Using Public Relations Tools To Build Image of Tertiary Institutions

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF MARKETING AND ECONOMICS
VOLUME-2, ISSUE-5 (May 2015) IF- 2.988 ISSN: (2349-0314)
USING PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS TO BUILD IMAGE OF TERTIARY

INSTITUTIONS
1
Kingsley Agyapong
Department of Management Studies Education
2
M. K. Twum-Ampomah
University Relations
3
Augustine Acheampong
Department of Management Studies Education
University of Education, Winneba
P. O. Box 1277, Kumasi, Ghana
ABSTRACT
Public relations is very important in every educational institution. It is believed that the strategic
tools employed by public relations could be used to build healthy relationships with the publics
and erode unfavourable rumors and stories about private universities in Ghana. The main
objective of the study was to identify the tools used by public relations units of private
universities in building relationships with its publics in Ghana. The study relied on personal
interviews and employed interview guides to collect data from public relations officers and staff
of three private universities in Ghana. It emerged from the study that public relations units relied
on the universities websites and events as major tools to disseminate information to publics of
the universities. The findings further showed that there was minimal use of community relations
activities by the private universities to build healthy relationships.
Keywords: Public Relations tools, Image building, Private universities, Ghana
A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
International Research Journal of Marketing and Economics (IRJME)
Website: www.aarf.asia. Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
Page 1
1. Introduction
The brilliant performance of both public and private universities all over the world has laid down
the basis for the progress of mankind and has resulted in the development of personality. The
strategic role of universities and the fact that the public universities in Ghana could not admit all
the qualified students necessitated the establishment of private universities in Ghana to expand
educational opportunities to more Ghanaians (Education Reforms in Ghana, 2002).
According to Ghana Educational Reforms report (2002) private universities are key players in
our society today. Private universities in Ghana have increased the body of theoretical
knowledge and their role in the academic environment is considered as a sign for knowledge
revolution. This serves as a backbone for the country’s economic growth in this twentieth
century. Therefore, the full benefits from private universities can be obtained only if the
universities and society are linked together through multiple relationships, i.e. through host of
institutions operating in society.
However, the core function of the private universities of training qualified Ghanaians for
economic development has not been realized by many Ghanaians. Though, Ghana Educational
Reforms report (2002) empowered private universities’ to operate in Ghana, people describe
students who did not gain admission to public universities as leftovers. According to Dr. Lord
Asamoah, Principal of the Garden City University College (GCUC), it was wrong for people to
describe students who did not gain admission to public universities as leftovers. He said this
during the Third Matriculation of the College at Kumasi.
(www.news.myjoyonline.com/education/200911/38299.asp.)
The literature on public relations in terms of relationships and environmental scanning for
effective management of institutions has been well documented (Grunig, Grunig, & Dozier,
2002; White & Dozier, 1992; Dozier, 1990). Tianping (2003) indicated that public relations is a
basic function of a modern school's management. Kotler (2003) further wrote that the practices
of public relations help build good relations with the organisation’s various publics and obtain
favourable publicity, build up a good corporate image and head off unfavourable rumours and
Page 2
stories. Therefore, public relations tools effectively employed will enhance the image and
relationships of the various stakeholders of the private universities. It must be echoed that a
search in the literature shows that the tools employed by public relations to disseminate
information to stakeholders of private universities to build relationships has been under
researched. This paper was therefore conducted to address this research gap.
The study has the following objectives. (I) To identify the tools utilized by public relations in
private universities in building relationships in Ghana. (II) To identify PR relations employed by
public relations unit to build good corporate image of private universities in Ghana. The paper is
divided into four parts. The first deals with review of literature on public relations including the
tools utilized and image building approaches. The second part discusses the methodology for the
study. The third part documents findings of the study and the final part concentrates on
managerial implications.
2. Literature Review
An investigation into the literature reveals that public relations is not new and its modern day
origins in the United States can be traced as far back as 1807 with President Jefferson’s address
to Congress (Lancaster, 2005). According to Moore and Kalupa (2007) public relations as
practiced today is a twentieth century American phenomenon and its fundamental elements of
informing people, persuading people and integrating people were basic to earliest society just as
they are today. Moore and Kalupa (2007) further asserted that the need for communications
among organisations and their publics is attested to by the fact that public relations occupy a
dominant role in the economy today and exists as an essential middleman between the
corporation and its publics. Hence, public relations functions cannot be integrated into other
areas since these functions cannot be managed strategically (Grunig et al., 2006). Public relations
is therefore a management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial
relationships between an organisation and the publics on whom its success or failure depends
(Cutlip et al., 2006).
Page 3
Tools of Public Relations

The tool to monitor and manage opinions of the general public towards an organization is the use
of public relations (Moore & Kalupa, 2007). According to Jobber (2001) the objectives of public
relations is to manage misconceptions for unfounded opinions not to tarnish the image and
operations of an organisation. Wells et al., (2005) also support the view of Jobber (2001) and
stressed that public relations objectives focus on creating credibility, delivering information,
building positive images, changing stakeholders’ attitudes, opinions, or behaviors about a
company. Wells et al., (2005) further opined that public relations practitioners have many tools
to establish and enhance a positive image of an organisation and its products among its various
publics. Hence, the various tools employed by public relations practitioners to deliver messages
to the publics of an organisation include speeches, sponsorships, events, corporate advertising,
press releases, websites, internal publications and notice boards (Belch & Belch, 2001;
Lancaster, 2005; Moore & Kalupa, 2007; Palmer, 2000; Wells et al., 2005).
According to Palmer (2005) sponsorship involves investment in an event or cause in order that
an organisation can achieve its objectives. Thus, through events, an organisation can achieve
objectives such as increase in awareness level, reputation enhancement and image building.
Palmer (2000) additionally states that major events are an opportunity for two-way dialogue
between the organisation and the media. Event and sponsorship in the words of Duncan (2002)
are designed to create involvement and intensify the marketing communications activities in an
organisation. Lancaster (2005) believe that key individuals can be invited to artistic events and
such key individuals can be targeted, contacted, entertained and result in long term relationships
building. Moore and Kalupa (2007) also were of the view that events play an important part in
changing attitudes and opinions. The authors further assert that events provide information that
often induces a change of mind. Clow and Baack (2007) further mention that since event is an
opportunity for organisation to have a dialogue with their publics, public relations professional
should always amplify responsibility for positive outcomes of events and increase the desirable
outcome in the eyes of the publics. Therefore, public relations practitioners must recognize the
importance of events in transforming passive attitudes into positive opinion on controversial
issues.
Page 4
In the words of Galloway (2005) corporate websites, chat-rooms, email, customer response
facilities and electronic news release are viewed as standard aspects of public relations practice.
Wells et al., (2005) emphasized that email is a great way for people at separate sites to
communicate and encourage communications among employees and permit them to share
company databases. Galloway (2005) further puts forward that traditional techniques of public
relations are being undermined by the mobile nature of news media and that this requires public
relations practitioners to rethink about how they relate to publics when building mutual
relationships. In the view of Porter et al., (2007) public relations practitioners who embrace new
technologies such as blogging are perceived as having more power and tools to better reach
target publics. Taylor and Kent (2007) revealed that the use of the internet in crisis
communications is a logical one in that websites are controlled channels through which
organisations can communicate directly with the media and the public. Thus, websites provide
information regarding the organisation’s policies and serve as an interactive tool that enable web
users to submit their requests or application forms on online.
Wells et al., (2005) believe that the internet has made it possible to present the company’s image
and story without going through the editing of a gatekeeper. The importance of the internet and
of corporate websites as tools for public relations cannot be overemphasized (Hill & White,
2000; Kent & Taylor, 1998; Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003; White & Raman, 1999). Esrock and
Leichty (2000) conclude that corporate websites has become important in communicating
organisational responsibilities. Therefore, through websites, an organisation can tell its story,
reduce the uncertainty of consumers, address multiple stakeholder needs, and help build
relationships with its publics. In addition, the universities can use their websites as a community
relations tool by promoting direct contact between the universities and the publics.
Building Corporate Image Using Public Relations

Most corporations today places heavy emphasis on externalities such as marketing, branding and
image management, and lesser attention on internal communications (Chong, 2007). According
to Pickton and Broderick (2005) image is the perception of the company by its publics. The
authors emphasized that an organisation have many images, but not just one, because each target
Page 5
audience is affected by its own interest and contacts. Clow and Baack (2007) stressed that strong
company image, which took years to build, may be destroyed in just a few weeks or months by
negative publicity and events. Therefore the role of public relations professional is to build
strong company image through public relations activities (Clow & Baack, 2007). Wells et al.,
(2005) mentioned employee relations, media relations, corporate relations, financial relations,
public affairs and community relations as types of relations that public relations professionals of
an organisation deal with. Dortok (2006) concedes that building an image and a relationship for
an organisation, it is crucial to pay more attention to employees as they are considered one of the
most trusted information sources of an organisation. Ledingham and Bruning (2000) further
indicated that communication becomes a vehicle used by an organisation to initiate, develop,
maintain and repair mutually productive relationships. Thus, employees’ relations involves
internal marketing which communicate an effort aimed at informing employees concerning
marketing programs as well as encouraging their support which affect the image of the
organisation (Wells et al., 2005). Hutton et al., (2001) argued that companies with extensive
corporate communication strategies were more likely to have strong reputations. Thus, once
companies focused on managing relationship with its publics; the more likely they were to have
a strong reputation. Dolphin (2000) argued that corporate reputation can win competitive
advantages for an organisation in a crowded marketplace. Wells et al., (2005) added that a
successful relationship between a public relations person, financial institutions, corporate
organisations, media and government depends on public relations professional’s reputation for
honesty, accuracy and professionalism. Therefore, when these qualities are tarnished, the public
relations professional cannot function effectively as a liaison between a company and the publics
(Wells et al., 2005). Clow and Baack (2007) echod that corporate reputation is extremely
vulnerable and extremely valuable hence; good reputation is hard to build and cannot be bought
by an organisation.
In the words of Leeper (2004) recognizing community as the context within which organisations
operate and recognizing the importance to organisations of establishing strong communities, is a
good backdrop for realizing idealistic role of public relations. This view is supported by Post at
al., (2002) and pointed to the fact that a company’s wealth and its license to operate are
Page 6
influenced by its relationship with stakeholders. Therefore, active and continuing participation
within a community helps to maintain and enhance cordial relationship to the benefit of both the
institution and the community at large. Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg (2004) emphasized that
public encompasses any group of people who are tied together however loosely, by some
common interest or concern and who have consequences for an organisation. Consequently, lack
of community relations activities automatically limits the ability of public relations departments
of the private universities to perform their functions effectively in building relationships.
Beavers-Moss (2001) conclusively stated that building credibility and trustworthiness are the
main issues in public relations. In view of this, public relations practitioners must recognize the
importance of events and sponsorships in transforming passive attitudes into positive opinion on
controversial issues.
3. Methodology
This study was to explore public relations tools for building image in private universities. The
study adopted a qualitative design, using the case study approach to collect data from three
private universities; University College (A), University College (B) and University College (C).
In the view of Creswell (2002) and Yin (2003) multiple case study design investigates several
cases to gain insight into a central phenomenon. Personal interview with key informants was
used as the main data collection tool. According to Creswell (1998) qualitative research provides
an opportunity for the researcher to assess an issue into detail. Opoku-Amankwa (2009) also
conceded that research investigations that are primarily seeking non-numerical forms of data is
qualitative in nature. Robson (2002) believes that qualitative data analysis programme offers the
researcher fast and easy access to information and speed up the research process and to
understand and explain respondents meaning (Morrow & Smith, 2000). Creswell (1998) further
opines that qualitative research builds a complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, reports
detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting and makes the study
more interesting.
According to Miles and Huberman (1994) qualitative samples tend to be purposive. Therefore,
three private universities were purposively selected for the study. The Public relations officers
Page 7
and staff of the universities were interviewed in their respective offices and each interview lasted
approximately one-hour. This gave respondents enough time to express their views on the issue.
All interviews were recorded and transcribed to ensure accuracy and provided rich and sufficient
data for the study (Marshall & Roseman, 2006). This view is supported by Opoku-Amankwa
(2009) who echoed interviews as a tool is employed to find out individual opinions, ideas, values
and beliefs about an issue.
Miles and Huberman (1994) approach of data analysis was employed to analyze the data
gathered for the study. As a qualitative study, the main focus was on words rather than numbers
(Miles & Huberman, 1994). This view is supported by Bryman (2004) and Gubrium and
Holstein (1997) who stated that a qualitatively research occurs through narratives and enable the
researcher understand the live experiences of participants. Under this multiple case study design,
data was analyzed case by case and followed by cross-case analysis (Eisenhardt, 1989 & Stake,
2006). The researcher understanding each case led to cross-case analysis of public relations tools
used for building image among the private universities.
4. Results of the Study

Public Relations Tools Employed
All the interviewees from the three universities echoed that in communicating with employees
and students’ to build relationships, the public relations departments depend on the universities
notice boards placed on campuses, the universities emails in sending information, memos from
the public relations units and the universities websites where information on activities and
ongoing programmes are posted as the fast and common tools used to communicate with
employees and students’ to build relationships and enhance the progress of the universities. This
findings support the study by Well et al., (2005) that there are a lot of tools that can be used to
communicate and build relationships with public relations publics. This means that public
relations units of the three universities are not employing just one tool but a combination of tools
to target their publics at the same time. Hence, communicating with both employees and students
of the universities to build relationships take a multi dimensional approach and strategy.
Page 8
The study further showed that websites and events are the common tools used by the public
relations units of the three private universities to communicate with parents and employers. The
tools are used by the university to communicate directly with the media and the publics
(Lancaster, 2005; Taylor & Kent, 2007). Through websites and events, an organisation can tell
its story, reduce the uncertainty of students in terms of courses to pursue, address multiple
stakeholder needs, and present the university’s image and story as well as encourage
communication among employees, students and share company databases without going through
the editing of a gatekeeper (Clow & Baack, 2007; Palmer, 2000, 2005). The findings are
consistent with the study by (Well et al., 2005). Therefore, public relations practitioners who
embrace tools such as websites and events are perceived as having more power to change
attitudes and opinions and provide information that often induces a change of mind to better
reach target publics (Porter et al., 2007; Moore & Kalupa, 2007).
Image Building Approach

Interviewees from the three universities’ believe that a strong company image, which took years
to build, may be destroyed in just a few weeks or months (Clow & Baack, 2007). The
respondents further remark that corporate reputation is extremely vulnerable and extremely
valuable (Clow & Baack, 2007) hence, good reputation is hard to build and cannot be bought.
Interviewees contend that the public relations units have contributed to the image of their
universities through the use of websites, organisation of outreach programs and finally
invitations to media houses to functions of the universities’ like graduations and anniversaries.
Pickton and Broderick (2005) asserted that an organisation has many images, but not just one
and each target audience is affected by its own interest and contacts.
The study also found out whether the unit undertakes community relations activities. The
respondents at both University College (A) and University College (B) explained that the unit
does not have any effective community relations activities in place but are occasionally involves
in community clean-up exercises. However, a company’s wealth and its license to operate are
influenced by its relationship with stakeholders (Post et al., 2002). In this case, it is influenced
by the company’s relationship with communities. At University College (B), the community
Page 9
relations activities are placed under Education Support Department. What is the connection
between public relations and Education Support Department? This development seems to be
unconventional and not consistent with the views of Grunig et al., (2006) that integration of the
public relations function into other areas means that this function cannot be managed
strategically, because communication resources cannot be transferred from one strategic public
to another as integrated public relations function can. Consequently, lack of community relations
activities automatically limits the ability of public relations department of the private universities
to perform their functions effectively in building relationships with the community.
The respondents in all the three universities’ conceded that public relations units of the
universities’ deal with most of the relations mentioned in literature (Wells et al., 2005) but puts a
premium on their employees’ relations, media relations and public affairs. Therefore, these
relations are considered as the most trusted information sources about an organisation (Dortok,
2006 & Well et al., 2005). This reinforces the idea that the publics that public relations interact
with frequently encompass any group of people who are tied together by some common interest
or concern and who have consequences for an organisation’s survival (Newsom, Turk &
Kruckeberg, 2004).
Interviewees at all the three universities stated that building good relationships with students,
parents and employers of other organisations help obtain favourable publicity, build up a good
corporate image and ward off unfavourable rumours and stories (Kotler, 2003). Tianping (2003)
asserted that relationship building is a core function of public relations. At both University
College (A) and University College (C), interviewees conceded that the units build relationships
with students through Students Representative Council (SRC). Respondents state that The
Students Representative Council is represented on congregation and matriculation committees,
participate in events and communicate to them through the university’s website where
information on courses of studies, admission requirements, announcements, and highlight major
events in the university are displayed (Clow & Baack, 2007; Moore & Kalupa, 2007). At
University College (B), respondents further argued that apart from events, the public relations
department also sometimes employs sponsorships to build relationship with students. This is in
Page 10
line with the study by (Palmer, 2005; Moore & Kalupa, 2007). Thus, sponsorship involves
investment in event or cause in order that an organisation can achieve objectives such as
increased in awareness level, enhance reputation and boost the image of an organisation.
In building relationships with parents, the public relations units of the universities invite parents
to participate in special events on campus (Moore & Kalupa, 2007; Lancaster, 2005). Thus, key
individuals can be invited to artistic events and result in long term relationships building. The
three universities all concluded that events such as matriculations and congregations are very
important. There is an argument in the literature that public relations objectives focus on creating
credibility, delivering information, and building positive images include involving people with
the brand, company or organisation through events and other participatory activities (Wells et al.,
2005).
Finally, the study found out how public relations units of the universities build relationships with
employers. The respondents at the three universities explained that relationships with employers’
hinge on the cordial relationships established since the establishment through sharing of business
ideas and believe that this had led to trust building between the universities and organisations.
There is sufficient evidence in the literature that good relationship building is grounded on trust
between an organisation and its publics (Kotler, 2003). Thus, communication becomes a vehicle
used by an organisation to initiates, develops, maintains and repairs mutually productive
relationships (Bruning & Ledingham, 2000). Therefore, the importance of building relationship
with students, parents and employers is necessary to ward off unfavourable rumours about the
universities (Kotler, 2003).
Cross Case Analysis

In this part of the analysis, the three cases of University College (A), University College (B) and
University College (C) were compared with each other for issues of commonalities and
divergence of public relations tools used for image building strategies. According to Miles and
Huberman (1994) it is crucial to understand the dynamics of each particular case before
proceeding to cross-case explanations. Table 1 presents a cross-case analysis of the study.
Page 11
Table 1: Public Relations Tools for Image Building
University College University College University College

(A) (B) (C)
Public Relations Tools
Common tools to communicate Notice Boards, Notice Boards, Notice Boards,
with students and employees of Emails, Websites, Emails, Websites, Emails, Websites,
the universities Memos Memos Memos
Common tool(s) to websites, events websites, events websites, events
communicate
with parents and employers
PR Relations in
Corporate Image Building
Types of PR relations used:
Employee relations YES YES YES
Media relations YES YES YES
Corporate relations YES YES YES
Financial relations YES YES YES
Public affairs YES YES YES
Community relations activities Minimal Minimal NO
PR relations that the unit puts Employees’ Employees’ Employees’
premium on: relations, Media relations, Media relations, Media
relations, Public relations, Public relations, Public
affairs affairs affairs
Has PR succeeded in building YES YES YES
the Image of the university?
Strategies adopted by PR in
building relationships with:
Students Website, events Sponsorship, events Website, events
Page 12
Parents Events Events Events

employers Sharing business Sharing business Sharing business
Ideas Idea idea, Event
From the cross case analysis of table 1, it could be observed that the three private universities
seem to have similar views on public relations tools employed in building relationships in the
universities. Additionally, the common tools used to communicate with both employees and
students are the notice boards, email, memos and websites. It can be seen that the three
universities do not consider community relations as an important relation or tool in building
relationships.
Also, when analyzing the corporate image, the three universities are to a large extent using the
same public relations strategies or tools in building corporate image. In building relationships
with employees, students, parents and employers, the public relations units of the three
universities seem to adopt similar programmes. The common tools used by public relations to
communicate and build relationships with parents and employers are through the use of websites
and events. Hence, websites and events are key marketing ingredients in day to day activities of
public relations to position the universities in the topmost mind of their target market. It is
therefore not surprising that well designed websites and colourful events such as matriculations
and graduations ceremonies have now become an integral part of private universities in Ghana.
5. Managerial Implications
From the study, the public relations units of private universities studied are building the image of
the universities; however, tools that can bring the universities face to face with their publics to
encourage two-way dialogue to build relationships have not been fully utilized. The study is
therefore an indispensable ingredient for private universities in Ghana.
The study revealed that for private universities to build relationships needed to obtain favourable
publicity, build up a good corporate image to ward off unfavourable rumours and stories (Kotler,
Page 13
2003), the private universities therefore need to put community relations activities in place to
build relationships and ward off negative impact on the image of the universities. Palmer (2005)
and Duncan (2002) believe that sponsorship which is an investment in an event or a cause can
help an organisation to increase its awareness level, enhance reputation and image and build
relationships for an organisation.
Moreover, the study found that the image of an organisation may be seen by the universities
publics from different dimensions. Pickton and Broderick (2005) assert that an organisation has
many images, but not just one and each target audience is affected by its own interest and
contacts. Hence, there is the need for private universities to showcase where they have positive
image in terms of academic performance, quality staff both teaching and administration,
academic infrastructure as well as flexible and competitive programmes to make them market
leaders but not market followers in the competitive academic market today.
Lastly, the results of the study further showed that websites and events are used to communicate
and build relationships with students, employees, parents and employers. Therefore, websites
and events have become invaluable assets of the universities. Using the websites and events will
enable the public relations departments to communicate effectively with their stakeholders
(Taylor & Kent, 2007). It follows then that, training of public relations practitioners on the use of
intranet, extranet and internet is critical for proactive public relations professionals’ job. Thus,
websites and events have the potential of enabling organisations to communicate directly with
the mass media and the public whom the success or failure of the universities depends.
References
Beavers-Moss, D. (2001). Credibility enhancer, Bank Marketing, May 2001, 27-31.
Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A (2001). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing
communication perspective, (5th ed.). New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Bryman, A. (2004). Social research methods, (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Page 14
Chong, M. (2007). In practice: The role of internal communication and training in infusing
corporate values and delivering brand promise: Singapore airlines’ experience.
Corporate Reputation Review, 10 (3), 201-212.
Clow, E. K., & Baack, D. (2007). Integrated advertising, promotion and marketing
communication, (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
Cutlip, S. M., Center, A. H. & Broom, G. M. (2006). Effective public relations, New Jersey:
Pearson Education International.
Cutlip, S. M., Center, A. H., & Broom, G. M. (2000). Effective public relations, (8th ed.).
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Densin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2003). The discipline and practice of qualitative research, In
N. K Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of Qualitative Enquiry, (2nd Ed.),
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc.
Dolphin, R.R. (2004). Corporate reputation: A value creating strategy, Corporate
Governance 4 (3), 77-92.
Dortok, A. (2006). A managerial look at the interaction between internal communication and
corporate reputation, Corporate Reputation Review, 8 (4), 322-338.
Dozier, D. (1990). The innovation of research in public relations practice: Review of
program
studies, Public Relations Research Annual, 2, 214-223.
Duncan, T. (2002). IMC: Using advertising and promotion to build brands. New York: McGraw-
Hill
Education reforms in Ghana (2002). Report of the Education Reform Review Committee in
Ghana, Accra: Adwinsa Publications GH, Ltd.
Eisenhardt, K. M., (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of
Management Review, 14, 532-550.
Esrock, S., & Leichty, G. (2000). Organisation of corporate web pages: Publics and
functions. Public Relations Review, 26 (3), 327–344.
Galloway, C. (2005). Cyber-PR and ‘dynamic touch’, Public Relations Review, 31, 572–577.
Page 15
Grunig, J. E., Grunig, L. A., & Dozier, D. M. (2006). The excellence theory. In Botan, C. H.
and Hazleton, V. (Eds), Public Relations Theory II, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, Hillsdale.
Grunig, L. A., Grunig, J. E., & Dozier, D. M. (2002). Effective public relations and effective
organisations: A study of communication management in three countries. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence, Erlbaum Associates.
Gubrium, J. & Holstein, J. (1997). The new language of qualitative method. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Hill, L., & White, C. (2000). Public relations practitioners’ perception of the World Wide
Web as a communications tool. Public Relations Review, 26 (1), 31–51.
Hutton, J.G. Goodman, M.B Alexander J.B. & Genest, C.M. (2001). Reputation
management: The
Incorporation. J. (Ed.) (1992), Excellence in public relations and communication
management. (pp. 213-228).
Jobber D. (2001). Principles and practice of marketing, (3 rd ed.). London: McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company.
Kent, M., & Taylor, M. (1998). Building dialogic relationships through the world wide web.
Public Relations Review, 24(3), 321–334.
Kent, M., Taylor, M., & White, W. (2003). The relationship between web site design and
organisation responsiveness to stakeholders. Public Relations Review, 29, 63–77.
Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing management, (11th ed.). New Jersey, United States of America:
Prentice- Hall Inc.
Lancaster, G. (2005). Public relations. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from
www.marketingmasters.co.uk/geoff/publicrelationshandout.doc.
Ledingham, J. A., & Bruning, S.D. (2000). Introduction: Background and current trends in
the study of relationship management. In J. Ledingham, and S. Bruning (Eds.),
Public Relations as a Relationship Management: A relational approach to the study
and practice of public relations, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Mahwah.
Page 16
Leeper, R. (2004). In search of a metatheory for public relations: An argument for

communitarianism. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Handbook of public relations. Thousand
Oak, CA: Sage Publications,
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2006). Designing quality research, (4 th ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc.
Miles, M., & Huberman, H. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage
Publications.
Moore, F. H., & Kalupa, F. B. (2007). Public relations: Principles, cases and problems,
Delhi, India: Surjeet Publications.
Morrow, S.L., & Smith, M.L. (2000). Qualitative research methods in counseling
psychology, (3rd ed.). In S.D. Brown & R.W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of Counseling
Psychology, New York: Wiley
new face of corporate public relations, Public Relations Review, 27, 247-261.
Newsom, D., Turk, J. V., & Kruckeberg, D. (2004). This is public relations: The realities of
public relations, (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Opoku-Amankwa, K. (2009). Social research methods. KNUST: University Printing Press.
Palmer, A. (2000). Principles of marketing. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
Palmer, A. (2005). Principles of service marketing, (4 th ed.). United Kingdom: McGraw-
Hill Education.
Pickton, D & Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated marketing communication, (2nd ed.). England:
Pearson Education Limited.
Porter, L., Sweetser Trammell, K., Chung, D., & Kim, E. (2007). Blog power: Examining the
effects of practitioner blog use on power in public relations. Public Relations Review
33, 92–95.
Post, J. E., Preston, L. E. & Sachs, S. (2002). Redefining the corporation, stakeholder
management and organisational wealth, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Stake, R. E. (2006). Multiple case study analysis. New York: The Guilford Press.
Taylor, M., & Kent, M. (2007). Taxonomy of mediated crisis responses. Public Relations
Review, 33, 140–146.
Page 17
Tianping, Y. (2003). On the development of schools' external public relations in China,

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 6, (2 ), 185 – 191.
Wells, W. Burnet, J. & Moriarty, S. (2005). Advertising: Principles and practice, (6th ed.).
New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.
White, C., & Raman, N. (1999). The World Wide Web as a public relations medium: The use
of research, planning and evaluation in web site development. Public Relations
Review, 25(4), 405–419.
White, J. & Dozier, D. M. (1992). Public relations and management decision making. In
Grunig,
J. (Ed.) (1992), Excellence in public relations and communication management. (pp. 213-
228).
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Yin, R. K. (2004). Case study research: Design and methods, (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications.
Page 18

Using Public Relations Tools To Build Image of Tertiary Institutions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Using Public Relations Tools To Build Image of Tertiary Institutions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Using Public Relations Tools To Build Image of Tertiary Institutions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF MARKETING AND ECONOMICS

VOLUME-2, ISSUE-5 (May 2015) IF- 2.988 ISSN: (2349-0314)

USING PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS TO BUILD IMAGE OF TERTIARY

Keywords: Public Relations tools, Image building, Private universities, Ghana

Tools of Public Relations

Building Corporate Image Using Public Relations

4. Results of the Study

Image Building Approach

Cross Case Analysis

Table 1: Public Relations Tools for Image Building

University College University College University College

Parents Events Events Events

Leeper, R. (2004). In search of a metatheory for public relations: An argument for

Tianping, Y. (2003). On the development of schools' external public relations in China,

You might also like