PR in the News: PR Professionals and Influencing Public Opinion

 

Public opinion is like public relations based on the fact that there are a lot of differing definitions of the topic. The best way to understand public opinion is to separate the two terms. Public refers to a group of people that share a common interest in a subject, and opinion is the expression of an attitude on a particular topic. When attitudes strengthen, they become opinions. When opinions strengthen, they lead to actions. Public relations professionals often work to try and influence the public’s opinion on certain topics, and they do this by understanding certain “laws” of public opinion. The laws are listed below.

 

1.      Opinion is highly sensitive to important events.

2.      Opinion is generally determined more by events than by words—unless those words are themselves interpreted as an event.

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.

5.      People have more opinions and are able to form opinions more easily on goals than on methods to reach those goals.

6.      By and large, if people in a democracy are provided with educational opportunities and ready access to information, public opinion reveals a hardheaded common sense.

                                                                                                                                        (Seitel, 2019)

            Recently, an event occurred at a local restaurant called the Sand Bar & Grill that relates well to law number two, which discusses how opinion is generally determined more by events than by words, unless the words are interpreted as an event. On the day this event occurred, there was a widespread power outage in the area, but the Sand Bar & Grill was not affected. Because of this, there was an abundance of customers that flocked to their restaurant for food. They were not initially prepared for this, which resulted in longer wait times and the occasional incorrect order. Public opinion on their review websites and in Facebook groups for the community included negative commentary on the restaurant and how it was being run. The public saw the events unfold and the restaurant make mistakes, and formed a strong enough opinion on the topic that actions were taken, such as leaving reviews.

            As a response to the public opinion, the restaurant owner, who would be considered their PR as they are a small business, took to Facebook to post a long message to the community apologizing for the mistakes made, and to thank the team they have for coming in and working hard in whatever situation they are in as a restaurant. The link to that message is here.

Within an hour, the post had over 50 comments of people thanking them for the message and expressing the appreciation they have for the restaurant and owners. This restaurant owner attempted to influence the public's opinion on the events that unfolded, and appealed to the public emotionally, and made connections on the idea of community and how important it is. This resonated with the public and resulted in an abundance of people coming to defend and support the restaurant. They currently have a high 4.5 star rating on Google Reviews, as shown here. As mentioned previously, this is a great example of understanding the laws of public opinion and persuading the public.

 

Reference

    Seitel, F. P. (2019). The Practice of Public Relations (14th ed.). Pearson.