Guidelines measuring relationships[1]

This is a Gold Standard paper of the
Commission on Public Relations Measurement & Evaluation

Guidelines for Measuring Relationships in
Public Relations

by

Dr. Linda Childers Hon

University of Florida

and

Dr. James E. Grunig
University of Maryland

Published by the Institute for Public Relations
November 1999

Guidelines for Measuring Relationships in Public Relations
By Dr. Linda Childers Hon and Dr. James E. Grunig
Copyright © 1999, Institute for Public Relations
www.instituteforpr.org

This Booklet Was Prepared and Written By

Dr. Linda Childers Hon, University of Florida

and

Dr. James E. Grunig, University of Maryland

Others Who Contributed To This Document Included:

Forrest W. Anderson Patrick Jackson
Burson-Marsteller Jackson, Jackson & Wagner

Dr. Glen M. Broom Bruce C. Jeffries-Fox
San Diego State University AT&T

Jack Felton Dr. Walter K. Lindenmann
Institute for Public Relations Ketchum Public Relations

John Gilfeather Sunshine Janda Overkamp
Roper Starch Worldwide Council on Foundations

ii

CONTENTS

Page

FOREWORD 1

OVERVIEW 2

DETAILED DISCUSSION 6

The Value of Public Relations Is In Relationships 7

Stage 1: With Whom Does An Organization Need Relationships? 12

Stage 2: Strategies For Maintaining Relationships 13

Stage 3: Outcomes of Relationships 18

Relationship Outcomes in Public Relations Practice 22

Measuring Outcomes of Relationships 25

Where Do We Go From Here? 38

APPENDIX

Reliability of Indices For Six Indicators of Relationships 40

iii

FOREWORD

This is the third in a series of booklets that have been published by the Institute
for Public Relations to give guidelines and suggestions on how best to measure public
relations effectiveness.

In 1997, the Institute published a 24-page booklet, “Guidelines and Standards for
Measuring and Evaluating PR Effectiveness,” as a first attempt to begin to find a uniform
“ruler” that everyone in the public relations industry might use when it comes to
measuring specific PR programs, activities, and events.

Early in 1999, following the formation by the Institute of a special U.S.
Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation, a second booklet was published,
entitled: “Guidelines For Setting Measurable PR Objectives.” That particular booklet
offered tips, along with selected examples, of how those in the industry might begin to set
measurable objectives for their various PR programs and activities.

Now, we move into a brand new area, with the publication of this latest
guidebook. Since a growing number of PR practitioners see their prime role to be that of
building effective relationships with various constituencies, members of the IPR
Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation felt it important to prepare and issue a
set of guidelines for beginning to measure relationships in public relations.

We believe that all three of these guidebooks will prove useful to you as working
documents you can rely on when it comes to assessing the overall value of what it is you
are seeking to accomplish through your public relations programs and activities.

Jack Felton
President and CEO
Institute for Public Relations

1

OVERVIEW

Why is it important to measure relationships in public relations?

Basically, because a growing number of public relations practitioners and scholars have
come to believe that the fundamental goal of public relations is to build and then enhance
on-going or long-term relationships with an organization’s key constituencies.

Tools and techniques for measuring and evaluating the relatively short-term outputs and
outcomes of specific public relations programs, events and campaigns have existed for
quite a number of years. But up until now, measuring the success or failure of long-
term relationships stemming, in part from public relations efforts, have not existed.

Outputs are usually the immediate results of a particular PR program or activity. More
often than not, they represent what is readily apparent to the eye. They measure how
well an organization presents itself to others, the amount of attention or exposure that the
organization receives. Outcomes measure whether target audience groups actually
received the messages directed at them … paid attention to them … understood the
messages … and retained those messages in any shape or form. They also measure
whether the communications materials and messages that were disseminated have
resulted in any opinion, attitude and/or behavior changes on the part of those targeted
publics to whom the messages were directed.

As important as it can be for an organization to measure PR outputs and outcomes, it is
even more important for an organization to measure relationships. This is because for
most organizations measuring outputs and outcomes can only give information about the
effectiveness of a particular or specific PR program or event that has been undertaken.

In order to answer the much broader question -- “How can PR practitioners begin to
pinpoint and document for senior management the overall value of public relations to the
organization as a whole?” -- different tools and techniques are needed.

During the past few years, a number of academicians have been seeking ways of more
effectively determining the overall value of PR, not only to organizations in particular,
but also to society in general. Two academicians who have played a leading role in this
area have been Dr. Linda Childers Hon of the University of Florida and Dr. James E.
Grunig of the University of Maryland.

Their efforts to date in seeking to develop a reliable PR Relationship Measurement Scale
are documented in the pages that follow.

They have found through their research that the outcomes of an organization’s longer-
term relationships with key constituencies can best be measured by focusing on six very
precise elements or components of the relationships that exist. These are:

2

Control Mutuality -- The degree to which parties agree on who has the rightful
power to influence one another. Although some imbalance is natural,
stable relationships require that organizations and publics each have some
control over the other.

Trust -- One party’s level of confidence in and willingness to open oneself to the
other party. There are three dimensions to trust: integrity: the belief
that an organization is fair and just … dependability: the belief that an
organization will do what it says it will do … and, competence: the belief
that an organization has the ability to do what it says it will do.

Satisfaction -- The extent to which each party feels favorably toward the other
because positive expectations about the relationship are reinforced. A
satisfying relationship is one in which the benefits outweigh the costs.

Commitment -- The extent to which each party believes and feels that the
relationship is worth spending energy to maintain and promote. Two
dimensions of commitment are continuance commitment, which refers to
a certain line of action, and affective commitment, which is an emotional
orientation.

Exchange Relationship -- In an exchange relationship, one party gives benefits
to the other only because the other has provided benefits in the past or is
expected to do so in the future.

Communal Relationship -- In a communal relationship, both parties provide
benefits to the other because they are concerned for the welfare of the
other -- even when they get nothing in return. For most public relations
activities, developing communal relationships with key constituencies is
much more important to achieve than would be developing exchange
relationships.

To measure the outcomes of an organization’s relationship with key constituencies
focusing on these six elements, Hon and Grunig suggest administering a questionnaire
form that includes a series of agree/disagree statements pertaining to the relationship.
Respondents are asked to use a 1-to-9 scale to indicate the extent to which they agree or
disagree that each item listed describes their relationship with that particular organization.

A complete list of the statements appears starting on Page 28. Here is a shortened list of
some of the items that have been used by the academicians that have been found to be
valid measures of relationship outcomes:

3

Control Mutuality

1. This organization and people like me are attentive to what each other say.
2. This organization believes the opinions of people like me are legitimate.
3. In dealing with people like me, this organization has a tendency to throw
its weight around. (Reversed)
4. This organization really listens to what people like me have to say.
5. The management of this organization gives people like me enough say in
the decision-making process.

Trust

1. This organization treats people like me fairly and justly.
2. Whenever this organization makes an important decision, I know it will be
concerned about people like me.
3. This organization can be relied on to keep its promises.
4. I believe that this organization takes the opinions of people like me into
account when making decisions.
5. I feel very confident about this organization’s skills.
6. This organization has the ability to accomplish what it says it will do.

Commitment

1. I feel that this organization is trying to maintain a long-term commitment
to people like me.
2. I can see that this organization wants to maintain a relationship with
people like me.
3. There is a long-lasting bond between this organization and people like me.
4. Compared to other organizations, I value my relationship with this
organization more.
5. I would rather work together with this organization than not.

Satisfaction

1. I am happy with this organization.
2. Both the organization and people like me benefit from the relationship.
3. Most people like me are happy in their interactions with this organization.
4. Generally speaking, I am pleased with the relationship this organization
has established with people like me.
5. Most people enjoy dealing with this organization.

4

Exchange Relationships

1. Whenever this organization gives or offers something to people like me, it
generally expects something in return.
2. Even though people like me have had a relationship with this organization
for a long time, it still expects something in return whenever it
offers us a favor.
3. This organization will compromise with people like me when it knows
that it will gain something.
4. This organization takes care of people who are likely to reward the
organization.

Communal Relationships

1. This organization does not especially enjoy giving others aid. (Reversed)
2. This organization is very concerned about the welfare of people like me.
3. I feel that this organization takes advantage of people who are vulnerable.
(Reversed)
4. I think that this organization succeeds by stepping on other people.
(Reversed)
5. This organization helps people like me without expecting anything in
return.

Once the questionnaire has been filled out, the negative indicators of each concept should
be reversed, and the answers to all of the items measuring each relationship outcome
should be averaged, so that overall “mean” scores can be calculated.

Testing of the scales shows them to be good measures of perceptions of relationships,
strong enough to be used in evaluating relationships.

In addition to using the items to measure perceptions of representatives of key constituent
groups toward given organizations, it also could be beneficial to administer the questions
to managers of the organizations under study, to obtain their perceptions regarding a
relationship with a specific public. When perceptions of relationships are measured
from both sides, one can begin to measure gaps in the way management and publics
perceive the relationship. Such a gap analysis will suggest strategies for maintaining or
repairing relationships.

Dr. Walter K. Lindenmann,
Chair, IPR Commission On
PR Measurement and Evaluation

5

DETAILED DISCUSSION

Many practitioners and scholars believe that the fundamental goal of public relations is
building relationships with an organization’s key constituencies. Yet, most public
relations evaluation has focused on measuring the outputs and outcomes of public
relations programs, not on measuring relationships. From this point forward, this paper
discusses what the term relationship means to public relations, how relationships can be
maintained with publics, and how public relationships can be measured.

Information comes from professional and academic literature about relationships and
public relations. Also included are the results from a survey about public relationships
conducted by graduate students in public relations at the University of Maryland under
the supervision of Professor James E. Grunig. And, throughout this paper, quotations
from public relations practitioners help illustrate main points. These comments come
from interviews done by students in a graduate course in public relations taught by
Associate Professor Linda Childers Hon at the University of Florida.

Why are successful relationships important to public relations?

For at least 25 years, public relations scholars have asked two fundamental questions:
"How do you measure the effects of public relations?" and "How do you show the value
of public relations to an organization and to society?" Communication researchers have
known how to measure several effects of public relations for many years. Nevertheless,
they know how to evaluate the effects of public relations techniques and programs (the
first question above) better than they know how to measure the value of public relations
to an organization and to society (the second question).

In 1997, The Institute for Public Relations issued a paper summarizing the state of
knowledge on the measurement and evaluation of public relations.1 The report described
several ways of measuring both processes and outcomes of public relations efforts.
Measures of processes indicate whether messages are being sent, placed, or attended to--
such as counts of press releases or publications issued, media placement and monitoring,
and exposure to or readership of the messages. By themselves, however, process
indicators tell us little about the effects of public relations unless we can demonstrate that
the processes have effects on the outcomes of programs, such as changes in the
cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors of publics--what people think, feel, and do. The first
paper on measurement in public relations described the state-of-the art for measuring
public relations processes as well as the short-term effects of public relations programs
on one or more publics of an organization. This paper picks up where the previous one
left off by discussing the long-term effects of public relations programs on organizational
effectiveness and by extending the discussion to effects of public relations on
management as well as on publics.
1
Lindenmann, W. K. (1997). Guidelines and Standards For Measuring and Evaluating PR
Effectiveness, Institute for Public Relations, Gainesville, FL.

6

Measures of the effects of public relations techniques and programs indicate whether they
have achieved their communication objectives, but they fall short of being able to
measure the value of PR to an organization or to society. It's possible, for example, that a
public relations program could be based on poor strategic thinking and change the
cognitions, attitudes, and behavior of a public that has little impact on the organization.
Also, if public relations people function as strategic counselors to management, then we
also need to measure the effects of public relations on management as well as its effects
on publics. Current evaluative measures also tell us mostly about short-term outcomes of
public relations programs but little about long-term effects on relationships between
organizations and their publics.

This paper focuses most of its attention on relationship outcomes and how to measure
them. However, it is important to recognize that organizations do not need relationships
with all publics and to recognize that not all public relations strategies, programs, or
campaigns are equally effective in building relationships.

Therefore, this paper also reviews two stages of the public relations process that precede
relationship outcomes:

1) Environmental scanning to determine the publics with which an organization
needs relationships and

2) Public relations processes that are most effective in maintaining relationships
with strategic publics.

The Value of Public Relations is in Relationships

In the research project on Excellence in Public Relations and Communication
Management conducted for the IABC Research Foundation, researchers searched the
literature on organizational effectiveness for ideas that could explain the value of public
relations.2

They believed it was necessary to understand what it means for an organization to be
effective before they could explain how public relations makes it more effective. The
search of the literature on organizational effectiveness revealed that effective
organizations achieve their goals. However, achieving organizational goals is not a
complete answer to the question of what makes an organization effective. Not everyone

2
See Grunig, L. A., Grunig, J. E., & Ehling, W. P. (1992). “What Is An Effective Organization?” in
J. E. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence In Public Relations and Communication Management (pp. 65-89).
Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

7

in or around an organization agrees on what goals are important: There is much conflict
within the organization and with outside constituencies over the choice of goals. Over
the long term, however, the literature showed that effective organizations are able to
achieve their goals because they choose goals that are valued both by management and by
strategic constituencies both inside and outside the organization. When organizations
choose such goals, they minimize efforts of publics to interfere with organizational
decisions and maximize support from publics.

Effective organizations choose and achieve appropriate goals because they develop
relationships with their constituencies, which public relations practitioners typically call
publics. Ineffective organizations cannot achieve their goals, at least in part, because
their publics do not support and typically oppose management efforts to achieve what
publics consider illegitimate goals.

Public opposition to management goals and decisions frequently results in “issues” and
“crises.” As a result, the process of developing and maintaining relationships with
strategic publics is a crucial component of strategic management, issues management,
and crisis management.

The process of incorporating the goals, interests, and concerns of publics into the
strategic decision processes of organizations is never easy, of course, because
organizations generally encounter multiple publics with multiple goals.

In addition, most management decision-makers believe that they choose goals and make
decisions that are best for the organization and that they, rather than publics, know what
decisions are best. However, organizations generally make better decisions when they
listen to and collaborate with stakeholders before they make final decisions rather than
simply trying to persuade them to accept organizational goals after decisions are made.3

3
Support for the idea that organizations make better decisions when they collaborate with stakeholder
publics can be found in the writings of Michael Porter, a specialist on strategic management in the
Harvard Business School. Porter's theory of competitive advantage was the first theory of
management to demonstrate that firms may gain economic benefits from social pressures and the first
to explain the economic value of collaborating with stakeholders. For example, Porter found that
multinational corporations with strong competitors in their home country were better able to compete
in other countries because of the pressure to excel at home (Porter, M. E. [1994]. “ Toward a
Dynamic Theory of Strategy,” in R. P. Rumelt, D. E. Schendel, & D. J. Teece, [Eds.], Fundamental
Issues In Strategy: A Research Agenda. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, p. 451). Likewise, he
found that government regulation, traditionally seen by corporate managers as an intrusion on their
decision-making, can stimulate changes in organizational behavior that provide a competitive
advantage. In Porter’s words, “standards for product performance, product safety, and environmental
impact contribute to creating and upgrading competitive advantage. They pressure firms to improve
quality, upgrade technology, and provide features in areas of important customer (and social)
concern.” (Porter, M. E. [1990]. The Competitive Advantage of Nations. London: MacMillan, p.
647). Porter's idea that an organization can gain competitive advantage from successful relationships
with competitors and governments can be extended to relationships with other stakeholder publics.
For example, a corporation that successfully solves its environmental problems, usually when

8

As a result, public relations practitioners need special skills to negotiate relationships
with management and with multiple publics because maintaining relationships with one
public may make it difficult to maintain a relationship with another public with
competing goals. And, management may be reluctant to balance the interests of publics
with what it perceives to be the interests of the organization.

Public relations makes an organization more effective, therefore, when it identifies
the most strategic publics as part of strategic management processes and conducts
communication programs to develop and maintain effective long-term relationships
between management and those publics.

As a result, we should be able to determine the value of public relations by measuring the
quality of relationships with strategic publics. And, we should be able to extend our
ability to evaluate communication programs by measuring the effects of these programs
and correlating them with relationship indicators.

What contribution does achieving short-term communication objectives make to the
building of long-term relationships?

Thus far in our discussion, we have said that strategic public relations consists of 1)
Identifying the most strategic publics with which an organization needs to develop a
relationship; 2) Planning, implementing, and evaluating communication programs to
build relationships with these publics, and 3) Measuring and evaluating the long-term
relationships between the organization and these strategic publics. We also have said that
our knowledge of how to evaluate public relations largely is limited to the second stage:
We know how to determine the effects of specific communication programs on the
cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors of publics in the short-term. There is a link, however,
between short- and long-term outcomes of public relations.

The IABC Excellence study provided evidence that there is a correlation between
achieving short-term communication effects and maintaining quality long-term
relationships.4 The research team classified public relations departments as excellent
when the CEOs of their client organizations assigned a high value to the contribution of
the department. The research also showed that these departments practiced strategic

pressured by environmental activists, will gain an advantage in the resulting positive relationships
with stockholders, consumers, employees, government, and communities that have the ability to
support or constrain that corporation. Likewise, a government agency that responds well to pressures
from its constituents will be more likely to gain support from those publics as it competes for limited
public funding.
4
Dozier, D. M. with Grunig, L. A., & Grunig, J. E. (1995). Manager’s Guide to Excellence in
Public Relations and Communication Management. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. See
Chapter 16, “Communication excellence makes a difference.”

9

public relations and contributed to the overall management of their organizations. The
CEOs said they valued these departments because of their ability to maintain
relationships with key stakeholders. The senior communicators in the excellent
departments also reported more often than those in less-excellent departments that their
programs had “change-of-relationship” effects such as changes in behavior of a public,
greater cooperation between the organization and public, and the development of a stable
long-term relationship. They also reported more frequent “conflict avoidance” effects,
such as avoiding litigation, fewer complaints from publics, and less interference by
government.

At the same time, the excellent communicators more often reported that their departments
had defined “outcome objectives” for their short-term programs aimed at the media,
employees, community, customers, members, government, and investors. They also
reported that their departments engaged in all forms of short-term evaluation more than
did the less-excellent communicators—especially scientific evaluation but also “media
placement” and “seat-of-the-pants” evaluation.

As a result, the Excellence study provided correlational evidence that public relations
departments that set objectives and measure the outcomes of their short-term
communication programs also believe that they experience greater success in building
long-term relationships with publics. The explanation for this relationship is
straightforward: Organizations that communicate effectively with publics develop better
relationships because management and publics understand one another and because both
are less likely to behave in ways that have negative consequences on the interests of the
other.

In-depth interviews of the most excellent public relations departments in the Excellence
study showed that good communication changes behavior of both management and
publics and, therefore, results in good relationships. If public relations managers help
management to understand that certain decisions might have adverse consequences on a
public, then management might make a different decision and behave in a different way
than it might have otherwise. That is a behavioral change by management that should
lead to a behavioral change by a public. For example, the public would be more likely to
accept a group home in its neighborhood, buy a product that is now more acceptable, or
support a downsizing that takes employee interests into account. There also are times
when communication helps a public to trust management and to accept a decision that
management wanted to make before communication took place.

The case studies for the Excellence study also showed that there are many times when
good relationships do not lead to changes in behavior immediately. Sometimes, good
relationships keep publics from engaging in negative behaviors such as litigation, strikes,
protests, or negative publicity. As a result, we have difficulty measuring a behavior that
did not occur because of a good relationship. At other times, there may be a long lag
between the development of a good relationship and a behavior—e.g., when good

10

relationships with university students lead to donations of money years later when they
have made their fortunes.

As a result, public relations professionals need a way to measure relationships as they
develop and are maintained rather than waiting to observe the behaviors that may or may
not occur as a result of communication programs

What is the value of good relationships for public relations and organizations?

Research suggests, therefore, that the value of public relations can be determined by
measuring the quality of relationships with strategic publics. And, communication
programs can be evaluated by measuring their effects and correlating them with the
attributes of a good relationship.

When public relations helps the organization build relationships with key constituencies,
it saves the organization money by reducing the costs of litigation, regulation, legislation,
pressure campaigns, boycotts, or lost revenue that result from bad relationships. Public
relations also helps the organization make money by cultivating relationships with
donors, consumers, shareholders, and legislators who are needed to support
organizational goals. Good relationships with employees also increase the likelihood that
they will be satisfied with the organization and their jobs, which makes them more likely
to support and less likely to interfere with the mission of the organization.

What are the attributes of the most successful relationships for public relations?

Most public relations evaluation has been one-way, designed to measure the effects of
communication on publics. Measuring relationships, however, assumes a two-way
communication process with effects on both parties in the relationship.

The most productive relationships in the long run are those that benefit both parties in
the relationship rather that those designed to benefit the organization only. Public
relations theorists have termed these types of relationships symmetrical and
asymmetrical, respectively.

A director of public affairs for a county government summarized the link between
symmetrical public relations and organizational effectiveness:

“The main strategy is open communication--by being open, in touch with your
various publics, determining what their needs and wants are, how they can best be
achieved, and how you can all work together toward common goals. And, I think
that’s key with any group and organization that you bring together. That’s what

11

you build trust on, that’s what you build relationships on, and that’s what you
accomplish goals with.”

Stage 1: With Whom Does an Organization Need Relationships?

The first expertise that a public relations professional needs consists of knowledge and
research tools to identify the strategic publics with whom an organization should have
relationships. Theories of the strategic management of public relations and of the nature
of publics provide this knowledge needed for environmental scanning. Research
techniques also are available that public relations professionals can use in environmental
scanning.

Why do public relationships form?

Relationships form because one party has consequences on another party. Organizations
have a public relations problem or opportunity and a reason to develop a public relations
program when management decisions have consequences on publics inside or outside of
the organization or when the behavior of these publics has consequences on the success
with which an organizational decision can be implemented. These relationships can be
called strategic (or necessary) relationships.

What are the different forms of relationships important to public relations?

In public relations, the most obvious example of a strategic relationship occurs when an
organization affects a public or a public affects an organization. But, other forms of
relationships also occur. Organizations typically face multiple publics with different
interests and conflicting goals. These publics often organize into coalitions and
organizations enter into similar coalitions. Sometimes, an organization and a public
form a coalition to affect another organization. Or, an organization and a public
form a coalition to affect another public. Still another possibility is when an
organization affects another organization-public coalition. And, finally, multiple
organizations can affect multiple publics.

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What are the characteristics of public relationships?

All of these different forms of relationships suggest that relationships in public relations
can be two-party or multiple party. And, all of these relationships are situational.
That is, any of these relationships can come and go and change as situations change.
Finally, these relationships are behavioral because they depend on how the parties in the
relationship behave toward one another. Organizations do not have an “image” or
“identity” separate from their behavior and the behavior of publics toward them. Instead,
organizations have a “reputation” that essentially consists of the organizational behaviors
that publics remember.

How can public relations practitioners measure forms of relationships important to
their organization?

All of the different forms of relationships listed above can be identified through formal
and informal methods of environmental scanning. Scanning refers to any research
technique public relations practitioners use to identify the strategic publics their
organization needs to build relationships with. This paper does not explore research
methods for environmental scanning in depth because it emphasizes characteristics and
measurements of relationship outcomes. It is important to recognize, however, that good
environmental scanning is a necessary condition for developing good relationships with
publics.

Stage 2: Strategies for Maintaining Relationships

Most of the knowledge that public relations professionals possess has something to do
with how to communicate with publics in order to maintain a relationship with those
publics. Not all strategies for maintaining relationships are equally effective, however.
Therefore, we must recognize that not all public relations strategies, techniques, and
programs are equally likely to produce relationship outcomes. Public relations
researchers have identified and classified the maintenance strategies that research has
shown to be most effective. It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe all of this
literature. In this section, however, we provide a brief overview of this research to
suggest when relationship outcomes are most likely to occur. We also suggest some
“process indicators” of these maintenance strategies that professionals can use to get
information on when a relationship process is going well.

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How are relationships maintained?

Research on interpersonal relationships5 and conflict resolution6 suggests several
strategies that organizations can use to maintain relationships with strategic
constituencies. All of the concepts from research on interpersonal relationships can be
applied to maintaining symmetrical public relationships, or those that benefit both the
organization and publics:

Access—members of publics or opinion leaders provide access to public relations people.
Public relations representatives or senior managers provide representatives of publics
similar access to organizational decision-making processes. Either party will answer
telephone calls or read letters or e-mail messages from the other. Either party is willing to
go to the other when they have complaints or queries, rather than taking negative
reactions to third parties.

Positivity—anything the organization or public does to make the relationship more
enjoyable for the parties involved.

An application of this strategy is used by an agency CEO:

“We want to be a resource to every one of our publics in some way, shape, or
form. It’s in the way we’ve set up our web site, the way we’ve set up everything
we do as far as our newsletter, as far as the service we provide, as far as the way
we interact with all of these publics—whether they’re the media or a client or a
not-for-profit organization or whatever—we want them to look at [name of
agency] as a resource, as something that has value to their organization in some
way, shape, or form. So, what we try to do is operate on the principle of
providing something that is of self-interest to every one of our clients…so there is
a reason why they should care about us.”

Openness--of thoughts and feelings among parties involved.

An associate vice president of university relations at a public university provided an
example:

5
Grunig, J. E., & Huang, Y. H. (2000). “From Organizational Effectiveness to Relationship
Indicators: Antecedents of Relationships, Public Relations Strategies, and Relationship Outcomes.” In
John A. Ledingham and Steve D. Bruning (Eds.), Public Relations As Relationship Management: A
Relational Approach to the Study and Practice of Public Relations (pp. 23-53). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
6
Plowman, K.D. (1995). Congruence Between Public Relations and Conflict Resolution:
Negotiating in the Organization. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Maryland,
College Park.

14

“Much of what public relations in a public university is about is providing
disclosure—saying, ‘Here is what we are doing with your money. Here is what’s
going on. This is a public institution. Here’s what we do.’”

Assurances--attempts by parties in the relationship to assure the other parties that they
and their concerns are legitimate. This strategy also might involve attempts by the parties
in the relationship to demonstrate they are committed to maintaining the relationship.

A director of external relations for a university agricultural extension office explained
how his organization demonstrates to its publics that their needs are legitimate:

“The whole land grant system is based on the needs of people. We’re not a bunch
of bureaucrats or what some folks would call ivory-tower, pointy-headed
professors who are sitting in [name of city] and handing down things that we
think are important to people. Our programs are developed truly along the needs
of people….That’s the relationship. People tell us what they need…and we try to
deliver that in the form that they want.”

Networking--organizations’ building networks or coalitions with the same groups that
their publics do, such as environmentalists, unions, or community groups.

A public relations director at a mid-sized agency discussed an example of this strategy
used with one of her firm’s accounts, a project to increase recycling efforts:

“We tapped into a group that was just emerging in East Boston. It’s the
Community Enhancement Coalition. They’re really directed at making things
better in the community. They have an anti-litter campaign that they’re going to
roll out in the spring. So, it was nice to tap into people who are ready activists.”

Sharing of tasks--organizations’ and publics’ sharing in solving joint or separate
problems. Examples of such tasks are managing community issues, providing
employment, making a profit, and staying in business, which are in the interest of either
the organization, the public, or both.

This strategy was described by a director of public relations at a regional medical center:

“In the early 1990s, the [name of ] county commission put together a task force,
which found that the problem in indigent care is that there is no primary episodic
care for patients; they end up in the emergency room. So, in cooperation with the
county commission and the hospital across the street, we put together Community
Health Services, which is an episodic care center for people with limited income.
And that ties to an organization called We Care, which is [made up of] the
doctors—so that the people at CHS—if it’s beyond their scope to take out a gall

15

bladder, there is a coordinator who hooks up with a surgeon who will take out the
gallbladder at no charge.”

Strategies for maintaining relationships that deal with conflict resolution can be grouped
into three categories:

Integrative. These approaches are symmetrical because all parties in a relationship
benefit by searching out common or complementary interests and solving problems
together through open discussion and joint decision-making. The goal is a win-win
solution that values the integrity of a long-term relationship between an organization and
its publics.

A director of public affairs for a county government discussed this focus for
communicating with publics:

“An important point is always the win-win. You may have desired outcomes, and
your needs and my needs may be a little bit different, but we can still work
together to achieve the outcome.”

Distributive. These strategies are asymmetrical because one party benefits at the
expense of another by seeking to maximize gains and minimize losses within a win-lose
or self-gain perspective. Tactics include trying to control through domination, argument,
insistence on a position, or showing anger. Other forcing strategies are faulting the other
party, hostile questioning, presumptive attribution, demands, or threats. Distributive
strategies impose one’s position onto that of an adversary without concern for the
adversary’s position.

Dual Concern. These strategies have particular relevance for public relations because
they take into consideration the dual role of balancing the interests of publics with the
interests of the organization. These strategies also can be called mixed-motive or
collaborative advocacy.

Some dual concern strategies are asymmetrical because they emphasize the
organization’s interest over the public or vice versa and will not be effective in
developing and maintaining the most positive relationships in the long term:

Contending. The organization tries to convince the public to accept its position.

Avoiding. The organization leaves the conflict either physically or psychologically.

Accommodating. The organization yields, at least in part, on its position and lowers its
aspirations.

16

Compromising. The organization meets the public part way between its preferred
positions, but neither is completely satisfied with the outcome.

Several other dual concern strategies are symmetrical and are the most effective at
building and maintaining a relationship in the long term:

Cooperating. Both the organization and the public work together to reconcile their
interests and to reach a mutually beneficial relationship.

Being unconditionally constructive. The organization does whatever it thinks is best for
the relationship, even if it means giving up some of its positions and even if the public
does not reciprocate.

Saying win-win or no deal. If the organization and public cannot find a solution that
benefits both, they agree to disagree—no deal. A strategy of no deal is symmetrical
because it leaves open the potential to reach a win-win solution at a later date.

Other research7 in public relations, which has focused on development or institutional
advancement, has presented several relationship maintenance strategies as a final but
missing step in popular formulas for describing the public relations process, such as
RACE or ROPE. These strategies collectively are called stewardship and recognize the
strategic value of previously established relationships to future public relations efforts.
Stewardship has four elements:

Reciprocity. The organization demonstrates its gratitude for supportive beliefs and
behaviors.

Responsibility. The organization acts in a socially responsible manner to those who have
supported it.

Reporting. The organization meets legal and ethical requirements of accountability.

Relationship nurturing. The organization accepts the importance of supportive publics
and keeps them central to the organization’s consciousness. Providing information and
involving publics are key to the organization’s work.

7
Kelly, K.S. (1998, June). Stewardship: The Missing Step In The Public Relations Process. Paper
presented to the First Annual International, Interdisciplinary Research Conference, Public Relations
Society of America Educator Academy, College Park, MD.

17

How can relationship maintenance strategies be measured?

The most meaningful evaluation of relationships involves measuring the outcomes of
relationships, which is discussed later. But, public relations evaluation can be done by
measuring process indicators as well. These process measures provide meaningful
information for practitioners who need evidence in the short term that their
programs are leading to desired long-term effects.

For example, public relations managers can measure disclosure by publics to the
organization by counting suggestions, complaints, inquiries, and other contacts that
members of publics, the media, government, or leaders of activist groups make with the
organization, rather than to regulatory bodies, regulators, or the media.

Public relations practitioners can measure their effectiveness in counseling management
by keeping a count of the times management seeks them out for advice or is willing to
disclose its intentions, decisions, and behaviors to outside publics or the media through
the public relations function.

Other process indicators of effective maintenance strategies include counts of what
management has done to show publics that their interests are legitimate, of contacts with
networks of activist groups, or in social responsibility reports showing the extent to
which management has worked on problems of interest to publics.

Stage 3: Outcomes of Relationships

Public relations professionals who have used environmental scanning research to identify
the strategic publics of their organizations and effective strategies for maintaining
relationships with those publics can expect to develop long-term positive relationships
with those publics. This paper now turns to research to determine the characteristics of
such relationships and ways to measure them. The measures to be developed provide a
first step for developing an ongoing audit of organization-public relationships.

What are the outcomes of successful relationships?

Research in interpersonal communication and the psychology of interpersonal
relationships shows that the following four outcomes are good indicators of successful
interpersonal relationships. Public relations research shows that they apply equally well
to organization-public relationships8:

8
The chapter by J. E. Grunig and Huang (2000), cited in footnote 5, reviews much of the research on

18

Control mutuality--the degree to which parties agree on who has rightful power to
influence one another. Although some degree of power imbalance is natural in
organization-public relationships, unilateral attempts to achieve control by one party are
associated with decreases in perceptions of communicator competence and satisfaction
with the relationship and increases in the level of activism. For the most stable, positive
relationship, organizations and publics must have some degree of control over the other.

A public relations officer at a community college talked about this aspect of
relationships:

“Input is tell me what you think. Involvement is come in and get to work with us
and let’s figure out what the right answer should be…get on this task force and
help us figure things out. That’s where you would like to see the relationships
between publics and the organization taken to.”

Trust--one party’s level of confidence in and willingness to open oneself to the other
party. Trust is a complicated concept, which has several underlying dimensions. One of
these is integrity, the belief that an organization is fair and just. A second is dependability,
the belief that an organization will do what it says it will do. A third is competence, the belief
that an organization has the ability to do what it says it will do. In the context of the public-
organization relationship, the value of a trustworthy reputation is so great that it becomes
rational not to try to seize any short-term advantage.

A director of news and public affairs at a private college emphasized the link between
trust and effective public relations:

“One of the principles that underlies [public relations] strategies is the develop-
ment of a sense of trust, and I think that is something that needs constant
attention, constant vigilance. If we can start trusting each other, there is a lot we
can do. And, trust breaks down all sorts of barriers that have hindered the
relationship over the years….It is all built around trust….You can develop all
kinds of strategies, but if you do not have trust, you are not going to get very far.”

interpersonal relationships. A longer review can be found in Huang’s dissertation (Huang, Y. H
[1997]. Public Relations Strategies, Relational Outcomes, and Conflict Management Strategies,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park.). A similar review can be
found in Broom, G.M., Casey, S., & Ritchey, J. (1997). “ Toward a Concept and Theory of
Organization-Public Relationships,” Journal of Public Relations Research, 9, 83-98. Additional
research on organization-public relationships can be found in the chapters in Ledingham, J. A., &
Bruning, S. D. (2000) (Eds.), Public Relations as Relationship Management: A Relational Approach
to the Study and Practice of Public Relations (pp. 23-53). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates. A dissertation by Manuel Becerra, a former doctoral student in the Maryland business
school and now an associate professor at the Norwegian School of Management, reviewed the
extensive literature on interpersonal trust and trust among managers (Becerra, M. [1998]. Nature,
Antecedents, and Consequences of Trust Within Organizations: A Multilevel Analysis Within a
Multinational Corporation, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park.)

19

Satisfaction--the extent to which one party feels favorably toward the other because
positive expectations about the relationship are reinforced. Or, a satisfying relationship is
one in which the benefits outweigh the costs. Satisfaction also can occur when one party
believes that the other party’s relationship maintenance behaviors are positive.

A director of public relations and marketing for a radio station described a relevant
example:

“Big Brothers and Big Sisters needed to collect $25,000 to meet their budget. We
got the media involved; we got people to put teams together. We got them talking
on the radio and had public service announcements running. They grossed around
$40,000. Well, that meets their budget, even though they were hoping they would
gross about $50,000 so that the actual net would be larger, but they were still very
satisfied. Since we made the effort and followed through, I think we got
satisfaction, even if we did come up short.”

Commitment--the extent to which one party believes and feels that the relationship is
worth spending energy to maintain and promote. Two dimensions of commitment are
continuance commitment, which refers to a certain line of action, and affective
commitment, which is an emotional orientation.

Both kinds of commitment were discussed by a campaign director for a non-profit
organization:

“Our donors and our volunteers have a vested interest in our organization meeting
our goals. We can’t do it without them and they certainly understand that. The
undercurrent of that is it’s for their own good that we meet our goals so they
become personally committed to reaching them.”

How are outcomes of public relations relationships different from other public
relationships?

In addition to these four indicators of the quality of an organization-public relationship, a
fifth pair of relationship indicators—exchange vs. communal relationships—defines the
kinds of relationships that public relations programs attempt to achieve, in comparison
with the nature of relationship outcomes produced by other fields such as marketing.

In an exchange relationship, one party gives benefits to the other only because the other
has provided benefits in the past or is expected to do so in the future. In an exchange
relationship, a party is willing to give benefits to the other because it expects to receive
benefits of comparable value to the other. In essence, a party that receives benefits incurs
an obligation or debt to return the favor. Exchange is the essence of marketing
relationships between organizations and customers and is the central concept of

20

marketing theory. However, an exchange relationship often is not enough. Publics expect
organizations to do things for the community for which organizations get little or nothing
in return.

In a communal relationship, both parties provide benefits to the other because they are
concerned for the welfare of the other—even when they get nothing in return. The role of
public relations is to convince management that it also needs communal relationships
with publics such as employees, the community, government, media, and stockholders—
as well as exchange relationships with customers. Theorists of relational marketing also
point out that organizations also need communal relationships with customers.
Psychologists Margaret Clark of Carnegie Mellon University and Judson Mills of the
University of Maryland, who developed the concept of communal relationships, have
pointed out that communal relationships are not completely altruistic.9 People achieve
broader goals from communal relationships with their families, friends, and
acquaintances. Organizations, likewise, benefit by building a reputation for being
concerned about communal relationships and encounter less opposition and more support
over the long term from their publics.

Public relations professionals add value to an organization when they develop communal
relationships with all publics affected by organizational behaviors—not just those who
provide the organization something in return. Communal relationships are important if
organizations are to be socially responsible and to add value to society as well as to client
organizations. They also greatly reduce the likelihood of negative behaviors from
stakeholders mentioned above—litigation, regulation, strikes, boycotts, negative
publicity, and the like. Exchange relationships are necessary for customers, stockholders,
and suppliers. However, exchange relationships never develop the same levels of trust
and the other three relationship indicators that accompany communal relationships.
Therefore, public relations can enhance the relationships with these stakeholders by using
their unique expertise to produce communal as well as exchange relationships.

This is not to say, however, that exchange relationships are bad for an organization or
that public relations professionals do not attempt to develop them. The psychologists,
Clark and Mills, who developed the concept of communal relationships have pointed out
that most relationships begin as exchange relationships and then develop into communal
relationships as they mature. Often mutually beneficial exchanges can begin to build
trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction. Then, a public relations
professional can help to build a long-range communal relationship where the level of
these four indicators will become even higher and remain stable over time.

9
For more information, read Clark, M. S., & Mills, J. (1993). “ The Difference Between Communal
and Exchange Relationships: What It Is and Is Not,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19,
684-691.

21

At other times, public relations professionals may need to build a communal relationship
with a public before an exchange can occur. For example, fundraisers need to cultivate a
communal relationship with potential donors before they can ask for money. Likewise,
community relations specialists need to build a communal relationship before they can
ask to build a new plant or ask for trust in disposing of toxic waste.

All in all, however, it is the expertise needed to build communal relationships with
publics that distinguishes public relations from similar professions such as marketing.
And a measure of the degree to which a public perceives that it has a communal
relationship with an organization is perhaps the purest indicator of the success of the
public relations management function.

Relationship Outcomes in Public Relations Practice

What are some practical examples of relationship outcomes in public relations?

A County Housing Authority. A suburban county housing authority has responsibility
for developing and maintaining subsidized housing for low-income residents and for
requiring a certain percentage of low-income housing in each new housing development.
Neighborhood residents typically oppose such housing. They believe that they lose
control of their neighborhood and of the value of the property to the housing agency.
They do not trust the agency, they are not satisfied with the relationship, and they feel the
agency has no commitment to their neighborhood. Housing authorities often offer to give
communities something in return, such as lower taxes, for accepting low-income
residents. The exchange relationship may buy off the opposition, but it usually is not
enough. Residents, however, worry that communal relationships will be damaged and
that the agency does not have such a relationship with the community.

Agency authorities likewise do not want to lose control to community activists and
believe that if too much control is given to communities they will lose their ability to
accomplish their mission—providing housing to less-advantaged citizens. This is often
known as the NIMBY phenomenon—Not in My Backyard. They do not trust the
community to do what they think is right, they do not believe the community is
committed to helping its poorer citizens, and they are not satisfied with their relationship
with community groups. Most importantly, agency authorities need to go beyond an
exchange relationship with the community to develop a true communal relationship.

Symmetrical communication with the community should be able to improve these
relationships. Symmetrical communication could be done with advisory panels, open
houses in low-income neighborhoods, focus groups, and other means of listening to the
concerns of community groups. Free access to the media will help to extend

22

communication to those unable to meet personally with Authority representatives. Often
times, though, mediators are necessary to help manage conflict and build relationships.

Many other organizations face similar relationship problems. For example, a mental
health agency wants to place the mentally ill in group homes in established
neighborhoods. Correctional authorities want to place offenders in similar half-way
houses. Highway authorities want to build or expand roads in established neighborhoods.
Hospitals or businesses want to expand their facilities. To do so, they need to
communicate with and involve community residents in the decision process to build a
kind of relationship suggested by these indicators.

A Nuclear Reactor in a Residential Community. The story is very familiar for
organizations that must deal with toxic waste. Radioactive waste from the nuclear reactor
at a national laboratory leaks into the ground water. Laboratory officials say nothing.
Soon, however, someone tests the water for a well. Pollution is spotted in a stream. Local
media report the leakage. Community activists are enraged. They feel they have no
control over their own health. The laboratory has said little about the problem, so
residents do not trust what they say in the future. The exchange of jobs for health is
insufficient for the activists. Obviously, residents feel dissatisfied with the relationship
and believe that the laboratory has no commitment to the welfare of its neighbors.

Lab officials, at the same time, believe they cannot accomplish their mission to conduct
research in the national interest if they lose control to activists whom they believe have “a
hidden agenda.” The other indicators of poor relationships fall logically into place.

Active involvement of the community and complete openness to the media, however,
have begun to repair the relationships. The laboratory needs to do its research; the
community wants to preserve its health and safety. Working with a citizen advisory panel
and local leaders, trusting, communal, and mutually satisfactory relationships are
developing between the lab and its neighbors. Both feel they have some control over the
situation; both feel the other is committed to the relationship.

Media Relations. The relationship indicators can be applied to the everyday contacts of
public relations professionals and reporters as well as to the more dramatic problems
already discussed. Reporters typically claim that they have poor relationships with public
relations people. “Flacks,” their term for practitioners, want to control what journalists
write. Many journalists do not believe that practitioners are truthful news sources and do
not feel practitioners are committed to a relationship of helping journalists cover
organizations. Journalists believe that they have a communal relationship with
community groups and citizens; they would like the organizations that hire public
relations services to believe in a similar relationship.

Public relations people, at the same time, often do not trust journalists. They are
dissatisfied with the relationship. They believe that the media are out to get their

23

organizations and have no commitment to the interests of organizations they attack. They
only want to file a story based on wrongdoing and conflict. Practitioners would like to
have a more communal relationship with journalists because public relations people often
have been journalists themselves and want to be valued and respected by their former
colleagues. Often, however, practitioners believe they have to exchange favors to buy off
journalistic attacks. Most importantly, public relations people and their bosses think they
have lost control of what publics hear about the organization; they have lost control of
their reputation.

Savvy media relations experts know, however, that good relationships with reporters are
ones in which both feel they have some degree of control over the reporting of the
organization—neither party is in control to the exclusion of the other. Both parties trust
each other to help them do their job; indeed they have a communal relationship so each
helps the other even though they may get nothing in return. They are committed to
making the relationship between the organization and the media work. The bottom line is
that they are satisfied with the relationship.

Employee Relations. The implications of these relationship indicators for employees
also are clear and fall well into line with much of what is known about employee
relations. To be most productive, employee must trust the organizations for which they
work. Management wants committed employees; often the synonyms used are loyalty
and identification with the organization. Job satisfaction is one of the most heavily
researched areas of organizational psychology and communication. Employees want a
communal relationship with their employers; they want to go beyond the exchange of
work for pay. Perhaps most importantly, employee empowerment is the buzzword of
modern employee relations: Employees want some mutuality of control with senior
management.

The reverse of these indicators again applies to top management. They do not want to
cede all control to employees, they want a communal relationship, they want employees
to strive for excellence even when they are not paid for it, and they want to trust unions
or employee groups. They, too, want a satisfactory relationship with their employees.

Marketing Communication. At first thought, marketing communication would seem to
be a form of public relations where only exchange relationships are important. Marketers
provide a product needed by customers in exchange for a price that makes a profit for the
company. Advertising and product publicity often identify brand attributes and prices that
customers want or need. Evaluative research is done to determine whether customers
believe the exchange has been a fair one: Was the quality of the product sufficient to
merit its cost?

Today, however, marketing theorists talk of relationship marketing and the idea that it is
much cheaper to keep a customer than to attract a new one. Marketing theorists have used
at least two of the relationship indicators identified in this paper—trust and

24

commitment—to describe a good relationship with customers.10 Morgan and Hunt
defined brand loyalty as commitment. And as an executive of a major public relations
firm has said, “The value of a brand is nothing more than trust in a product.”

In addition to trust and commitment, customers expect to be satisfied with products. They
also expect mutuality of control in their relationships with suppliers of products. For
example, automobile owners do not want to feel they are at the mercy of dealers. Owners
of computers expect control over the assistance they get from a computer company.
Owners of shares in a mutual fund expect assistance from representatives so that they feel
in control of their investments. In short, customers today expect more than an exchange
relationship with suppliers. They expect suppliers to be concerned about their welfare—
i.e., they expect a communal as well as an exchange relationship.

Measuring Outcomes of Relationships

How can the outcomes of relationships be measured?

Most evaluation of relationships has focused on perceptions that one or both parties to a
relationship have of the relationship. For example, gap research involves evaluating both
sides of a relationship to determine if gaps exist in each side’s perception of the
relationship. Related to this is measuring predictions about the relationship that one
party has for the other party or parties.

Academic researchers are working to develop reliable measures of relationship outcomes
that public relations professionals can use in everyday practice. Academics have looked
at the large body of research on interpersonal relationships, such as those between
husbands and wives or members of other one-on-one relationships. They also have
studied the research that psychologists have done on interpersonal relationships and on
relationships between managers and employees. Psychologists and interpersonal
communication researchers mostly have measured relationships from the perspective of
only one party. This approach does not observe or measure a relationship per se, but a
researcher can learn a lot by starting there.

At some point, public relations researchers should measure relationships as seen or
predicted by both parties. This evaluation would document how organizational decision-
makers see the relationship as well as how publics see the organization. Another future
step is measuring the relationship independently of the perceptions or predictions of the
parties involved in the relationship.11 It is possible, for example, that neither party to the

10
Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). “ The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship
Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, 58 (3), 20-38.
11
See Broom, G.M., Casey, S., & Ritchey, J. (1997) cited in footnote 8.

25

relationship has a very accurate perception of what the relationship is like. A third party
could be brought in to observe and measure relationship indicators. It is also possible
that a well-trained public relations professional could make those observations, as long as
he or she could lift himself or herself above the management-public relationship to
observe it with some degree of objectivity.

What is an example of measuring relationships that public relations practitioners can
follow?

James Grunig, Yi-Hui Huang, Chun-ju Hung, and other graduate students in public
relations at the University of Maryland recently completed research to identify reliable
indicators of public perceptions of organization-public relationships. They then
conducted a pilot survey to see how respondents evaluated their relationships with five
organizations chosen to represent different types of public and private organizations with
both good and bad reputations. These organizations were General Electric, the National
Rifle Association, the Social Security Administration, Microsoft, and the American Red
Cross. The researchers conducted the survey by placing a questionnaire on the Internet
and inviting people from randomly chosen e-mail addresses to respond.

There are problems with measuring reputations on a sample of the general population
because many of the people who completed the questionnaire might not actually have had
much involvement with the organizations they were asked about. A better approach
would be to administer the questionnaire to people known to be in a public, such as
community residents living near a nuclear reactor or employees of a specific
organization. Nevertheless, such questions can be used in place of, or to supplement, the
general reputational surveys that organizations often take of the general population. By
measuring the perceived quality of relationships, we can measure the relational forces
that usually explain why organizations have good or bad reputations. In addition, the
Maryland researchers segmented the respondents into active and passive publics for each
organization to see if these different types of publics rated their relationships with the
organizations differently. They also asked respondents to indicate how familiar they were
with each organization as an indicator of whether the relationship indicators would be
different for people who are more familiar with an organization than for those who are
less familiar.

Developing the Questionnaire

The researchers’ first task was to develop reliable scales for trust, control mutuality,
satisfaction, commitment, and communal and exchange relationships. They combed the
literature in interpersonal communication and psychology to find indicators those others
had used. Then, they rewrote the questionnaire items they found to make them applicable

26

to an organization-public relationship. Reliability means that if you observe a
phenomenon, such as perceptions of a relationship, more than once or in different ways
that you will get a similar response from the different measures. Practically speaking, that
means that if you ask different questions to measure the same relationship indicator that
the responses will be correlated highly—i.e., respondents will give similar responses to
the related questions. Ideally, we would like to have an index for each indicator that
consists of at least four questions. The more questions one asks, the more reliable the
index usually is. However, if a researcher asks too many questions, respondents get bored
or tired and drop out of the survey before finishing the questionnaire.

The Maryland researchers asked their respondents 52 questions about their perceptions of
the relationship indicators—12 for trust to include the dimensions of integrity,
competence, and dependability and eight each for the other five indicators. That was a lot
of questions, and indeed only about two-thirds of 200 respondents made it all the way
through the questionnaire. However, that sample size provided enough information to test
the items and to produce a shorter and still reliable scale for future use.

The researchers had to eliminate one of their trust items, one of the communal
relationship items, and four of the exchange relationship items because they reduced the
reliability of the scales. Measuring exchange relationships was most difficult, but the four
items that remained had a good level of reliability. The researchers measured the
reliability for the full set of items and then took the five and then four most reliable items
to see if a shorter scale would be as reliable as a longer one. For trust, the shortened scale
contained six items, two each for the three dimensions.

Measures of reliability usually are expressed by a statistic known as Cronbach’s Alpha.
Alpha is an overall measure of how well the items measuring the same characteristic
correlate with each other. There is no set level of Alpha that indicates acceptable
reliability, but generally a scale below an Alpha of .60 is not very reliable and an Alpha
that approaches .90 is excellent. The longer the scale, the higher Alpha generally is, so
that a shorter scale cannot be expected to have as high an Alpha as a longer one. The
Maryland research produced highly reliable scales for all of the relationship indicators.
With the exception of exchange relationships, all Alphas were above .80 and most
approached .90. The four-item scale for an exchange relationship was still .70, an
acceptable level. For every indicator, the four- and five-item scales were almost as
reliable as the full scale. Readers interested in the exact results for Cronbach’s Alpha for
these relational variables for the five organizations can find them in Appendix 1, Page 40.

Administering the Questionnaire

The items developed for the six relationship outcomes follow in Figure 1. The first four
items represent the four-item scale and the fifth item, when added, the five-item scale.

27

For trust, however, the researchers produced only a six-item scale as a shorter scale for
trust, so that there would be at least two items for each of the three dimensions of trust.
They produced only a single four-item scale for exchange relationships because the other
four items were not sufficiently reliable. The research results showed these scales to be
good measures of public perceptions of their relationships with publics, strong enough so
that public relations professionals and researchers now can use these questions to
measure perceptions of relationships, either in a survey, or more informally in open-
ended questions asked in qualitative research. They can choose the number of items that
best fit their research needs. But, in most cases, using the shorter index is likely to
increase the completion rate.

Practitioners also should consider administering these items formally or informally to
senior managers to get their perceptions of a relationship with a specific public. The
wording of the items would have to be adjusted slightly for managers to apply them to
relationships. Putting both perspectives together would provide a more complete picture
of a relationship. Or public relations managers might observe a relationship between, for
example, management and employees and an activist group, and use the items to rate the
relationship.

In the Maryland study, respondents chose a number from one to nine to indicate the
extent to which they agreed that each item described their relationship with the five
organizations. The items in the scales are reported in Figure 1.

Figure 1
FINAL ITEMS FOR RELATIONSHIP SCALES
(Boldface indicates shortest scales,
boldface and italic indicates short scale with one additional item)

Trust
Dimensions Integrity, competence, dependability

1. This organization treats people like me fairly and justly. (Integrity)
2. Whenever this organization makes an important decision, I know it will be
concerned about people like me. (Integrity; original dimension: faith).
3. This organization can be relied on to keep its promises. (Dependability)
4. I believe that this organization takes the opinions of people like me into account
when making decisions. (Dependability)
5. I feel very confident about this organization’s skills. (Competence)
6. This organization has the ability to accomplish what it says it will do.
(Competence)
7. Sound principles seem to guide this organization’s behavior. (Integrity)
8. This organization does not mislead people like me. (Integrity)
9. I am very willing to let this organization make decisions for people like me.
(Dependability)

28

10. I think it is important to watch this organization closely so that it does not take
advantage of people like me. (Dependability) (Reversed)
11. This organization is known to be successful at the things it tries to do. (Competence)

Control Mutuality

1. This organization and people like me are attentive to what each other say.
2. This organization believes the opinions of people like me are legitimate.
3. In dealing with people like me, this organization has a tendency to throw its
weight around. (Reversed)
4. This organization really listens to what people like me have to say.
5. The management of this organization gives people like me enough say in the
decision-making process.
6. When I have an opportunity to interact with this organization, I feel that I have some
sense of control over the situation.
7. This organization won’t cooperate with people like me. (Reversed)
8. I believe people like me have influence on the decision-makers of this organization.

Commitment

1. I feel that this organization is trying to maintain a long-term commitment to
people like me.
2. I can see that this organization wants to maintain a relationship with people like
me.
3. There is a long-lasting bond between this organization and people like me.
4. Compared to other organizations, I value my relationship with this organization
more.
5. I would rather work together with this organization than not.
6. I have no desire to have a relationship with this organization. (Reversed)
7. I feel a sense of loyalty to this organization.
8. I could not care less about this organization. (Reversed)

Satisfaction:

1. I am happy with this organization.
2. Both the organization and people like me benefit from the relationship.
3. Most people like me are happy in their interactions with this organization.
4. Generally speaking, I am pleased with the relationship this organization has
established with people like me.
5. Most people enjoy dealing with this organization
6. The organization fails to satisfy the needs of people like me. (Reversed)
7. I feel people like me are important to this organization.
8. In general, I believe that nothing of value has been accomplished between this
organization and people like me. (Reversed)

29

Communal Relationships

1. This organization does not especially enjoy giving others aid. (Reversed)
2. This organization is very concerned about the welfare of people like me.
3. I feel that this organization takes advantage of people who are vulnerable.
(Reversed)
4. I think that this organization succeeds by stepping on other people. (Reversed)
5. This organization helps people like me without expecting anything in return.
6. I don’t consider this to be a particularly helpful organization. (Reversed)
7. I feel that this organization tries to get the upper hand. (Reversed)

Exchange Relationships

1. Whenever this organization gives or offers something to people like me, it
generally expects something in return.
2. Even though people like me have had a relationship with this organization for a
long time, it still expects something in return whenever it offers us a favor.
3. This organization will compromise with people like me when it knows that it will
gain something.
4. This organization takes care of people who are likely to reward the organization.

Interpreting the Results

In this paper, we do not attempt to analyze and interpret all of the results of the Maryland
study of five organizations. Rather, our purpose is to present a few charts to illustrate
how the measures developed to measure public perceptions of relationships can be used.
Complete results will be reported in a research paper, which will be available at a later
date from the Maryland researchers involved.

The charts starting on Page 32 show the results for the five organizations. Participants in
the survey responded on a 9-point scale to indicate the extent to which they believed that
the indicators in the six indices listed above described each organization. Negative
indicators of each concept were reversed, and the answers to all of the items measuring
each relationship outcome were averaged so that the final score shown on the charts also
was on a 9-point scale. The first five charts compare the six indicators for each
organization. The second six charts compare the organizations on each indicator.

Together, they compare public perceptions of the relationships for each organization with
the perceptions for the other organizations. They also compare the six indicators for each
of the five organizations to show the strengths and weaknesses of each organization’s
relationship with this sample group. Keep in mind that the sample is not representative of
the general population. Although respondents were picked randomly by choosing the first
letters of e-mail addresses, not all people have e-mail addresses. And, the response rate
to e-mail surveys is typically low. As a result, these mean scores apply only to the 200
people in this sample. However, the results are logical and might not differ greatly if the

30

sample was truly random and the response rate higher. The items in each scale were
averaged; and the scores in the charts represent these averages, which could vary from
one to nine.

Respondents had by far the strongest communal relationship with the American Red
Cross and the weakest with the NRA. The perceptions of exchange relationships were
just the opposite: The Red Cross was the lowest of the six organizations and the NRA the
highest. These results suggest that, as a nonprofit charitable organization, people believe
that the Red Cross cares about its publics even though it gets nothing in return and that it
provides services to publics who have nothing to exchange for them. In contrast, the
sample group seemed to perceive the NRA to be a selfish organization that will work
with publics who have something to provide in exchange, perhaps political support or
favors, but that it has little concern for the interests of the broader community.

The exchange relationship was stronger than the communal relationship for the two
corporations, but not so high as for the NRA. GE, which ranked first in the Fortune
ranking of corporate reputation, had a stronger communal relationship and a weaker
exchange relationship than Microsoft. One would expect publics to perceive that
corporations only want exchange relationships from which they stand to benefit—with
consumers or stockholders, for example. It also is important to recognize that
corporations must have exchange relationships to survive. Therefore, one should not
interpret these higher perceptions of exchange relationships for corporations negatively.
However, we also expect public relations professionals in corporations to strive for a
communal relationship in which the public believes the company is concerned with its
overall welfare and the welfare of the community—beyond their interest as customers.
The data suggest that GE has achieved such a relationship more effectively than has
Microsoft.

The other four relationship indicators suggest that the National Rifle Association
generally had the poorest relationship with this sample and the American Red Cross the
best relationship. Overall, control mutuality was the weakest relationship indicator for
each organization. This finding suggests that publics feel they can do little to affect the
big organizations that affect them and that these organizations need to develop
symmetrical strategies for empowering publics and maintaining relationships in which
publics feel they have little control.

These results were similar when the researchers compared the relationship indicators for
respondents who said they were more familiar with the organizations or who were
classified as members of active publics. Generally, though, the patterns just described
were stronger for respondents who were more familiar with the organizations. There also
were interesting differences for different publics. For example, the public that was
supportive of the NRA saw the relationship more favorably than did others in the sample.
Also, a public that was most active for the Social Security Administration believed it had
a communal relationship with the agency, trusted it, felt the agency was committed to the

31

public, and was satisfied with the agency. However, the public also felt it had little
control over the Administration’s effect on the public.

What do these results mean for the public relations function?

These findings provide quantifiable evidence of the perceptions that publics have of
their relationships with these organizations. The results of this evaluation can be used for
program management in public relations. For example, the low scores on control
mutuality suggest that these organizations need to consider ways of increasing the
involvement of publics in organizational decision-making. By measuring relationships,
public relations professionals can contribute insights such as this to the management of
their organizations and demonstrate the value of strategic public relations.

Indicators for GE
6.0

5.8

5.6

5.4

5.2

5.0

4.8
Mean

4.6

4.4
TRUSTGE CMGE COMMGE SATISGE CMNALGE EXCHGE

32

Indicators for NRA
6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0
Mean

3.5

3.0
TRUSTNRA COMMNRA CMNALNRA
CMNRA SATISNRA EXCHNRA

Indicators for Social Security
5.4

5.2

5.0

4.8

4.6

4.4

4.2
Mean

4.0
TRUSTSS CMSS COMMSS SATISSS CMNALSS EXCHSS

33

Indicators for Microsoft
6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5
Mean

4.0
TRUSTMS CMMS COMMMS SATISMS CMNALMS EXCHMS

Indicators for Red Cross
7.0

6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0
Mean

4.5
TRUSTARC COMMARC CMNALARC
CMARC SATISARC EXCHARC

34

Trust Indicators by Organization
6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0
Mean

3.5
TRUSTGE TRUSTSS TRUSTMS TRUSTNRA TRUSTARC

Control Mutuality Indicators by Organization
6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5
Mean

3.0
CMGE CMSS CMMS CMNRA CMARC

35

Commitment Indicators by Organization
6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5
Mean

3.0
COMMGE COMMSS COMMMS COMMNRA COMMARC

Satisfaction Indicators by Organization
6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5
Mean

3.0
SATISGE SATISSS SATISMS SATISNRA SATISARC

36

Communal Indicators by Organization
7.0

6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0
Mean

3.5

3.0
CMNALGE CMNALSS CMNALMS CMNALNRA CMNALARC

Exchange Indicators by Organization
6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0
Mean

4.5
EXCHGE EXCHSS EXCHMS EXCHNRA EXCHARC

37

Where Do We Go From Here?

Over the years, public relations researchers have developed good measures of the short-
term processes and outcomes that can be attributed to public relations programs. Those
measures were described in the first paper on measurement and evaluation issued by the
Institute for Public Relations.

In this paper, however, we have maintained that the time has come to go further. In
addition to short-term measures of public relations processes and outcomes, public
relations professionals need indicators and measures useful for identifying, maintaining,
and evaluating longer-term relationships—for environmental scanning of strategic
publics, of successful strategies for maintaining relationships, and for outcome indicators
of the quality of relationships. We have described the nature of research needed for
environmental scanning and for indicating the nature of ongoing maintenance strategies.
In addition, we believe we have taken a step in moving public relations research forward
by identifying six important indicators of relationship outcomes and developing reliable
measures of these indicators.

Although the relationship outcome indicators have been tested only in the one study
described above, we believe they are ready to be used by other researchers. Other
researchers should continue to measure and report their reliability. Over time, we believe
they will continue to be good measures of public perceptions of relationships with
organizations. Researchers also should move forward to test the effect that the short-
term outcomes of public relations programs have on these longer-term relationship
indicators to supplement the evidence found in the IABC Excellence study. We believe
that successful public relations programs result in good relationships with strategic
publics, which in turn makes organizations more effective by allowing them to achieve
their goals. More research evidence is needed to support that relationship, however.

In the future, we need to adapt these questionnaire items so that they can be used to
determine management perceptions of the relationships as well as the perceptions of
publics. That translation should not be difficult, however. When perceptions of the
relationship are measured from both sides, we will be able to measure gaps in the way
management and publics perceive the relationship. Such a gap analysis will suggest
even more strategies for maintaining or repairing relationships. Researchers also need to
move forward to develop measures of the relationship itself, as described by Broom,
Casey, and Ritchey (cited in footnotes 8 and 11). Those measures would allow public
relations practitioners to observe and measure relationships in ways that might not be
captured by measuring perceptions of the relationships alone.

We also believe that much could be learned that is of value to public relations practice by
examining the nature of relationships among publics and how those relationships affect
the relationships of publics with organizations. Such research would examine the
problem of multiple publics with conflicting interests, a problem that makes relationship

38

building by an organization with different public particularly difficult. To be able to build
stable relationships with conflicting publics, we believe that public relations professionals
in these organizations will have to work with the publics themselves to build
relationships with publics.

Another area of relevant research would examine the effect that the Internet and other
new media have on relationships. Public relations professionals know that relationships
develop among publics and between organizations and publics on the Internet, but
researchers still know little about the nature and quality of these cyber relationships. In
the future, organizations may build most of their relationships with publics in cyberspace.

Finally, this paper could not describe the research techniques needed for environmental
scanning or for describing and testing the effect of maintenance strategies on relationship
outcomes. That information is available in the public relations and management
literature, however, if readers are interested. Researchers then should correlate the use
of successful strategies for environmental scanning and maintaining relationships with
the relationship indicators developed in this paper to provide further evidence on which
public relations strategies are most effective in building good long-term relationships
with strategic publics.

39

Appendix I

Reliability of Indices for Six Indicators of Relationships for Five Organizations,
Expressed as Cronbach’s Alpha

Relationship General National Social Red
Indicator Electric Rifle Assoc. Security Microsoft Cross Average
Trust
11-item scale .90 .89 .93 .91 .91 .91
6-item scale .86 .81 .89 .86 .86 .86
Control Mutuality
8-item scale .88 .90 .90 .91 .89 .90
5-item scale .86 .87 .86 .88 .86 .87
4-item scale .85 .85 .86 .86 .84 .85
Commitment
8-item scale .85 .89 .87 .88 .87 .87
5-item scale .82 .88 .84 .84 .87 .85
4-item scale .81 .89 .83 .82 .84 .84
Satisfaction
8-item scale .87 .91 .88 .91 .89 .89
5-item scale .87 .90 .88 .91 .87 .89
4-items scale .86 .89 .89 .88 .86 .88
Communal
7-item scale .86 .88 .85 .85 .84 .86
5-item scale .83 .86 .84 .81 .81 .83
4-item scale .82 .82 .80 .80 .75 .80
Exchange
4-item scale .73 .78 .68 .68 .62 .70

40

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