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Publics

Publics are specific groups of people who are linked by a common interest or problem. Researchers believe there is no such thing as a “general public.” Strategic public relations manages relationships with key publics on whom the success of the organization depends. Such publics are specific and more easily identified than a nebulous, general public. Most organizations have a diverse set of publics derived from what an organization does and whom it affects. Some of these publics require constant and long-range relationships, whereas others exist as temporary and short-term relationships.

Public relations is managed strategically when it is designed to build and maintain relationships with the publics most crucial to the success of the organization. The key to effective public relations is systematically identifying key publics and appropriately prioritizing these publics according to the situation. James E. Grunig and Fred Repper (1992) defined three stages in the strategic management of public relations: the stakeholder stage, the public stage, and the issue stage. Following this framework, publics can be identified in three ways: relationship to the organization (stakeholder stage), relationship to the situation (public stage), and relationship to the public relations strategy (issue stage).

Relationship to the Organization

Publics’ relationships to the organization are usually identified with a stakeholder analysis. J. E. Grunig and Repper defined a stakeholder as “people who are linked to an organization because they and the organization have consequences on each other” (1992, p. 125). One approach to identifying stakeholder publics is to consider how they are “linked” to the organization. J. E. Grunig and Todd Hunt (1984) used a linkage model to identify stakeholder relationships to organizations. The resulting model has four linkages that identify stakeholder relationships to an organization: enabling linkages, functional linkages, diffused linkages, and normative linkages.

Enabling and Functional Linkages

Enabling linkages are those that allow organizations to exist, such as relationships with government regulators and legislators. Enabling linkages identify stakeholders who have some control over the organization, such as stockholders, board of directors, regulators, finance firms, and so on. When enabling relationships falter, resources can be withdrawn and the autonomy of the organization restricted.

Functional linkages are those that allow the organization to function, by providing resources, such as labor or raw materials. Functional linkages include employees, suppliers, contractors, distributors, and so forth. Functional stakeholders are essential to the day-to-day operations of any organization.

Organizations must maintain frequent communication with enabling and functional linkages to develop healthy, long-term relationships because the stakeholders in these linkages can have immediate consequences on the autonomy of the organization.

Normative and Diffused Linkages

Normative linkages are associations or groups with which the organization has a common interest. Stakeholders with a normative linkage to an organization share similar values, goals, or problems. Many organizations belong to professional associations made up of competitors or peers, who maintain normative linkages to collectively address problems.

Diffused linkages are those in which the organization must respond to sporadic publics like activists or special interest groups. Stakeholders belonging to the diffused linkage often identify themselves when the organization does something that affects them, in which case they become an active public. These publics include members of the community, the media, voters, and others that organize to face a problem. Diffused publics are usually episodic and their relationship to the organization is often temporary.

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