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This chapter adds to emerging research exploring the construct of joy by drawing attention to the value of more loving stakeholder relationships. Relationship management research has focussed attention on the antecedents, outcomes and quality of an organization's relationships with various publics and stakeholders and has examined strategies that can nurture these relationships. However, not much of this research has addressed intimacy and passion in these relationships.

Accordingly, this chapter draws on the theory of brand love developed in relationship marketing research and the theory of love from psychological research to build a theoretical framework of organization–stakeholder love (OSL) that can be applied to organizational relationships with publics and stakeholders. An OSL framework switches emphasis from how organizations can attract stakeholder affection (e.g., love) towards organizations to how organizations can and should love their stakeholders. The proposition put forward in this chapter is that OSL can and should become a driving force behind organizations' interactions with stakeholders, thus contributing to ethical public relations practices.

OSL is important because it has the potential to contribute to addressing public relations' image problems (e.g., relating to terms such as spin and corporate greenwashing); it offers a new love orientation that guides organizations towards a focus on the primacy of stakeholder needs and values, which in turn may shape the way organizations initiate and manage relationships with stakeholders. This chapter concludes with practical ways to implement OSL and a research agenda suggesting ways OSL may open up new research opportunities in public relations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank the most important topics for research in the field of public relations. An associated outcome was to propose the research questions most closely linked to the prioritised topics.

An international Delphi study on the priorities for public relations research, conducted in 2007 amongst academics, practitioners and senior executives of professional and industry bodies was used to investigate expert opinion on research priorities for public relations. This choice of qualitative methodology replicated earlier studies by McElreath, White and Blamphin, Synnott and McKie, and Van Ruler et al.

The role of public relations in the strategic operation of organisations, and the creation of value by public relations through social capital and relationships were ranked most highly. Some outcomes were comparable with earlier studies; for instance, evaluation of public relations programmes ranked third in this study and was amongst the leaders in the Synnott and McKie study. Only the topic “management of relationships” was wholly new, whereas “impact of technology on public relations practice and theory” ranked much lower than a decade ago.

The Delphi study method is a small scale qualitative process which limits generalisability, unless the choice of “experts” and their active participation can demonstrate that there is validity in its outcomes.

The research gives valuable insight into the main public relations research areas and will allow academics and practitioners to work closely together to improve understanding of public relations.

This is the first completed Delphi study into public relations research priorities since Synnott and McKie.

Meta reviews are central for mapping the state of the field, consolidating the heterogeneous public relations body of knowledge, and pointing to new potential research directions. Habermas is one of the most influential contemporary social theorists and his work has repeatedly been used in public relations scholarship. While some have maintained that his work has been most influential in the development of public relations theory, this stream of research has never been reviewed empirically.

In this paper, the authors present a bibliometric literature review of 263 public relations research articles published between 1980 and 2016 that cite and use Habermas’ work. A network analysis of these publications based on the technique of bibliographic coupling was used to identify common forms of application, research themes, as well as patterns of impact.

Results show that the use of Habermas has grown significantly, specifically in the recent decade. At the same time, researchers have a narrow focus specifically on earlier developments in the theory. Finally, we discover three main topical research clusters that have been influenced by the theory: public relations and the public sphere, dialogic stakeholder relationships, as well as public relations and communication ethics.

The findings map out an important stream of scholarship in the field by showing where public relations scholars have been and where the research community has not ventured yet. Based on the results of our analysis, the authors propose directions for research to advance future theory development in public relations using Habermas’ work.

The main reason for conducting this research was to conduct an analysis of the extent of public relations activity in domestic first‐class cricket in an attempt to offer a strategy for effective, proactive public relations.

The research objectives were achieved by using an exploratory case study approach to evaluate the extent of public relations within the two cricket clubs, Durham County Cricket Club and Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The constructivist approach was adopted, as primary qualitative research strategies provided the bulk of the findings. A purposive sample of respondents was identified for semi‐structured, open‐ended interviews that were conducted face‐to‐face and via the telephone.

Public relations is extremely important at Durham County Cricket Club. Durham CCC's approach to public relations is the exception rather than the rule amongst the 18 first‐class counties. Yorkshire CCC does not have a dedicated public relations professional on the marketing team. Though there is clearly a place for public relations, other commercial techniques seem to be more important at Yorkshire. The consensus is that public relations is essential to the future success of the sport but the reality is that it is not fully implemented to the extent that it should be or that many in the game would like it to be. If cricket is to have a viable future, it must address its image problems and become more appealing to a demographically different audience than has traditionally been the case. Public relations, more than the other elements of the contemporary promotional mix, offers a potential solution.

The major limitation to this research was that interviews could not be arranged with a Yorkshire player to balance that held with the Durham player. The information gathered by the researcher was necessarily indirect but it was felt that this did not invalidate the research, as a range of secondary sources was used to underpin the primary research findings. As this research was a snapshot in time, it would be useful to conduct further regular research in order to monitor changes in attitudes and approach to public relations in cricket.

The findings from this research are applicable to all sports and can be implemented and adapted accordingly. It is felt that all sports organisations regularly need to review their communications strategies and implement public relations much more widely.

No such research has previously been conducted and all the findings and recommendations are original. Durham CCC has already implemented some of the proposals and the author's continuing work with other sports organisations has been founded on this research.

During the past few years, public trust in organisations, institutions and systems has decreased. Trust is an important antecedent not only for relationship-building but also for image and reputation management. This study aims to systematically review scientific publications on public relations and trust to explore the current status of trust research, including its conceptual definition, measurement and theorisation.

Only English-language scientific papers published in key public relations journals were analysed. Titles, abstracts and keywords were searched with the terms “public relations” and/or “strategic communication” and/or “communication management” and “trust”, returning 254 discrete articles. Quantitative content analysis and thematic analysis were used to extract information.

Trust research has limited methodological and intellectual diversity. Most studies have been published by North American scholars using surveys and interviews as the primary methods, and most are positioned within the public relations literature. One-third of papers do not use any specific theory to define trust, and about 13% of those in which trust is a central element do not refer to any conceptual foundation. The majority of papers are centred on professional and managerial problems, with limited discussion of publics/stakeholders' or societal problems.

This study offers important information about the development of trust research in public relations and sheds light on current knowledge gaps that can inform future research.

The nature of the international corporate public relations function is the substance of ongoing debate by both leading public relations academics and practitioners, with the predominant body of literature advocating public relations as a management rather than a line function. This ongoing debate formed the basis of a 1993 exploration of public relations as a management function within Irish companies, which concluded that public relations was a line rather than management function at that time. In light of changes in the intervening decade, this article aims to assess the evolution of public relations practice to date.

This paper presents the results of longitudinal research undertaken in 2003, replicating the 1993 study with the original participant companies, addressing seven key prerequisites identified from literature in the classification of public relations as a management function.

Based on an exploration of these prerequisites the paper concludes that the public relations function in the companies surveyed is now a management function.

The research undertaken illustrates further possibilities in longitudinal research with the same companies in addition to illuminating the wider possibilities in both public relations practitioner and function research. Furthermore, qualitative research adopting either a case study or depth interview methodology would add greater understanding the nature, development and complexities of public relations in Irish companies.

The paper notes the progression of public relations from a line to a management function. This progression will have implications for the education and management of the public relations practitioner and the positioning of the function within organisations.

The paper depicts a longitudinal study of public relations in Ireland. The paper is of value to both academics and practitioners in benchmarking the progression of public relations.

This paper aims to analyse the current literature on women in public relations to establish trends and areas of inquiry in the literature and identify research gaps for future research.

A total of 223 articles have been empirically analysed using thematic analysis to identify trends in the existing literature. The data has been coded and analysed per decade (1982–1989, 1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2019). The articles have been identified by searching major journals in the field of public relations and communications, as well as snowballing from identified articles.

The results show that the majority of academic articles have been produced by using lived experiences of women working in the public relations industry and thus reflect the professional situation of female public relations employees. The results show that the position of women has reached a full circle in four decades of research and returned to the discriminatory work environment. Finally, the results show that a liberal feminist perspective has an advantage in the literature since the majority of works have been produced in the United States; however, there is an increase in authors calling for the use of socialist and radical feminism.

The paper provides a comprehensive literature review of works published in the field. The paper takes an empirical approach to the analysis rather than the descriptive one, which helped in identifying major trends in the research and identified a research gap for future inquiries.

To conduct a systematic review of public relations ethics (PRE) research and scholarship in the 21st century and suggest future research directions. The study is prompted by macro-level phenomena that have impacted societies since the beginning of the 21st century—notably globalisation 4.0 and the fourth industrial revolution.

A systematic review was used to search academic literature. Articles discussing PRE in nine leading English-language public relations and business ethics journals between 2000 and 2019 were reviewed. A code-frame facilitated data extraction and subsequent quantitative analysis; qualitative analysis identified key themes.

The review identified 288 articles, with discussions involving PRE increasing over time. Most works approached the topic generally, rather than from a specific sub-disciplinary perspective, and drew from professional settings. Works were dominated by authors from North American institutions and North American samples. Research became increasingly empirical and intra-disciplinary and discussion about ethics was broadly categorised as part of public relations practice or from the perspective of the “academy”. Overall, the field can be described as of notable size, maturing, yet unbalanced in some regards.

The review helps to identify whether PRE research reflects major changes in the 21st century and augments the sparse recent reviews of PRE research.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the perspectives of public relations professionals against those of the general public in Spain with respect to which communications activities and organizational attributes are relevant to the leadership images of organizations, and what are the characteristics of effective leaders.

This study combines data from the European Communication Monitor (ECM) with the results of a representative online survey carried out by the global market research company IPSOS.

Results show that the general public sees TV interviews as well as TV advertising as communication tools with the biggest potential to shape the leadership image of organizations. When it comes to the attributes of effective leaders, communication professionals overestimate the role of an organization’s vision, while the population much more stresses basic attributes like leading by example and admitting mistakes. PR practitioners underestimate customer service and environmental responsibility and tend to favor more abstract attributes like innovation and CSR.

This paper touches only four sections of the ECM 2014/2015. Participant fatigue may have negatively impacted the quality of the data. A large sample of professionals was approached, but a much small number initiated and completed the online survey. The size of the sample of communication professionals makes it difficult to generalize the results. In addition, future research should extend the study to different groups of stakeholders, such as employees, investors, and suppliers.

While organizations face intensive pressure from evaluation by their stakeholders, discrepancies between the expectations of the general public in regard to leadership negatively affects the communicator’s work to position organizations in society, as well as CEOs and top executives as leaders. On this regards, getting closer to what the population expects will help to understand and improve leadership perceptions.

Very little work has been done in Spain regarding to leadership in public relations or public relations professional’s perceptions about leadership. Most research published to date has focused on the leader’s position in the company, participation in management levels, types of responsibilities assumed and their relative influence and leadership style. Even fewer public relations studies have tried to identify the communication activities that are relevant to the leadership image of organizations and compare the perspectives of public relations professionals on leadership against those of the general public. This dearth of knowledge about stakeholder expectations negatively affects the communicator’s work to position organizations and executive leaders in society.

Research is recognised as an essential part of planning and evaluation in most areas of marketing and corporate communication, including advertising, direct marketing and, increasingly, public relations and corporate communication disciplines such as employee communication and community relations. Understanding of audience interests, awareness, perceptions and information needs is critical to strategic planning of communication campaigns. Secondly, identification and quantification of changes in awareness, perception and, ultimately, behaviour is necessary to evaluate objectively the effectiveness of communication (ie the outcomes or results). Nowhere is research more important than in multicultural and cross‐cultural communication. International relations began with human migrations and trade and reach new levels today with globalisation, corporations, organisations and governments increasingly seeking to create consistencies and shared values across divergent cultural groups. They seek to create consistencies and shared values in relation to products (eg Coca‐Cola, IBM, McDonalds), policies (eg trade agreements) and in popular culture such as films, television programmes and news media. Social rules and shared values, ie the culture of communities, affect organisations seeking to communicate multiculturally and cross‐culturally at two levels. First, the “home” culture of the organisation wishing to communicate shapes policies, plans and products that are produced. Secondly, the cultures of audiences inform and substantially shape their interpretation and use of information. Often, multicultural and cross‐cultural communication is a case of “Chinese whispers” on an international scale. What one says or shows is frequently not what others hear or see. Studies cited in this paper show that culture is a vitally important factor in communication. Yet, companies and even governments attempt communication with little understanding of audiences which they wish to reach and with which they wish to build relationships and understanding. This paper examines cultural considerations specifically in the field of public relations and corporate communication in the Asia Pacific region which is comprised of a diverse range of cultures and has been identified as the largest market in the world. Thus, it is increasingly a focal point of global communication campaigns.