A Quantitative Analysis of Governments’ Use of Interactive Media as a Global Public Relations Strategy

Abstract

Globalization, globalism, and the development of communication technology have increased the complexity and the professional status of public relations around the world (J. Grunig & Dozier, 1992; J. Grunig & Hunt, 1984; Kazoleas & Teigen, 2006). Global public relations scholars have argued that transparent organizations need to deal with stakeholders not only in their home country, but also in host countries where they operate, and governmental sectors also need to communicate with key stakeholders in other nations (Molleda, Connolly-Ahern, & Quinn, 2005; Molleda & Laskin, 2009). Even though the body of knowledge on global public relations has been growing, government sector’s public relations efforts have not been fully documented. The parallels between public diplomacy and public relations have been the focus of studies on the scholarship of both academic fields. Governments face challenges because of the increasing global interdependency, and government-communication strategies have been shifted from propaganda to a two-way communication or dialogic approach (Taylor & Kent, 1999; Taylor, 2000). Governments need to monitor public opinion in host communities to build long-term relationships with host stakeholders. Interactive media have been useful tools to implement two-way communication since they provide immediate reaction opportunities for stakeholders and organizations (Kazoleas & Teigen, 2006; Kent & Taylor, 1998). Using interactive features on the Web, home and host stakeholders not only seek and receive what governments announce, but also request or provide feedback to governments and their agents.Several public relations scholars have emphasized the role of interactive media in two-way communication through website analysis (Delouvrier, 2008; Lee, 2006; Naudé, Froneman, & Atwood, 2004; Stout, Villegas, & Kim, 2001). This study is a website analysis for global government public relations. The purpose of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of political and socioeconomic environmental factors, which enhance global online public relations by governments in terms of interactivity and dialogic features.