Why PR must be abreast with cultural elements of the environment

 



In a profession where whatever you say or do, can make and unmake you, Public Relations must be abreast with cultural elements to understand how to relate with publics. Publics differ and so does their comprehension of issues because people possess different temperaments but building and maintaining an effective relationship is crucial for PR, therefore must be able to work with people with different character traits. The appreciation of this fact helps PR to strategize communication with different publics.

For instance, if the company is introducing a new product, PR must know whether their target audience are innovators (those who easily adopt to new products or new ideas) or they are laggards. Knowing these will determine the communication effort and approach to use for each category of adopters.

This requires knowing the market trends and selling the image of the organization to the public through consistent communication with publics and management.  Market forces will be met and to sail through, lobbying becomes a necessary skill.

It is necessary to know how lobbying is perceived in the culture in which a practitioner finds themself to avoid negative connotations of the term. PR should know how and when to lobby as political factors cannot be taken out of the cultural element.  This requires communication with top decision makers to direct legislative decisions in favour of the organization. Lobbyists must dig out information through environmental scanning, be involved in legislative processes at an early stage while maintaining credibility and making factual claims in order to raise an organization’s profile as well as protect them from threats of bad legislation.

Organizations do not operate in a vacuum; rather in a society. Societies however vary in their lifestyles, beliefs and ways of communication hence the need for Public Relations to understand that each society has a culture which varies from another. Therefore, a one size fits all plan in communicating ideas must be avoided. Rather a one size fits one approach should be developed for each society and environment in which they find themselves.

Source:environmentalprissues.com

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