Reviews of Classmate blogs

It was very interesting to find out the similarities in the Public Relations interests of my peers.  The following blogs helped me to understand more on my research topic about the public relations practices in Spain.

Mara Yamnicky has been working on a blog dedicated towards global experiences with public relations.  She wrote about a United States article in PR week, which discussed the difficulties public relations practitioners encounter during a campaign. It explained how PR professionals are not willing to spend the time and money they need to in order to conduct legitimate research.  Spain is dealing with this very concept now. She also mentions another article from the UK that discusses how most large Public relations companies do not believe that measurement should be used for a large part of the budget.  In fact, the practitioners believed that measurement should only account for somewhere between one and ten percent of the budget.  Her blog relates to mine because it shows the outstanding differences from the way pr is practiced in the United States, compared to places around the world.

Another blog also took a spin on international public relations.  Vam88’s blog is entitled, “International Ethics: Difficult to Define” and its main focus is the ethical practices of France.  The information she uncovered from her research is very similar to what I have been learning this semester in my both my public relations research course and my international pr course.  When conducting public relations on a global scale, it is important to realize that people from different countries conduct themselves differently than we are used to in the United States.  It is important to do research on the country before launching a campaign.

HELENA study

There is a study going on in Europe entitled the HELENA study.  HELENA stands for healthy lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence.  It is a campaign that hopes to establish an environment that supports healthy lifestyles among children and teenagers in Europe.  Adolescence is a very important place to start, when it comes to leading a healthy life.  If a person starts leading a better lifestyle at this stage, it is more likely that he or she will continue it for the rest of his or her life.

In the results of this study, researchers hope to grasp new methods that would assess diet and physical activity in adolescents across the continent.  They also hope to understand what makes an adolescent choose a food, so they can create new products that are healthier but offer similar attractions.  They also want to learn more about cultural and social differences across Europe.  They want to understand how to please all Europeans.

There will be results that show improvements and impacts of the HELENA study.  It is up to the researchers to decide what they will do about the future health of Europeans.  Researchers come mainly from different universities across the continent.  This article really showed how much of a problem, obesity and related diseases are becoming on a global scale.  It is not only a problem in the United States.

Differences between cultures

After doing some research, I have concluded that research in Spain is conducted both similarly and differently to the way research is conducted in the United States.  In business ethics in Spain, Spaniards stress the importance in getting to know the person handling the business transactions before he or she can be trusted.  In addition, Spaniards appreciate face to face, personal business actions instead of by phone or email.  Public relations research is not something that is widely practiced in Spain.  Spanish public relations practitioners are really only known for producing press releases.  Another way that Spanish PR practitioners differ is that most do not have degrees in PR but rather, in journalism.

If I was to conduct research in Spain for a PR project, I would have to realize that Spaniards are not used to this type of research, which means they would need to be persuaded to trust what I’m doing.  The uncertainty avoidance index in Spain is very high, which shows that people will have a more difficult time believing that research is important in the development of public relations.  A PR practitioner would have to show that he or she can be trusted by using ethical approaches.  If a practitioner slips up, in no way, would research methods of PR be accepted.

It is important to note that different values and customs play a role in how a practitioner should conduct research.  I found an interesting article regarding a difference in values and customs across the world.  This article talks about the controversy regarding the placement of a mosque at Ground Zero.  It explains what Americans tend to forget about the Islamic religion, which is actually a religion that promotes peace.

Different PR practices in Spain

International public relations is a topic that specifically interests me. I would like to compare the public relations in Spain to the public relation practices of the United States. I plan to study abroad in Spain next semester, so I think it would be beneficial to learn more about the country’s experience with public relations. I would find the differences between the two areas in three different areas that affect pr. These three include cultural, political, and economical differences. Each of these areas change drastically from country to country, making changes even from region to region. I am interested to see how different the two countries are in these three areas.


According to Geert Hofstede’s research on cultural dimensions, Spain has a 50 percent degree of individualism compared to the 91 percent in the United States. The research also states that it is a more feminine country which means that women and men share values and are more tolerant of new ideas. Hofstede ranks the United States as a masculine country where men and women tend to have very distinct roles in society. In contrast with Spain, Americans tend to be more set in their own ways and beliefs. Hofstede has done a lot of research with politics as well within the two countries, which I hope to continue to research during the duration of the blogs. (Hofstede)

I look forward to continuing my research in order to find what works in each area of pr and what the aforementioned countries have in common. It is important to see differences in cultures, politics, and economies to be able to work well with other places in certain areas of public relations.



References:

"United States - US or American Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Explained ." Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2010. <http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_united_states.shtml>.

"Spain - Spanish Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Explained for Espana." Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2010. <http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_spain.shtml>.