The Four Models of Public Relations

There are four mod­els of pub­lic relations.

In their sem­in­al work, “Managing Public Relations,” James Grunig and Todd Hunt (1984) intro­duced four mod­els of pub­lic rela­tions that have since become the most widely cited in aca­dem­ic circles. 

These four mod­els — the press agentry, pub­lic inform­a­tion, two-way asym­met­ric­al, and two-way sym­met­ric­al — are essen­tial build­ing blocks for craft­ing com­pre­hens­ive com­mu­nic­a­tion strategies that cater to an organ­iz­a­tion’s diverse needs.

Here goes:

Grunig and Hunt: The Four Models of PR

Model 1: Press Agentry Model

The press agentry mod­el, which emerged in the late 19th cen­tury, emphas­ises the power of per­sua­sion and manip­u­la­tion to shape pub­lic opin­ion.

Historically, this approach has been asso­ci­ated with the work of P.T. Barnum, a show­man who used flam­boy­ant tac­tics to garner atten­tion for his cir­cus. In mod­ern busi­ness, the press agentry mod­el primar­ily gen­er­ates pub­li­city and cre­ates buzz around a product or event. 

However, this one-way com­mu­nic­a­tion approach can be per­ceived as self-serving and may not always reflect an organ­isa­tion’s genu­ine val­ues or com­mit­ment to eth­ic­al conduct.

Phineas Taylor Barnum: “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity”

Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum was a 19th-cen­tury American show­man, entre­pren­eur, and politi­cian known for his lar­ger-than-life per­son­al­ity and uncanny abil­ity to cap­ture the pub­lic’s ima­gin­a­tion. Born 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut, Barnum rose to prom­in­ence in the enter­tain­ment world by found­ing the Barnum & Bailey Circus, dubbed “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

Barnum pion­eered the art of press agentry, employ­ing sen­sa­tion­al­ism and pub­li­city stunts to gen­er­ate interest and draw crowds to his shows. His innov­at­ive mar­ket­ing tech­niques and relent­less pur­suit of the extraordin­ary laid the ground­work for many mod­ern pub­lic rela­tions strategies.

“Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum (1810−1891) was a savvy pub­li­city show­man, one who impacted par­tic­u­lar aspects of pub­lic rela­tions and advert­ising, primar­ily event plan­ning, event pro­mo­tion and true publicity/media cov­er­age. Ahead of oth­ers in his time, he actu­ally under­stood the import­ance of media cov­er­age (he star­ted New York’s first illus­trated news­pa­per in 1853) and believed ‘there is no such thing as bad pub­li­city,’ a pop­u­lar phrase many times attrib­uted to Barnum him­self.”
— Ashley Foster, APR ¹The End of a Publicity Era: How Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ Founder Affected Marketing and Public Relations

Although some crit­ics have labelled Barnum as a pur­vey­or of hoaxes and decep­tion, his endur­ing leg­acy as a vis­ion­ary show­man and mas­ter of spec­tacle con­tin­ues to cap­tiv­ate audi­ences and inspire gen­er­a­tions of enter­tain­ers and entrepreneurs.

Learn more: P.T. Barnum: “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity”

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Model 2: Public Information Model

As a more trans­par­ent altern­at­ive to the press agentry mod­el, the pub­lic inform­a­tion mod­el focuses on dis­sem­in­at­ing accur­ate and object­ive information. 

This approach, often linked to the early 20th-cen­tury work of Ive Lee, a pion­eer in pub­lic rela­tions, seeks to foster trust and cred­ib­il­ity with key stake­hold­ers. Organisations that adopt the pub­lic inform­a­tion mod­el typ­ic­ally pri­or­it­ise provid­ing com­pre­hens­ive, unbiased data to the pub­lic, enabling stake­hold­ers to form their opin­ions based on reli­able facts. 

However, this mod­el is still rooted in one-way com­mu­nic­a­tion, and its effect­ive­ness is lim­ited by its lack of engage­ment with the audi­ence’s per­spect­ives and feedback.

Model 3: Two-Way Asymmetrical Model

In an effort to enhance the dia­logue between organ­isa­tions and their stake­hold­ers, the two-way asym­met­ric­al mod­el incor­por­ates ele­ments of per­sua­sion and feed­back. This approach, which gained prom­in­ence in the mid-20th cen­tury, relies on research and under­stand­ing of the tar­get audi­ence to craft tailored mes­sages that res­on­ate with their val­ues and preferences. 

The primary goal of the two-way asym­met­ric­al mod­el is to influ­ence pub­lic opin­ion while sim­ul­tan­eously tak­ing audi­ence feed­back into account. 

Although this mod­el rep­res­ents a sig­ni­fic­ant improve­ment over its pre­de­cessors in terms of audi­ence engage­ment, it still pri­or­it­ises the organ­isa­tion’s object­ives over the needs and con­cerns of its stakeholders.

Model 4: Two-Way Symmetrical Model

Recognising the import­ance of fos­ter­ing mutu­ally bene­fi­cial rela­tion­ships with stake­hold­ers, Grunig and Hunt pro­posed the two-way sym­met­ric­al mod­el as the most eth­ic­al and prac­tic­al approach to pub­lic rela­tions. This mod­el emphas­ises open, trans­par­ent com­mu­nic­a­tion, wherein the organ­isa­tion and its stake­hold­ers engage in a dia­logue to under­stand bet­ter each oth­er­’s per­spect­ives, val­ues, and concerns. 

By seek­ing a bal­ance between the interests of both parties, the two-way asym­met­ric­al mod­el pro­motes col­lab­or­a­tion, trust, and long-term rela­tion­ship building. 

This approach is increas­ingly recog­nised as the gold stand­ard for pub­lic rela­tions prac­tice in today’s inter­con­nec­ted and glob­al­ised world.

A PR Model for Every Situation

Grunig and Hunt’s four mod­els of pub­lic rela­tions provide valu­able insights into the evol­u­tion of com­mu­nic­a­tion strategies and their implic­a­tions for mod­ern businesses. 

While each mod­el has unique strengths and lim­it­a­tions, the two-way sym­met­ric­al mod­el is the most eth­ic­al and prac­tic­al approach, fos­ter­ing genu­ine dia­logue and col­lab­or­a­tion between organ­isa­tions and their stakeholders. 

By integ­rat­ing the prin­ciples of the two-way asym­met­ric­al mod­el, busi­nesses can estab­lish a strong found­a­tion for last­ing suc­cess, trust, and cred­ib­il­ity in an increas­ingly com­pet­it­ive and inter­con­nec­ted world.

It is import­ant to note that while the two-way sym­met­ric­al mod­el is widely con­sidered the most desir­able approach, the oth­er three mod­els may still have their place in spe­cif­ic contexts. 

For instance, the press agentry mod­el can gen­er­ate ini­tial interest in a product or event. In con­trast, the pub­lic inform­a­tion mod­el is appro­pri­ate for organ­isa­tions that primar­ily need to dis­sem­in­ate facts and fig­ures. Similarly, the two-way asym­met­ric­al mod­el can be effect­ive when a bal­ance between per­sua­sion and audi­ence engage­ment is required.

To max­im­ise the effect­ive­ness of their pub­lic rela­tions strategies, organ­isa­tions should con­sider adopt­ing a hybrid approach that com­bines ele­ments of each mod­el as needed. This flex­ib­il­ity enables busi­nesses to adapt to their stake­hold­ers’ diverse and ever-chan­ging needs while main­tain­ing a sol­id com­mit­ment to hon­est and trans­par­ent communication.

An Important Framework for PR

Ultimately, Grunig and Hunt’s four mod­els of pub­lic rela­tions serve as a valu­able frame­work for under­stand­ing the vari­ous approaches to com­mu­nic­a­tion and their poten­tial impact on an organ­isa­tion’s repu­ta­tion and relationships. 

By recog­nising the strengths and lim­it­a­tions of each mod­el, busi­nesses can make informed decisions about the most appro­pri­ate strategies for their unique cir­cum­stances, fos­ter­ing a cul­ture of open­ness, col­lab­or­a­tion, and mutu­al under­stand­ing with their stakeholders.

PR Resource: Suggested Literature

Grunig, J. E., & Hunt, T. (1984). Managing pub­lic rela­tions. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Ledingham, J. A., & Bruning, S. D. (Eds.). (2000). Public rela­tions as rela­tion­ship man­age­ment: A rela­tion­al approach to the study and prac­tice of pub­lic rela­tions. Routledge.

Cutlip, S. M., Center, A. H., & Broom, G. M. (2006). Effective pub­lic rela­tions (9th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.

Heath, R. L. (Ed.). (2013). Encyclopedia of pub­lic rela­tions (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Kent, M. L., & Taylor, M. (2002). Toward a dia­lo­gic the­ory of pub­lic rela­tions. Public Relations Review, 28(1), 21 – 37.

PR Resource: Fundamental Approaches To PR

Fundamental Approaches To PR

There are three schol­arly approaches to PR:

• The Excellence Approach
• The Rhetorical Approach
• The Critical Approach

The Excellence Approach. A busi­ness-ori­ented approach focused on object­ives and cor­por­ate value cre­ation. The under­ly­ing motiv­a­tion behind the the­ory was that PR was mostly a vari­ety of tac­tic­al tools that des­per­ately needed a man­age­ment the­ory to work well in a soph­ist­ic­ated organisation.

Notable men­tions: James E. Grunig, Larissa A. Grunig

The Rhetorical Approach. A clas­sic­al approach that stems from ideas dat­ing back to ancient Greece. It’s a psy­cho­lo­gic­al the­ory of how com­mu­nic­a­tion struc­tures human cul­ture by shap­ing human minds. An absence of mor­al judge­ment char­ac­ter­ises the rhet­or­ic­al approach and is utilitarian.

Notable men­tions: The Toronto School of Communication Theory, Robert Heath

The Critical Approach. A crit­ic­al approach deeply rooted in the­or­ies around soci­et­al power dynam­ics. Power is seen as a means to exert dom­in­ance, manip­u­la­tion, and oppres­sion. The crit­ic­al approach bor­rows many ideas from the rhet­or­ic­al approach by pla­cing them in mor­al frameworks.

Notable men­tions: Walter Lippmann, Noam Chomsky

Read also: 3 PR Approaches: Excellence, Rhetorical, and Critical

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