Public relations practice in the digital era: Trust and commitment in the interplay of interactivity effects and online relational strategies

Abstract

This study examines how practitioners perceive and practice public relations for managing organization-stakeholder relationships via digital media. By synthesizing the relationship management approach and the concept of interactivity, a structural model of practitioners’ perceptions of relationship management in the digital context was proposed, with variables including organizational usage of online relational strategies, stakeholders’ experience of interactivity effects, and their trust in and commitment to organizations using digital media. An online self-administrated survey of 241 marketing and public relations practitioners coordinating public relations activities in Hong Kong was conducted in 2017. The structural equation modeling analysis showed that, concerning practitioners’ perceptions toward stakeholders’ relationships with organizations using digital media, interactivity effects experienced by stakeholders when using organizations’ digital media posed a significant positive effect to stakeholders’ trust in and commitment to the organizations. There was a significant positive correlation between practitioners’ use of online relational strategies and their perceptions of interactivity effects experienced by stakeholders when using organizations’ digital media. Practitioners’ perceptions of stakeholders’ trust in organizations using digital media had a significant positive effect on their perceptions of stakeholders’ commitment to the organizations. This study also provides practitioners with insights into managing organization-stakeholder relationships in the new normal.