Abstract
Organization-public dialogue (OPD) has become one of the major areas in public relations (PR) research and practices (Ao & Huang, 2020; Chen et al., 2020). Organization-public dialogue emphasizes openness, listening, and public-oriented communication thus has the potential to become the next paradigm of PR. Public relations scholars have been researching this area since 1989 (Kent & Taylor, 2002, Person, 1989) and with the development of information and communication technologies, OPD has garnered even more attention from academia. However, the majority of the studies in this area only focus on developing theoretical grounds and explaining how dialogue might be incorporated into PR practices. The voice from the industry regarding how theory and principles are viewed and implemented is missing. To fill this gap, this study proposes understanding OPD and its application from the industry’s perspective through interviews with communication/PR professionals working in the oil and gas industry in Canada. The results of the study provide empirical data to complement the current theoretical groundwork of OPD. By exploring OPD in the context of the Canadian controversial industry, the current project extends the scope of OPD studies and potentially facilitates the development of related theories. Practically, this project can inform practitioners about the value and strategies of OPD and practitioners can use the findings as guidelines to apply dialogue to their PR practices.
Presenters
Ran JuAssistant Professor, Department of Public Relations, Mount Royal University, Alberta, Canada Leah Pottinger
Student, Communications, Mount Royal University, AB, Canada Emily Conley
Student, Bachelor of Communication, Mount Royal University, AB, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Organization-public dialogue, Public relations, Oil and gas industry, Canada
