Public Relations Evaluation in Ghana: Are We There Yet?

Abstract

Evaluation is generally regarded as fundamental to the success of public relations. It forms the basis on which practitioners determine how their activities contribute to achieving the organizational strategy. The last half-century has seen the subject being debated by both academics and professionals with seemingly no end in sight. Research has consistently found practitioners focus on media content exposure (output) to the neglect of outcomes (and impact). The current study investigates the state of public relations evaluation in Ghana through a survey of 113 practitioners and interviews with 15 practitioners. Findings show practitioners focus on output evaluation and lack the requisite competencies to engage in reliable evaluation premised on impact. The results show practitioners cannot truly demonstrate their contribution to the bottom line unless they develop a focus on impact, which requires the use of sophisticated evaluation techniques. It also highlights the need to re-evaluate current training programs on evaluation by universities offering public relations.