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Five Types of Publics

Never underestimate the power of inactive publics.

Jerry Silfwer
by Jerry Silfwer

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

tl:dr;
According to Professor Kirk Hallahan, there are five types of publics; aware publics, active publics, inactive publics, aroused publics, and non-publics.

Table of contents

Professor Kirk Hallahan sug­gests five types of publics.

There are aware pub­lics, act­ive pub­lics, inact­ive pub­lics, aroused pub­lics, and non-publics.

Non-pub­lics lack any mean­ing­ful con­nec­tion with the issue, but inact­ive pub­lics are the most under­rated type of pub­lic as they still can become aware, act­ive, or aroused.

Here we go:

Five Types of Publics

There are plenty of inact­ive pub­lics around us in soci­ety, just “wait­ing” for extern­al situ­ations to activ­ate them and bring them togeth­er in coöper­at­ive, com­mu­nic­at­ive behaviours.

However, PR tends to focus on the already activ­ated publics:

“By focus­ing on act­iv­ism and its con­sequences, recent pub­lic rela­tions the­ory has largely ignored inact­ive pub­lics, that is, stake­hold­er groups that demon­strate low levels of know­ledge and involve­ment in the organ­isa­tion or its products, ser­vices, can­did­ates, or causes, but are import­ant to an organ­isa­tion.”
Source: Public Relations Review 1Hallahan, K. (2000). Inactive pub­lics: The for­got­ten pub­lics in pub­lic rela­tions. Public Relations Review, 26(4), 499 – 515. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​S​0​3​6​3​-​8​1​1​1​(​0​0​)​0​0​061 – 8

Kirk Hallahan, Professor Emeritus, Journalism and Media Communication, Colorado State University, pro­poses five types of pub­lics based on their know­ledge and involve­ment: 2Hallahan, K. (2000). Inactive pub­lics: The for­got­ten pub­lics in pub­lic rela­tions. Public Relations Review, 26(4), 499 – 515. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​S​0​3​6​3​-​8​1​1​1​(​0​0​)​0​0​061 – 8

Hallahan sug­gests a mod­el based on know­ledge and involvement:

As an organ­isa­tion tar­geted by act­iv­ists, what would be the best issue response? Hallahan pro­poses four prin­cip­al response strategies: 3Hallahan, K. (2009, November 19). The Dynamics of Issues Activation and Response: An Issues Processes Model. Journal of Public Relations Research. … Continue read­ing

  • Active pub­lics: Negotiation.
  • Aroused pub­lics: Intervention.
  • Aware pub­lics: Education.
  • Inactive pub­lics: Prevention.

Learn more: Five Types of Publics

The Publics in Public Relations

Publics are a cent­ral com­pon­ent of pub­lic rela­tions — in fact, the ‘P’ in PR. However, they are often mis­un­der­stood or con­flated with mar­ket­ing’s ‘tar­get groups’.

Here’s how to define pub­lics in pub­lic relations:

Publics = psy­cho­graph­ic seg­ments (who) with sim­il­ar com­mu­nic­a­tion beha­viours (how) formed around spe­cif­ic issues (why) impact­ing a brand (to whom). 4Silfwer, J. (2015, June 11). The Publics in Public Relations. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​p​u​b​l​i​c​s​-​i​n​-​p​u​b​l​i​c​-​r​e​l​a​t​i​o​ns/

Please note:

Psychographic seg­ment = sim­il­ar­it­ies in cog­nit­ive driv­ing factors such as reas­on­ing, motiv­a­tions, atti­tudes, etc.

Communication beha­viours = how the pub­lic’s opin­ion is expressed (choice of mes­sage, rhet­or­ic­al fram­ing, and medi­um type).

Specific issue = determ­ined situ­ation­ally by a spe­cif­ic social object, often high on the agenda in news media or social media.

Learn more: The Publics in Public Relations

Seriality: Context Matters

“Seriality” is a concept that emerges from iden­tity- and social the­ory, par­tic­u­larly in the works of philo­soph­ers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Iris Marion Young. It refers to how indi­vidu­als are grouped based on shared char­ac­ter­ist­ics — without a strong sense of belong­ing or identity.

Jean-Paul Sartre - Seriality - Publics
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 – 1980). (Credit: Wikipedia.)

Sartre argued that pass­ive col­lect­ives, like people wait­ing at a bus stop, only become act­ive when they recog­nise shared interests or struggle. Many pub­lics remain “seri­al” (inact­ive) until activ­ated by con­text. 5Sartre, J.-P. (1991). Critique of dia­lect­ic­al reas­on (Vol. 2, Q. Hoare, Trans.; A. Sheridan-Smith, Ed.). Verso. (Original work pub­lished 1985.) 6Silfwer, J. (2023, October 9). Five Types of Publics. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​f​i​v​e​-​t​y​p​e​s​-​o​f​-​p​u​b​l​i​cs/

“Seriality is a key concept in under­stand­ing the con­stancy and trans­form­a­tion of iden­tity, par­tic­u­larly in pub­lic present­a­tions of the self and its online mani­fest­a­tions.”
Source: M/​C Journal 7Marshall, P. (2014). Seriality and Persona. M/​C Journal, 17, 1 – 10. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​5​2​0​4​/​m​c​j​.​802

In Sartre’s exist­en­tial­ist frame­work, seri­al­ity describes a form of social col­lectiv­ity. According to him, people can be part of a series without neces­sar­ily shar­ing a uni­fied group iden­tity. For example, people wait­ing at a bus stop are con­nec­ted by their shared situ­ation (wait­ing for the bus) but do not neces­sar­ily form a cohes­ive pub­lic with a shared iden­tity. They are sep­ar­ate indi­vidu­als linked by a com­mon object­ive or condition.

Key insights:

  • Context shapes iden­tity. We don’t form groups in a vacu­um; our iden­tit­ies emerge in response to spe­cif­ic his­tor­ic­al, social, and cul­tur­al con­texts. For example, the same indi­vidu­al might see them­selves as Swedish in Europe but Stockholm-based among Swedes.
  • Shared nar­rat­ives cre­ate mean­ing­ful groups. Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities shows how nations are “ima­gined” into exist­ence via shared stor­ies (e.g., media, his­tory, myth). Seriality determ­ines wheth­er people see them­selves as “part of a group” or just indi­vidu­als in par­al­lel. 8Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined com­munit­ies: Reflections on the ori­gin and spread of nation­al­ism (Revised ed.). Verso. (Original work pub­lished 1983)
  • Proximity ≠ solid­ar­ity. Just because people exist in the same space (a city, com­pany, or online for­um) doesn’t mean they see them­selves as a cohes­ive group. The activ­a­tion threshold—how much shared exper­i­ence or con­flict is needed to solid­i­fy group iden­tity — depends on context.
  • Media, search engines, and social media algorithms rein­force seri­al­ity. Social media plat­forms cur­ate inform­a­tion flows, subtly cre­at­ing group con­texts. The more people inter­act with the same nar­rat­ives and react to the same stim­uli, the stronger the group iden­tity — wheth­er or not they are phys­ic­ally together.
  • Conflict is a con­tex­tu­al group-maker. War, com­pet­i­tion, or a shared “enemy” quickly trans­forms a seri­al group into a sol­id one. This is why pop­u­lists and pro­pa­ganda machines often cre­ate a “threat­en­ing oth­er” to con­sol­id­ate a loosely con­nec­ted audi­ence into a movement.
  • Structural vs. vol­un­tary seri­al­ity. Some group mem­ber­ships are imposed by struc­ture (e.g., cit­izens of a coun­try, tax brack­ets), while oth­ers are chosen vol­un­tar­ily (e.g., sub­cul­tures, fan­doms, polit­ic­al move­ments). The degree of free­dom in join­ing affects how stable or flu­id a group is.
  • Seriality and organ­isa­tion­al beha­vi­or. Corporations rely on seri­al work­ers (indi­vidu­als per­form­ing tasks in par­al­lel) but strive for organ­isa­tion­al unity through brand­ing, mis­sion state­ments, and intern­al cul­ture-build­ing to activ­ate a shared identity.
  • Seriality and con­sumer beha­vi­or. PR and mar­ket­ing pro­fes­sion­als use seri­al­ity prin­ciples to cre­ate a sense of tri­bal belong­ing around products (e.g., Apple users, Harley-Davidson riders). By rein­for­cing a “we vs. them” dynam­ic, they turn seri­al con­sumers into a loy­al, engaged public.
  • Crisis reveals hid­den seri­al­ity. During reg­u­lar times, many pub­lics remain lat­ent — just a col­lec­tion of people shar­ing some abstract qual­ity (e.g., cit­izens of a coun­try). However, in crises (pan­dem­ics, eco­nom­ic crashes, cli­mate dis­asters), lat­ent pub­lics can rap­idly “activ­ate” into cohes­ive pub­lics. 9Silfwer, J. (2023, October 9). Five Types of Publics. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​f​i​v​e​-​t​y​p​e​s​-​o​f​-​p​u​b​l​i​cs/

Seriality explains why some pub­lics remain inact­ive and frag­men­ted while oth­ers sud­denly unite and how con­text (media, con­flict, prox­im­ity, power struc­tures) determ­ines when, how, and why a group iden­tity “clicks” into place.

Therefore, seri­al­ity is a way of under­stand­ing how indi­vidu­als can belong to col­lect­ive cat­egor­ies without neces­sar­ily hav­ing a shared demo­graph­ic identity.

Learn more: Seriality (Context Matters)

John Dewey and the ‘P’ in Public Relations

The term “pub­lics” can be traced back to the work of the American psy­cho­lo­gist and philo­soph­er John Dewey (1859 – 1952). 10John Dewey. (2023, March 25). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​J​o​h​n​_​D​e​wey

877px-John_Dewey_cph.3a51565
John Dewey (Wikipedia).

In his 1927 book, “The Public and Its Problems,” Dewey con­cep­tu­al­ised pub­lics as situ­ation­al groups formed in response to shared con­cerns or issues. He pos­ited that these groups emerge when indi­vidu­als con­front a com­mon prob­lem, recog­nise its exist­ence, and take col­lect­ive action to address it. 11Dewey, J. (1927). The Public and Its Problems. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press.

“Dewey’s the­ory of the pub­lic sphere recog­nizes mul­tiple pub­lics and per­meable bor­ders between pub­lic and private, with com­mu­nic­a­tion play­ing a cru­cial role in pub­lic form­a­tion and re-form­a­tion.”
Source: Argumentation and Advocacy 12Asen, R. (2003). The Multiple Mr. Dewey: Multiple Publics and Permeable Borders in John Dewey’s Theory of the Public Sphere. Argumentation and Advocacy, 39, 174 — 188. … Continue read­ing

Dewey’s for­mu­la­tion of pub­lics marked a sig­ni­fic­ant depar­ture from the tra­di­tion­al under­stand­ing of the “mass pub­lic,” which assumed a more homo­gen­eous and pass­ive audience. 

By high­light­ing the situ­ation­al and dynam­ic nature of pub­lics, Dewey laid the found­a­tion for a more nuanced and adapt­ive approach to under­stand­ing the com­plex inter­ac­tions between organ­isa­tions and their vari­ous audiences.

The term pub­lics has become a corner­stone of mod­ern pub­lic rela­tions and com­mu­nic­a­tion theory.

This under­stand­ing of pub­lics as situ­ation­al and ever-chan­ging high­lighted the need for organ­isa­tions to remain agile and adapt­ive in their com­mu­nic­a­tion efforts.

By recog­nising the diverse and situ­ation­al nature of pub­lics, PR pro­fes­sion­als and com­mu­nic­at­ors can bet­ter under­stand the needs and con­cerns of their vari­ous audi­ences, allow­ing them to devel­op more effect­ive com­mu­nic­a­tion strategies. 

“This recog­ni­tion of the act­ive and dynam­ic nature of pub­lics has also influ­enced broad­er aca­dem­ic and pub­lic dis­course, high­light­ing the import­ance of under­stand­ing and enga­ging with dif­fer­ent groups of people who share com­mon interests, con­cerns, or prob­lems.”
Source: Contemporary Pragmatism 13Rogers, M. (2010). Introduction: Revisiting The Public and Its Problems. Contemporary Pragmatism, 7, 1 – 7. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​1​6​3​/​1​8​7​5​8​185 – 90000152

Learn more: John Dewey and the ‘P’ in Public Relations

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Annotations
Annotations
1, 2 Hallahan, K. (2000). Inactive pub­lics: The for­got­ten pub­lics in pub­lic rela­tions. Public Relations Review, 26(4), 499 – 515. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​S​0​3​6​3​-​8​1​1​1​(​0​0​)​0​0​061 – 8
3 Hallahan, K. (2009, November 19). The Dynamics of Issues Activation and Response: An Issues Processes Model. Journal of Public Relations Research. https://​www​.tand​fon​line​.com/​d​o​i​/​a​b​s​/​1​0​.​1​2​0​7​/​S​1​5​3​2​7​5​4​X​J​P​R​R​1​3​0​1_3
4 Silfwer, J. (2015, June 11). The Publics in Public Relations. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​p​u​b​l​i​c​s​-​i​n​-​p​u​b​l​i​c​-​r​e​l​a​t​i​o​ns/
5 Sartre, J.-P. (1991). Critique of dia­lect­ic­al reas­on (Vol. 2, Q. Hoare, Trans.; A. Sheridan-Smith, Ed.). Verso. (Original work pub­lished 1985.)
6, 9 Silfwer, J. (2023, October 9). Five Types of Publics. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​f​i​v​e​-​t​y​p​e​s​-​o​f​-​p​u​b​l​i​cs/
7 Marshall, P. (2014). Seriality and Persona. M/​C Journal, 17, 1 – 10. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​5​2​0​4​/​m​c​j​.​802
8 Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined com­munit­ies: Reflections on the ori­gin and spread of nation­al­ism (Revised ed.). Verso. (Original work pub­lished 1983)
10 John Dewey. (2023, March 25). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​J​o​h​n​_​D​e​wey
11 Dewey, J. (1927). The Public and Its Problems. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press.
12 Asen, R. (2003). The Multiple Mr. Dewey: Multiple Publics and Permeable Borders in John Dewey’s Theory of the Public Sphere. Argumentation and Advocacy, 39, 174 — 188. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​8​0​/​0​0​0​2​8​5​3​3​.​2​0​0​3​.​1​1​8​2​1​585
13 Rogers, M. (2010). Introduction: Revisiting The Public and Its Problems. Contemporary Pragmatism, 7, 1 – 7. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​1​6​3​/​1​8​7​5​8​185 – 90000152
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Whispr Group NYC, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

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