Question

Discuss a number of traditional and contemporary theories of communication. Choose one of these theories and explain in detail how this theory can guide a public relations campaign. Provide at least one example of how this theory has been used in a current public relations campaign.

Answer 1

Seven Traditions in the Field of Communication Theory
We will discuss 3 out of them

Socio-psychological tradition: According to Krauss, & Fussell, (1996, p. 3). Social psychology traditionally has been defined as the study of the ways in which people affect, and are affected by, others. Buttressing on this, Podgorecki, (2004) says that “socio-psychological tradition is embodiment of scientific or objective perspective. Its researchers believe that detailed and systematic observation makes it possible to discover the truth of communicative phenomena.

Cause and effect relationships are sought so that the anticipation of victory and failure of communicative behaviors is possible. The discovery of cause and effect relationships leads to the assumption that we are approaching the answer to the ever returning question posed by persuasion practitioners - What else can be done to make people change their mind”? Furthermore, the trait theory, a major focus in this tradition, explores the attitude and the connection between personality and one’s communication. It is easy to understand the collaboration between communication and psychology in the sense that one’s personality or psychological influence will impact how they react to certain messages, accepting them or being biased against them, and how they communicate their own values, in the form of coming across in certain stereotypical behaviour. The basic tenets of this tradition are: • Truths to be discovered by careful, systematic observation (experiments)

• Scholars of this tradition seek to provide insight in the ways we process information

• Relationship between communication stimuli, audience predisposition, and opinion change.

• Attention is also paid to persuasion and attitude change as scholars realize the power that other persons can have on others and how messages affect the mind as well.

• The central question of this tradition is: What can I do to get them to change?

• E.g., the Yale attitude studies investigated 3 causes of persuasive messages:

o Who says it (expertise, trustworthiness)

o What is said (fear appeals, order of arguments)

o Whom is it said to (personality, susceptibility to influence) For instance, a message from a high credibility source produced a larger shift of opinion than a message from a low credibility source.


The Social Cultural Tradition

“In the Socio-cultural tradition communication is considered as a process that involves concepts like social structure, norms, rituals, identities and collective belief systems. This tradition focuses on the effects of the production, maintenance and reproduction of social formations from small 12 groups to a global phenomenon” (Ochieng, 2014). Buttressing on this, Graffin (2000, p. 41) says that “the socio-cultural tradition is based on the premise that, as people talk, they reproduce culture. Most of us assume that words reflect what actually exist. However, theorist in this tradition suggests that the process often works the other way round. Our view of reality is strongly shaped by the language we have used already since we were infants”.

On the other hand, modern socio-cultural theorists agree that it is through communication that reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed. Therefore, juxtaposing this tradition with the semiotic tradition that deals with symbols and signs which are said to be arbitrary and base on one’s interpretation, socio cultural tradition theorist are with the view that through communication we get to understand certain things and these shapes us as we grow. Therefore the understanding of reality is obtainable through communication. For example a red sign in a particular country might mean a different thing from another country or community. How then did the people get to know the meaning of a particular sign or word? it is definitely through communication

The Critical Tradition Communication as a reflexive challenge of unjust discourse The very notion of critical theory derives from publications of a group of German researchers known as the Frankfurt School, because they worked in an independent Institute for Social Studies at the University of Frankfurt. The Frankfurt School, originally established to critically examine the views of Karl Marx, rejected the economic determinism of orthodox Marxism, at the same time keeping the Marxist tradition of social criticism (Podgorecki, 2004). Therefore, the Frankfurt scholars came to a consensus that “all previous history is has been categorized by an unjust distribution of suffering” They revealed that this same pattern of inequality exist in modern democracies; where those who have exploit those who don’t have. Furthermore, the Frankfurt school analysed the disparity between liberal values of freedom and equality that leaders preach as well as the unjust abuse of power by leaders. Their analysis shows that leaders preaching on liberalism and freedom are just a mirage. Moreso, critical theorists challenge (among others) 3 features of modern society as pointed by (Podgorecki, 2004


Contemporary Theory of Communication

Contemporary Theories of Communication: As internet and the ways and speed at which many of us receive message changes the complexity of communications has led scholars to create additional audience centric theories of how to best communicate.

1.Constructivism

Suggests that knowledge is constructed not transmitted and is concerned with the cognitive process that precedes the actual communication within a given situation rather than with the communication itself. The theory suggests that it is important to have some knowledgeof the receiver and his or her beliefs, predilections, and back ground. The task of communicating is to understand and identify how receivers think about the issues in question and work to challenge these preconceived notions and convert audience members into altering their views.

2.Coordinated management of MeaningTheory of communications: based on social interaction. The theory posits that when we communicate primarily through conversation we construct our own social realities of what is going on and what kind of action is appropriate. It is a complex interconnected series of events with each participant affected by the other.

3.Gruing-Hunt Public Relations Models: Formulated by Professors James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt. They proposed four models that define public relations communications. They are but a few of the prominent theories ofcommunication all revolving around feedback of which public relations practitioners must be aware.

a.Press Agentry/publicity: Early form of communication that say the authors are one-way communicating that beams messages from a source toa receiver with the express intention of winning favorable media attention.

b.Public Information: One way communication that doesn’t persuade but informs. This and the press agentry model have been linked to the common notion of public relations as “propaganda”

c.Two-Way asymmetric: More sophisticated two-way communication approach allowing organizations to put their information out and to receive feedback from its publics about the information. Anorganization doesn’t necessarily change their decisions as a result of feedback but would alter its responses to more effectively persuade publics to accept its position.

d.Two-way symmetric: Preferred way of communicating advocates free and equal information flow between an organization and its publics based on mutual understanding. It is balanced and symmetrical with the public relations communicator serving as a mediator between the organization and the publics.



Diffusion Of Innovations And Public Communication Campaigns: An Examination Of The 4r Nutrient Stewardship Program

This project is an examination of how strategies for innovation in fertilizer application are communicated to agricultural communities. Specifically, this project examines the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program‒a public communication campaign seeking to encourage the use of specific strategies, tools, and best practices in fertilizer application. The campaign is advanced by the Fertilizer Institute, an industry trade association, and targets local agricultural communities within the United States. To understand how this campaign functions to encourage adoption of innovative fertilizer application behaviors, this project draws on the principles of diffusion of innovations theory as well as established concepts within public relations, including issues management


Water is necessary for life, and fertilizer runoff from agricultural sites can result in the contamination of water systems. This contamination can be a significant health risk for any population depending on those systems. To protect the public, it is necessary to limit fertilizer runoff. This may be achieved in part by persuading farmers to adopt innovative fertilizer management practices. This project examines the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program, a public communication campaign seeking to encourage changes in fertilizer application behaviors with the goal of reducing runoff. The campaign was created and is operated by the Fertilizer Institute, a multistate trade association, in cooperation with the International Plant Nutrient Institute.

This campaign is operated primarily to prevent the introduction of new policies regulating fertilizer use. Because this campaign constitutes an industry response to potential adverse policy creation, it is appropriate to regard the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program as a strategic issues management campaign. The focus of this investigation is the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program’s effort to persuade Ohio farmers living and working within the area of the Maumee River Watershed to adopt new practices.

The Maumee River Watershed is a critical water system in Ohio that drains 5,024 square miles and flows through all or part of 18 Ohio counties (Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 2018a). The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program is approached as an issues management campaign targeted to farmers, fertilizer retailers, policymakers, and policy advocates. This examination is informed by diffusion of innovations theory (DOI), a framework describing the process whereby a community adopts a new innovation (Rogers, 2003). When a public communication campaign seeks to encourage behavioral change, the principles of DOI

can directly inform campaign design and analysis. By illustrating the process of diffusion, DOI can answer questions about how strategic messaging decisions influence behavioral change across targeted populations. In some cases, the diffusion of an innovation may serve as strategy for managing issues faced by an organization or an industry. The goal of this project is to demonstrate the utility of DOI in case studies of public communication campaigns seeking to encourage behavioral change within target audiences. Doing so will broaden the utility of this theory in a way that will inform both campaign scholarship and design. Findings from this research will be useful in design for future campaigns seeking to change fertilizer application behaviors to protect water systems. To demonstrate the utility of DOI in these contexts, survey data collected from farmers within the Maumee River Watershed in Ohio are used to examine the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program campaign. The survey data were collected by The Ohio State University’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and is used here with permission. The data are analyzed to determine rates of understanding about 4R innovations in the target public, the extent of diffusion of 4R innovations, and key sources of information among the target public. This information will be used to answer three research questions: RQ1: Do agriculturalists within the Maumee River Watershed feel they have understanding of the 4R principles? RQ2: How do specific sources of information relate to adoption of 4R practices within the Maumee River Watershed? RQ3: What is the extent of the diffusion of the 4R frameworks’ prescribed runoff reduction strategies through agricultural communities within the Maumee River Watershed? 3 Taken together, the answers to these questions will provide a picture of the overall efficacy of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program at encouraging diffusion of innovative fertilizer application behaviors among farmers in the Maumee River Watershed. In addition, the results will help demonstrate that DOI is a useful framework for examining both public communication and issues management campaigns


















This was using diffusion theory.