Public opinion; Public relations; Publicity; Social psychology
The utilization of this characteristic of society was shown recently in
the activities of a silk firm which desired to intensify the interest
of the public in silks. It realized that fundamentally women were its
potential buying public, but it understood, too, that the women who
made up this public were members of other groups as well. Thus, to
the members of women’s clubs, silk was projected as the embodiment of
fashion. To those women who visited museums, silk was displayed there
as art. To the schools in the same town, perhaps, silk became a lesson
in the natural history of the silkworm. To art clubs, silk became color
and design. To newspapers, the events that transpired in the silk
mills became news matters of importance.
Each group of women was appealed to on the basis of its greatest
interest. The school teacher was appealed to in the schoolroom as an
educator, and after school hours as a member of a women’s club. She
read the advertisements about silk as a woman reader of the newspapers,
and as a member of the women’s group which visited the museums, saw
the silk there. The woman who stayed at home was brought into contact
with the silk through her child. All these groups made up the potential
market for silk, reached in this way in terms of many appeals to each
individual. These are the implications present for the public relations
counsel, who must take into account the interchange and interplay of
groups in pleading his cause.
For society, the interesting outcome of this situation is that progress
seldom occurs through the abrupt expulsion by a group of its old ideas
in favor of new ideas, but rather through the rearrangement of the
thought of the individuals in these groups with respect to each other
and with respect to the entire membership of society.
It is precisely this interlapping of groups--the variety, the
inconsistency of the average man’s mental, social and psychological
commitments which makes possible the gradual change from one state
of affairs or from one state of mind to another. Few people are life
members of one group and of one group only. The ordinary person is a
very temporary member of a great number of groups. This is one of the
most powerful forces making for progress in society because it makes
for receptivity and open-mindedness. The modification which results
from the inconstancy of individual commitments may be accelerated
and directed by conscious effort. These changes which come about so
stealthily that they remain unobserved in society until long after they
have taken place, can be made to yield results in chosen directions.
Changed external conditions must be taken into account by the public
relations counsel in his work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account