Home
>
Public Relations
>
PR: Behavior Modification Specialist

PR: Behavior Modification Specialist

While awaiting economic recovery, business needs to attract the attention of its most important external audiences in a more targeted and focused way. Primarily to impact the perceptions of those key outsiders so that resulting behaviors help those managers achieve their objectives.

This should be enough reason for recession-weary managers to take a closer look at public relations, America's resident specialists in behavior modification.

The reason public relations finds itself in the behavior business -- and of real use to those recession-jaded managers -- is because it's firmly rooted in the principle that people act on their own perception of the facts. It strives to create, change or reinforce perception/public opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired- action those people whose behaviors affect the organization.

It's good news for business managers because, when the behavioral changes become apparent, and meet the program's original behavior modification goal, a public relations effort has succeeded.

Truth is, at any time, when managers start looking for a return on their public relations investment, it's clear as crystal that their goal MUST be the kind of change in the behaviors of key stakeholders that leads right to achieving their objectives.

Just think about some of the perceptions out there, in good times or bad, that could actually hurt your organization. Perceptions that, if ignored long enough, could well result in behaviors that run counter to those you want.

At the root of it all, is that simple truism we all know but tend to forget: people really DO act on their perception of the facts and behave accordingly. But, if a manager is to have an effect on those perceptions and behaviors, he/she must deal with them promptly and effectively whether the economy is down or up.

Imagine how many different audiences your organization may have to depend upon at one time or another? Would your list include insurance carriers, journalists, minorities, customers, prospects, employees, legislators, community residents and others whose perceptions of your organization, if left unattended, could hurt?

Start getting your arms around this challenge by listing your important audiences in priority order. For example, customers, prospects, employees, local and trade media, local business and community leaders, and so forth.

As time permits, meet with members of each audience and jot down their impressions of your business, especially problem areas. Be sure to ask questions about their feelings and perceptions of your products and services. Stay alert to inaccuracies, misconceptions or rumors. Here, you'll have a chance to decide to what degree you will try to alter perceptions among each audience. Later, this will become the behavior modification goal against which you will measure progress for each target audience.

Next, prepare persuasive messages that not only provide details about your product and service quality, but address problems that surfaced during your conversations with key audience members. Identify what is really at issue at the moment; impart a sense of credibility to your comments; and regularly assess how opinion is currently running among that group, constantly adjusting your message.

Then, consider the most effective means for communicating each message to each audience. This may include simple face-to-face meetings, briefings, news releases, news announcement luncheons, media interviews, facility tours, targeted speeches, a brochure, special events like open houses and awards, and a variety of other communications tactics.

As you look for signs that your aggressive efforts are changing perceptions for the better, especially important in a recession, you should begin to notice increased awareness of your organization, especially progress in the marketplace; increased receptiveness to your messages; a growing public perception of the role your organization plays in its industry and in the community; and, of course, growing numbers of prospects.

These signs of progress are tracked by speaking once again, and on a regular basis with people among each of your key audiences, by monitoring print and broadcast media for mentions of your messages or viewpoints, by interaction with key customers and prospects and, if resources permit, modest opinion sampling.

Especially during hard times, remember that people in your community or marketing area behave like everyone else ? they take actions based on their perception of the facts they hear about you and your business.

Which means that you must deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach them. Especially during recession, you must persuade your stakeholders to your way of thinking, thus moving them to take actions that lead to the success of your organization.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks about the fundamental premise of public relations. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@tni.net. Visit: mailto:bobkelly@tni.net.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at mailto:bobkelly@tni.net.

Robert A. Kelly ? 2003.

expert residential cleaners Lake Forest ...

In The News:

Americans average 10-plus hours online daily, according to recent survey, splitting time between streaming shows on TV and browsing websites on multiple devices.

Boost your smartphone privacy instantly with these security tweaks for iPhone and Android that limit ad tracking, hide notifications and prevent unauthorized access.

Platforms like Hoax Tech and JS Click Cloaker help cybercriminals bypass detection systems using machine learning to selectively display scam content to victims.

A new battery recycling technique transforms old lithium-ion batteries into high-performance components that retain 88% capacity after 500 cycles with minimal waste.

Google's Android operating system can warn users about earthquakes before the shaking even begins – and there are ways to do it on your iPhone, too.

Meta's new gesture control wristband might just be the most seamless way to control a computer yet. And no, it doesn't require surgery, a camera, or even a touchscreen. All it needs is your wrist.

Long-haul trucks are now being upgraded with a surprising twist, thanks to California-based startup Revoy. Their electric boost doesn't replace diesel but works alongside it to cut emissions and fuel costs without major disruption.

PayPal and Venmo just rolled out something big: AI-powered scam alerts for Friends and Family payments.

As data centers multiply across the United States, energy demand is increasing at a rapid pace. This has not escaped the notice of large investment firms from Wall Street.

The Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that maintains the Unicode Standard to ensure emojis work across devices, has announced Unicode 17.0, which includes nine new emojis slated for release this fall, in September 2025.

OpenAI is one of the world's leading AI research labs. Founded in 2015, it's behind some of today's most talked-about tools, including GPT, DALL·E, and ChatGPT.

Ever catch your dog staring at the screen during movie night and wonder if they're actually watching? Turns out, they might be. A new scientific study from Auburn University found that many dogs really do engage with television, and not all pups react the same way.

Stop the scammers from making contact in the first place. They're getting your parents' contact information and much more personal data besides, from somewhere.

The Walker S2 robot from UBTech autonomously exchanges its batteries in just three minutes, allowing continuous operation in car factories operated by BYD, Nio and Zeekr.

The FX Super One electric MPV from Faraday Future offers flexible seating, zero-gravity recliners and an AI system that creates a personal connection between driver and vehicle.

Practical solutions for reducing unwanted charity mail, political texts and email spam by opting out of shared lists, replying "STOP" and using data removal services.

Delta's new AI pricing system eliminates static airfares for personalized rates based on individual data, raising questions about fairness while promising optimized revenue.

AI data centers are straining the power grid across 13 states, contributing to a $9 billion increase in electricity costs, and PJM customers face monthly bill increases of $25 or more.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the music industry as AI-generated bands like The Velvet Sundown earn substantial streaming revenue, prompting lawsuits from major record labels.

Microsoft phishing scams use fake security alerts and links that redirect to credential-stealing pages with warning signs, including urgent language and unusual senders.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Tesla vehicles manufactured since mid-2021 with AMD Ryzen processors can now access Grok 4, xAI's witty conversational assistant designed to make drives more engaging.

Understand how technology affects mental health through five concepts, including blue light exposure, screen time management and algorithmic bias.

Electric vehicle maker Lucid adds hands-free driving through an over-the-air update for Air sedan owners with the DreamDrive Pro package and Gravity SUV support coming later.

Protect your home network from hidden dangers, including router vulnerabilities, ISP tracking and smart device weaknesses with proper encryption, firmware updates and VPN technology.

PR: Behavior Modification Specialist

Public Relations