The article considers the use of PR tools as a method of forming public opinion.
Keywords: Public Relations, society, psychology, public opinion, social environment.
В статье рассматривается использование инструментов PR как метода формирования общественного мнения.
Ключевые слова: связи с общественностью, общество, психология, общественное мнение, социальная среда.
The use of PR technologies today is already a widespread practice for any commercial and non-commercial organization. The impact that PR has on the formation of public opinion and the establishment of communication between the client and the organization is difficult to overestimate. Because it is easier to prevent losses associated with negative public opinion than to solve their consequences after.
Basic concepts
First of all, it is necessary to define what is PR and what is public opinion.
Public relations (PR) are a technology aimed at introducing a certain idea or image into society as a whole or into a specific social group through the use of a wide range of persuasion tools.
Public opinion is most often understood as the average attitude of a certain community of people to a particular object or phenomenon that in any way affects their interests or needs [1].
The Importance of Public Opinion in a Commercial Environment
In our time, the processes taking place in the business environment have a deep connection with public opinion. It is due to it that the demand for a product or service is often formed. Through literate words and actions of organizations, it is possible not only to encourage society to purchase a product or service, but also to convince people that it is vital for them.
For this, entire departments are created, the work of which consists entirely in the ability to apply PR tools to solve the tasks and prevent or correct crisis situations.
There are a number of conditions that PR specialists should consider when working with public opinion:
– public opinion is changeable, therefore, in order to work effectively with it, constant interaction is necessary;
– interaction with public opinion should be carried out through special methods of influence for each of any significant social group, otherwise generalization can lead to serious financial and reputational losses;
– public opinion reacts sharply to all economic, political, social and other changes taking place in the country or in the world, so it is very important to take into account the influence of such factors when working with it;
– first of all, it is worth paying attention to the factors that concern society the most, and only then to the secondary ones;
Specific events often have a much stronger influence on the formation of public opinion than those that affect a large number of social groups.
There are also a number of groups of factors that in one way or another influence public opinion:
– personal factors tied to emotions and direct physical impact on the individual;
– social factors, to which group the individual belongs and what place he occupies in it, it is this factor that most often affects demand;
– mental factors — how in general is the formation of the attitude of members of society to a particular phenomenon or object;
– cultural factors also having a huge impact on the formation of public opinion, most often it is thanks to him that the individual determines what and in what quantity he needs;
– scientific and technical factors that determine the need of society for high-tech objects.
If all these conditions and factors are taken into account, then establishing a positive relationship with any social group becomes a fairly simple task, which in turn subsequently helps to guide and shape the opinion of this society in the way it is necessary. For this reason, the ability to work with public opinion is almost half the success for any organization, regardless of its field of activity [2].
With such public relations, an organization can easily identify a number of indicators necessary for conducting its activities, such as: demand for goods and services, purchasing power, attitude towards competitors, and much more.
On the basis of all of the above, it is possible to determine a number of functions that public opinion carries:
– information function through which the organization obtains data for market analysis and other indicators;
– evaluation function due to which the society acts as a litmus test, on the basis of which it is possible to assess the level of approval of the society of certain products or phenomena;
– analytical function on the basis of data obtained from public opinion, it becomes possible to provide a large number of analyzes that help to correct the work of any organization;
– constructive function arising on the basis of public trust in the organization and their subsequent constructive cooperation [3].
PR tools that influence public opinion
By what means does public relations influence public opinion. There are a number of areas in which PR operates.
1) Corporate identity
Which includes both emotional elements (mission, goal, philosophy, history of the organization) and visual (logo, corporate colors, interior and exterior style, employee uniforms, and so on).
2) Work with the media
This includes building relationships with media owners, monitoring and analyzing their activities. Working with so-called opinion leaders. Holding special events for the media (press conferences, presentations, briefings, press tours). Creation of audio and video content aimed at the consumer.
3) Digital communications
Website development and content. Working with owners of navigator sites such as Yandex and Google. Conducting online events (online presentations, webinars, live broadcasts). Online marketing (advertisements, photos, videos, educational content).
4) SMM activity
Activity in social networks and messengers such as messages, publications, contests, stories. Creation of online communities, targeted advertising and much more.
5) Special Events
Contests, concerts, prize draws, promotions, fundraising for charity. All possible activities that can attract interest to the organization and its products and raise its image [4].
All of the above is only a small part of the tools used to form a positive public opinion. The main feature of PR is that it is not enclosed in a narrow framework, its use is limited only by the imagination of the authors and the budget of organizations. For this reason, PR can be called the most flexible technology for interacting with society.
Conclusion
Summing up the above said in this article, we can conclude that public opinion not only actively influences the activities of any organization, but also lends itself to direct influence. Thanks to PR technologies, organizations are in demand not only to evaluate public opinion, but also to direct it in the right direction, creating a favorable environment for doing business. Thus, organizations should not only take into account the influence of public opinion, but also actively use it to achieve their own goals.
References:
- Kirsanova N. P., Gonashvili A. S. Public opinion management technologies // UNIVERSITY at the INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY of the EurAsEC, Schoolbook. St. Petersburg, 2021. p. 32–37.
- Kiseleva O. V., Naumetova U. E. FORMING PUBLIC OPINION AND WAYS TO MANIPULATE IT FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES // International Journal of Experimental Education — No. 6, 2017. p. 91–95.
- PR and public opinion formation 2012 [Electronic resource]. — https://psyera.ru/2849/pr-i-formirovanie-obshchestvennogo-mneniya (date of the application 04.22.2022)
- Basic PR tools 2014 [Electronic resource]. — https://www.prstudent.ru/teoria/pr-instrumenty (date of the application 04.22.2022)
