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Research Article

Potentials of Internet of Things for effective public relations activities: Are professionals ready?

, , , & | (Reviewing editor)
Article: 1683951 | Received 03 Aug 2019, Accepted 17 Oct 2019, Published online: 29 Oct 2019
 

Abstract

The research explored public relations professionals’ views on the potentials of adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) for their functions. High level of competitiveness in business engendered by globalization and technological advancement has made relationship-building sacrosanct to business survival. The advent of Internet-based communication has increased the sophistication of the target audience of public relations, which requires a matching upgrade of the technological versatility of practitioners. Decisions on customer satisfaction are increasingly based on data and the best sources of data are the customers themselves. Consequently, the IoT offers an unprecedented avenue for data gathering through the “assistance” of customers themselves. This study, therefore, adopted an online survey to evaluate the views of 100 public relations professionals on their need for IoT, and a t-test was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that independent public relations firms or agencies were more likely to adopt IoT for their activities than in-house departments. It was recommended that public relations professionals should explore actively the benefits of IoT for advanced operations.

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The research was an interesting exploration of the potentials of the Internet of Things (IoT) for public relations activities. In the literature review section, the paper presented a summary of the use of the Internet in public relations practice, and the origin and use of IoT generally. We also examined the adoption of IoT for public relations activities, which was termed Smart-PR or Internet Relations of Things. The benefits accruable from Smart-PR included access to direct customer-data, a combination of multiple-source data for better decision-making, prediction of customers’ needs, and multi-channel communication with customers. An online survey of 100 public relations professionals in Nigeria and a t-test analysis revealed that independent public relations professionals were more likely to engage the potentials of IoT than in-house professionals. The findings of the research are relevant in pushing the boundaries of public relations, considering that the use of IoT in the field is largely unexplored.

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discovery (CUCRID) for the financial support for this publication.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Covenant University [1234].

Notes on contributors

Lanre Amodu

Dr. Lanre Amodu, Dr. Oladokun Omojola, Nelson Okorie, Babatunde Adeyeye and Evaristus Adesina. The authors are scholars from the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. The focus of the research is how ICT can be engaged at a more advanced level in the public relations profession. There have been several positive developments in recent times in the profession as exemplified by the adoption of Internet related channels for information dissemination and customer engagement. The adoption of the Internet of Things will further enhance the effectiveness of public relations practitioners.