Download PUBLIC OPINION

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Public opinion is an elusive and fragile
commodity.
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It can take years to build credibility and
nurture trust, but only minutes to destroy it.
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Individuals and companies in the public eye
cannot afford to tarnish their reputations.
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The best public relations campaign can’t
build trust when reality is destroying it.
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In the 21st century, public opinion is a
combustible and changing commodity.
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It is difficult to move people toward a strong
opinion on anything, and harder yet to move
them away from an opinion once it is formed.
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The heart of public relations work lies in
influencing the public opinion process.
Most PR programs are designed to:
1. Persuade people to change their opinion.
2. Crystallize uninformed opinions.
3. Reinforce existing opinions.
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To understand:
 What public opinion
is
 How it evolves from
people’s attitudes
 How it is influenced
by communication
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Experts have created dozens of definitions.
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Public relations pioneer Edward Bernays
called it “a term describing an ill-defined,
mercurial, and changeable group of individual
opinions.”
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“ public opinion is not the name of
something, but the classification of a number
of somethings”
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A public signifies a group of people who
share a common interest in a specific subject.
Opinion is the expression of an attitude on a
particular topic.
When attitudes become strong enough, they
surface in the form of opinions.
When opinions become strong enough, they
lead to verbal or behavioral actions.
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Attitudes
Opinions
Actions
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Public opinion then is the aggregate of many
individual opinions on a particular issue that
affects a group of people. Stated another
way, public opinion represents a consensus.
That consensus, deriving as it does from
many individual opinions, begins with people
attitudes towards an issue. Trying to influence
an individual attitude is a primary focus of the
practice of public relations
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Attitudes are evaluations that people make
about specific problems or issues.
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Their conclusions may not be connected to
any broad attitude on a given subject.
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An individual’s attitude may differ from issue
to issue.
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Attitudes are based on many characteristics:
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Personal
Cultural
Educational
Familial
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Religious
Social class
Race
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Personal: the physical and emotional
ingredients of an individual , including size,
age and social status
Cultural : the environment and lifestyle of a
particular country or geographic area. The
cultures of Saudi Arabia and the United
states, for example, differ greatly . Cultural
differences between rural and urban
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Educational : the level and quality of a
person’s education. To appeal to the
increased of college graduates today, public
communication has become more
sophisticated
Familial: people’s roots. Children acquire their
parents’ tastes, biases, political partisanships,
and a host of other characteristics
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Religious : a system of beliefs about God.
Social class: position within the society. As
people’s social status changes, so do their
attitudes. For example, a college student,
unconcerned with making a living, may
change his/her attitudes about such concepts
as big business, government after entering
the job market
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Race: ethnic group, which today helps shape
people’s attitudes.
Research indicates that attitudes and
behaviors are situational- influenced by
specific issues in specific situations.
Nonetheless, when others with similar
attitudes reach similar opinions , a consensus
or public opinion is born.
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On any given issue:
 A small percentage expresses strong support.
 A small percentage expresses strong opposition.
 The vast majority doesn’t care much.
This “muddled middle” represents the greatest opportunity
for public opinion change.
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Its hard to change the mind of a person who
is opposed to a particular issue or individual.
Likewise, its easy to reinforce the support of
a person who is wholeheartedly in favor of an
issue or individual.
Social scientist Leon Festinger discussed this
concept when he talked about the theory of
cognitive dissonance.
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We tend to avoid
information that is
opposed to our own
point of view.
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We tend to seek out
information that is
consistent with our own
point of view.
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People have a range of opinions on a certain
subject, anchored by a clear attitude.
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Although it is seldom possible to change this
anchor position, communicators can work
within this range, or “latitude of acceptance.”
to modify a person’s opinion.
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The bottom of the
hierarchy contains basic
needs, which must first be
satisfied before moving
upward to higher needs.
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PR practitioners must
know their audiences and
correctly target their
levels for effective
message design.
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Attitudes can be changed in one of two ways:
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When we are interested and focused enough on a
message, we take a “central” route to decision making.
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When we are not engaged with a message, we need to
take a more “peripheral” route to decision making.
Can you think of some persuasion settings
in which this theory might apply?
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Translating this theory into action means that
the best way to motivate interested people is
with arguments that are strong, logical and
personally relevant.
On the other hand, the way to motivate
people who are less interested might be
through putting them in a better mood with a
joke.
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Persuasion is perhaps the most essential
element in influencing public opinion.
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Persuading is the ultimate goal of the vast
majority of public relations programs.
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Persuasion theory has explanations and
interpretations. Basically , persuasion means
getting another person to do something
through advice, reasoning or just plain arm
twisting.
Books have been written on the enormous
power of advertising and public relations as
persuasive tools.
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According to the classical persuasion theory,
people may be of two minds in order to be
persuaded to believe in a particular position
or take a specific action
First, the systematic mode, referring to a
person who has carefully considered an
argument , activity, creatively and alertly.
Second is the heuristic mode, referring to a
person who is skimming the surface and not
really focusing on intricacies of a particular
position to catch flaws, or errors.
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This is not to say that all the systematic
thinker and the heuristic thinkers think alike,
they don’t . Things are more complicated
than that. Lets say that your little brother
wants a pair of basketball shoes and you dad
accompanies him to the store to buy them.
Both are systematic thinkers , but they have
different questions !!
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Your dad asks:
How much do they cost?
How long will they last?
Is the store nearby so I can get back to home?
Your brother asks:
 Does Jordan Endorse them?
 Do all my homeboys wear them?
 Will Selena Gomez go out with me if I buy
them?
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The point is all of us are persuaded by
different things which makes the challenges
for public relations professionals much more
a complex art from than a science.
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Radical organizer Saul Alinsky says:
“People only understand things in terms of their own
experience…If you try to get your ideas across to
others without paying attention to what they have
to say to you, you can forget about the whole
thing.”
To persuade, you must cite evidence that coincides
with people’s own beliefs, emotions and expectations.
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Facts
facts are indisputable , although its true, as they say,
that liars figure and figures lie. Empirical data are a
persuasive device in hammering a point of view.
Good PR programs always start with research: the facts.
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Emotions
Maslow was right , people do respond to emotional
appeals such as love , peace, family.
We can think, but we also respond to emotional appeals.
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Personalizing
People respond to personal experiences and
stories.
When American most wanted Tv host John
Walsh crusades against criminals who prey on
children , people understand that his son was
killed by a crazed individual.
Appealing to “you”
People want to know, “What’s in it for me?”
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As simple as these four percepts are, they are
often difficult for some to grasp emotions.
For example . A particular challenge for a
business leaders who presume incorrectly
that showing it is a sign of weakness. This of
course is wrong. The power to persuade is the
measure not only of a charismatic but also an
effective leader.
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Public opinion is a lot easier to measure that
it is to influence.
Public relations program can crystallize
attitudes, reinforce beliefs and occasionally
change public opinion
First: the opinions to be changed or modified
must be identified and understood
Second: target publics must be clear
Third: public relations professionals mush
focus on the laws that govern public opinion
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The laws of public opinion developed many
year ago by Hadley Cantril. Few recent events
more strongly underscored the relevance of
Cantril’s law than the unprecedented attacks
on America of September, 11,2001
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Opinion is highly sensitive
to important events.
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Opinion is determined
more by events than
words.
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At critical times, we are
more sensitive to the
adequacy of leadership.
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Once self-interest is
involved, opinions are
slow to change.
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People are able to form
opinions more easily on
goals than on methods to
reach those goals.
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If people in a democracy are
provided with education and
access to information, public
opinion reveals a hardheaded common sense.
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1.
2.
Opinion is highly sensitive to important
events: events of unusual magnitude are
likely to swing public opinion from one
extreme to another. Opinions doesn’t
become stabilized until the implications of
events are seen in some perspective.
Opinion is generally determined more by
events than by words
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3. At critical times, people become more
sensitive to the adequacy of their leadership,
if they have confidence in it, they are willing
to assign more than usual responsibility to it,
if they lack confidence in it , they are less
tolerant than usual
4. Once self interest is involved, opinions are
slow to change : even after the U.S invaded
Iraq to Oust Saddam Hussein in March, 2003
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American supported continued for the war
effort , the support began to wane when the
2000 American soldiers were killed in
October,2005.
5. People have more opinions and are able to
form opinions more easily on goals than on
methods to reach those goals
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6. By and large, if people in a democracy are
provided with educational opportunities an
ready access to information , public opinion
reveals a hardheaded common sense.
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1. Organizations must
understand that credibility
is a fragile commodity.
2. To keep public support, they
must operate with the
implicit trust of the public.
3. In the 21st century, winning
favorable public opinion isn’t
an option – it’s a necessity.
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The best example for that is when the New
York Governor Spitzer was forced to resign
after it was revealed that he had paid for
prostitutes ( which is illegal ) and may have
even transported them across state lines
( which is also illegal). Mr. Spitzer was forced
to resign as governor!!!!
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For anyone concerned about public opinion, it all
comes down to managing reputation.
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Reputation is gained by what one does, not by what
one says.
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The practice of reputation management aligns
communications with an organization’s character and
action. It creates recognition , credibility and trust
among key constituents. It stays sensitive to its
conduct in public with customers and private with
employees
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Organizations must be
empathetic to broader society
and its needs.
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Although reputation is difficult
to measure, it is a tangible
asset. Managing reputation is
a frontline public relations
responsibility.
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