Developing a bottom-line public relations model

The function and benefits of public relations to an organization have long been questioned by some CEOs. Although several past studies provide evidence of the positive relationship between public relations and an organizations bottom-line, the results do not seem strong and convincing enough to many CEOs. The purpose of this paper is, based on the results of prior studies, to delineate how public relations impacts an organizations bottom-line by describing the relationship between public relations and some common terms in the public relations. The result of this extensive literature review is the proposition of a new model, which includes ten most common terms in the public relations academic world: PR activities, organization reputation/brand image, behavioral intent, consumer satisfaction, customer service, repurchase behavior, consumer trust, consumer commitment/loyalty, consumer relationship, and organization profit. This model was then tested in in-depth interviews with public relations practitioners.