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public relations

Public relations is taking steps to positively impact the way society views a person, company or brand or to impact popular opinion about the person, company or brand.

Common Goals of Public Relations

  • Motivate new behavior
  • Modify negative behavior
  • Reinforce existing positive behavior

Basic Beliefs of Public Relations

  • The rule of rewards, a principle from psychology, states that people will only do those things for which they feel recognized and rewarded.
  • The rule of participation, also based on psychological research, tells us people will only support programs, initiatives, or ideas they believe they had a voice in creating.
  • The rule of abuse, an idea with roots in sociology, states that people who believe they have been mistreated by a person or organization must have their feelings acknowledged before they will listen to what the party in question is trying to say.
  • The rule of cheerleading, a principle from anthropology, tells the public relations professional that every successful organization has a smaller group within it that must urge the others to succeed.
(noun)

An example of public relations is when the press agent for a celebrity covers up the story about him going to rehab and instead spins a nice story about the celebrity having a volunteer position abroad.

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See public relations in Webster's New World College Dictionary

relations with the general public as through publicity; specif., those functions of a corporation, organization, etc. concerned with attempting to create favorable public opinion for itself

See public relations in American Heritage Dictionary 4

plural noun Abbr. PR
  1. (used with a sing. verb) The art or science of establishing and promoting a favorable relationship with the public.
  2. (used with a pl. verb) The methods and activities employed to establish and promote a favorable relationship with the public.
  3. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The degree of success obtained in achieving a favorable relationship with the public.

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