Customers as Publics: Contemporary Service Research from a Public Relations Perspective

Abstract

Marketing academicians have posited that theories from allied disciplines can be useful in furthering the development of service research. This paper begins an exploration of how public relations concepts can be integrated into the scholarly study of contemporary service. The view of customers as publics is consistent with the increasing focus of public relations scholars on developing conceptual and theoretical tools grounded in the relationship-building aspects of this discipline.