public relation function also include handling crisis, work with society to show the positive side of the company. This function includes communicating precisely with a memorable message to ensure the image is not tarnish.

Being social responsible is a function of public relations and involves getting organizations engage with social events. An example may include large organizations participating in environmental issues. Effective social programs builds brand loyalty, attractive...