Untitled
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BY
JUNE 2021
CERTIFICATION
study of Awka has been properly certified and approved as research thesis carried
mass communication.
………………………….. …………………………..
Mr. Benjamin Obioha Signature
Supervisor
………………………….. …………………………..
Barr. F.M Oduah Signature
H.O.D
………………………….. …………………………..
Dr. Onyeka Uwakwe Signature
Dean School of Information Technology
………………………….. …………………………..
External Examiner Signature
DEDICATION
This work is duly dedicated to the almighty and ever living God for his guidance
program.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
their prayers and financial support to me. To my project supervisor who is like a
father to me, no other person but Mr. Benjamin Obioha and also my head of
department Barr. Dr. F.M Oduah, and to my lecturers, I pray that God Almighty
Title
Approval
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Abstract
1.4Research Questions
1 .7 Summary
2.0Introduction
2.2Theoretical Framework
2.3 Summary of Literature
3.0 Introduction
3.2 Population
3.3 Sample
3.11 Summary
4.0 Introduction
5.3 Recommendations
References
Appendix A
Questionnaire
Abstract
This study examined the role of social media in public relations. The use of social
media by consumers is anxiously followed by marketers, but not much is known
about how it influences the consumers' decision-making. Many studies focus on
consumer behaviour in the online shopping environment, but without consideration
of the effects of the internet on the different phases of consumers' decision process.
This research explores how the presence and abundance of these new information
sources is influencing the decision process of consumers for complex purchases. It
finds out that social media refers to those Internet-based tools and services that
allow users to engage with each other, generate content, distribute, and search for
information online. In other words, the social media are interactive verb-based
media platforms that offer citizens opportunity and place to connect, hare opinions,
experiences, views, contacts, knowledge, expertise, as well as other things like job
and career tips. They belong to a new genre of media that focuses on social
networking allowing users to express themselves, interact with friends and share
information with greater freedom as well as publish their views on issues on the
World Wide Web. It concludes that social media adverts go a long way to convince
the consumers on their buying habit.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Social media have changed the pattern of corporate communications, affecting the
ways public relations campaigns are formulated, disseminated and measured. The
power over the message is no longer the exclusive preserve of an organisation; the
various publics also enjoy equal power to initiate dialogue. Prior to the digital
explosion and the popularization of the social media, audience engagement was
based on print and electronic media. The focus of a PR publicity campaign was all
about securing decent coverage in television, radio and dailies. With over 75%
internet surfers using social media, (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010), the social media
information, monitor public opinion on issues, and engage in direct dialogue with
their publics about a variety of issues. (McAllister & Taylor, 2007) Eyrich,
Padman & Sweetser, (2008) observed that public relations practitioners are shifting
to social media as the lines between online and offline promotion becomes blurry.
While many public relations practitioners value the social media, a few of them
appears that a good number of public relations practitioners are yet to understand
how social media can help improve their professional practices. Some of them
simply use social media as another tool of personal communication while others do
In the university system, there is high level of compliance to the social media by
staff and students. Many of them depend on the social media for information on
activities within and outside the university. They use the social media to share their
thoughts, make inquires, and react to posts shared by other members of the
university community. With their Smartphone and laptops, they monitor events in
the university through the social media. The development has placed a burden on
information needs of members of their internal and external publics using their
favorite channels.
cannot afford to be apathetic to the use of social media in their job. The stake has
gone beyond using the social media to promote internal and external
university requires that the public relations practitioner should use the social media
rankings of his institution. One of the indicators for global ranking of universities
is their web presence. The social media platforms arc employed by the public
through their social media platforms. This is a challenge which many PR managers
The usage of social media amongst public relations experts might be new to
Nigerian firms but the usage cannot be undermined in any way. From time, it has
been observed that the usage of public relations for the purpose of relations has
been hampered due to the changing nature of the communication spae, the use of
billboard, radio and television might still be available but overdependence on the
social media for communication its customers or to the prospective client thus
issues.
The above problem motivated this study to look into the role of social media in
in Nigeria
ii. To find out the factors that motivate the usage of social media in public
relations practice.
iii. To evaluate the perception of Awka consumers towards the use of social
The work which is centered on social media and public relations is significant
media whilst maintaining a steady flow to the mainstream media, Finally, it will be
sources of material to other researchers who will be want to Lake enquiries on this
field.
1.4 Research Questions
Nigeria?
ii. What are the factors that motivate the usage of social media in public
relations practice?
iii. What is the perception of Awka consumers towards the use of social media
This work is limited to the geographical area of Awka metropolis as it will review
the topic and related materials on social media and public relations but not
exhaustive.
Social Media: Online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram e.t.c
that were created in the earlier 21st century for socialization and interactions
amongst people.
Public Relations: This refers to the act of creating and sustaining mutual
potential/prospective buyer.
1.7 Summary
products and services (Tavor, 2011). This chapter lays a background to the study in
view with a link to advertising, the concept of social media relations, objectives of
Literature Review
This section of the work treats the literary review of this work under the following
subheads;
Literature review
Theoretical Framework
Summary
The concept of social media is wide and varied, so much so that the meaning of the
word social media depends on context. What one person understands as social
media may slightly differ from what another hold (Granados, 2016). According to
Pearson (2009), because people mean different things when they make reference to
social media, it has become hard to actually tie the word to any specific concept.
Reasons for this inconsistency may be due to the rapid changes in both the
technology that bear social networking system and nature of the content that are
One thing that stands out in the attribution of meaning to the concept of social
media is the role that the word 'social' plays. Troltier and Fuchs (2011, p.56)
contends that what makes the web a social tool depends on some theoretical
questions, these questions include: - "what does it mean to be social? Are human
beings always social or only if they interact with others?" Answer to these
questions according to them, also depend on the concept of sociality that is adopted
(like calculators, computers and counting machines), all web applications (like web
browsers, search engines, 'social media' and networking platforms), and all forms
of media (like CDs, Cables, Satellites, Newspapers, Radios and Television etc.) are
social because human knowledge can be transmitted through them and this
engender social interaction among people although, not all of them allow for a
this argument is that the web is and becomes social only when it involves
The sociality of a social network or media can therefore be judged by its ability or
inability to incorporate technologies that allow users the display and reflection of
values that are collective. These values should be shared or decipherable between
Different terms have been used to describe social media. Social media sometimes
refer to services which can be obtained on the web where the content is generated
by the consumer of the media service (Cann, 2011). In fact, Burke (2013) on his
own part defined social media as the very items that a user uploads on the internet
such as videos, music, podcasts, blog posts and even eBooks, this position is also
necessary to distinguish between social media as a tool for social networking and
First of all, there cannot be a talk about social media (as the word is used today)
without taking into cognizance social networking and, although the terms can be
and are used interchangeably (Burke, 2013), they do not mean the same thing.
Colin (2011) argued that, it is a misconception to assume that social media and
social networking refer to the same thing. But then, social networking (as we will
see) necessitates what is referred to as social media today (Watson & Seymour,
2011).
The difference between social network and social media lies heavily on the
2016). There are different classes and types of media, they include: electronic
media, print media, mass media, social media and others. It is argued that before
the proliferation of internet mediated social networking, the term media ostly
(Alejandro, 2010). Cohn (2011) described social media as the use of mobile or
technologies to often provide utilities that put the user in control of contents and
consumption (Vitak, 2012) - a situation that never existed with traditional media.
One description of social media that really captures the essence of this concept is
that by Jacka and Scot (2015). It describes social media as technologies that are
established through the web and that support the social equality of what users
share, allowing the user to rise from consumers to originators of the products they
behavior.
The social 'media' (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, Inslagram and many more)
provides the platform upon which social networking is carried out today. Social
media therefore refers to online sites that offer social networking services and they
are also referred to as social network sites (SNSs) (Karnik, Oakley & Nisi, 2013)
and Agee's work (as cited in Theaker, 2004), public relations was defined as a
separate management role which aids the establishment and maintenance of mutual
organisation and its publics. A public relations (PR) is seen as encompassing crisis
management, keeping abreast with and better responding to public trends and
opinions. It also emphasises the need for management to keep the public interests
at heart, using research and ethical communication techniques as key aids. Freitag
and Stokes (2009) notes that in defining public relations, three components become
having access to top management and acting as though they were managers
themselves. Stated another way, practitioners must have the support of top
management, and public relations efforts must conform to corporate goals. The
key publics. However, as new forms of communication develop and old forms
evolve — especially with respect to the internet and social media — public
promotional mix such as public relations, which were largely within the control of
organisations, have now become democratized as internet users can now generate
and adjust content (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). User-generated content has been
content, such as wikis, blogs, podcasts and social networking sites. Web 2.0 allows
Internet users to engage in the creative process by publishing and sharing creative
tools such as blogs, podcasts, online video and social networks are giving voice to
the opinions of millions of consumers" (Carrabis, Cass, Gillin, Nacht & Peverill-
Conti, 2008, pg. 11). Kim and Johnson (2011), drawing on Soils and
Breakenridge's (2009) work add that Web 2.0 and social media have widened the
From the forgoing views, public relations practitioners, such as organisations, may
need to reconsider and augment their traditional approaches. The reason is that,
become both easier and difficult. It has become easier in the sense that more
communication options are now available, but the difficulty arises from the fact
that publics now have a significant amount of control over content, as opposed to
Previously in the 1980s, information channels could be split into two forms: mass
individual persons and thus, was more symmetrical in its exchange (Phillips &
Young, 2009).
In this current online space, public relations practice has become more transparent
because communication is handled in the spotlight (that is, on the internet where
everyone has democratic access). This has been facilitated by the rise of social
which individuals and communities share, create, dialogue, and adjust user-
Breakenridge (2012) notes that "when social media meets PR, communication
unites with technology" (p. 1). Social media causes content to be democratized,
technology. Lovejoy, Waters and Saxton (2012) assert that social media or social
Despite the surge in popularity of social media, studies that explore the usage of
social media for public relations remain few (Brioncs et al, 2011). Public relations,
defined by Grunig and Hunt (as cited in Kamerer & Morris, 2011), is an
organisation's attempt to manage the communication between itself and its publics,
Waters, Burnett, Lamm and Lucas (2009) undertook a content analysis of 275
found that the non-profits had not integrated most of the numerous interactive
organisational news.
Fortune 50 companies Facebook pages to assess how they used Facebook. The
about the company. Among other results, the findings from the study indicated that
Fortune 50 were not taking Hill advantage of Facebook and needed to incorporate
individuals from the American Red Cross to explore how social media is used in
communication with key publics. The study sought to investigate how two-way
dialogue had been accomplished primarily through Facebook and Twitter. The
research showed evidence that the study's participants were aware of the
media. This can also be applied to the four companies of this study, as they also
The positive implication of the shift from the old to the new media for public
relations has been decidedly profound. Gross (2012) reflects on this effect, thus:
Throughout the years there have been many changes in the media that have
affected the practice of public relations. The appearance and popularity of such
tools as offset printing, radio, television and magazines have each dramatically
changed the way public relations professionals do business. But no change has
appeared as fast and as strong as the Internet. The Internet offers public relations
message. This new medium has expanded both internal public relations and
external public relations. From electronic mail to newsgroups to World Wide Web
sites, professionals now have the chance to communicate with the person in the
office next door, their consumers and the world. The possibilities are endless. The
pros and cons of this new media are still being debated by many professionals, but
it is impossible to deny that the Internet has become a powerful force in the world
of public relations, and it is hard not to recognize its potential for the future.
New media technologies challenge much of what we know about public relations
theory and practice, since these technologies fundamentally change the ways
publics interact with organisations, particularly the speed with which that
interaction happens. New media technologies, such as the Internet, enable a great
deal of temporal flexibility and can facilitate real-time communication (e.g., chat,
asynchronous communication (e.g., bulletin board systems and blogs, where users
can read and leave messages for one another across long stretches of time). New
media technologies also have an enormous reach, as messages on the Internet are
such that communication has become decidedly interactive giving the audience
much more power of control than was ever available to them, the PR publics of
today, unlike in the era of the old media, are in a better position to really engeige
demanding immediate answers. Phillips and Brabham (2012) discuss this fact:
This new kind of public relations work locates power very much in the hands-of
the public relations practitioner, and it calls for public relations practitioners to act
as online community managers who monitor the ebb and flow of community needs
and dynamics.
Very importantly, the modern day PR practitioners ought to be thankful to the new
media for having made it so easy and convenient for them to measure public
opinion. The new media sphere is one where people freely give out their views
research may not always guarantee. Secondly, such Internet-aided research could
follows:
The Internet has made it easier to find media contacts and form relationships with
journalists, but more importantly the rise of social media and online PR has meant
bypassing the media and going directly to your audience. Online PR has changed
Similarly, the new media have added vibrancy to public relations; increasing the
terms of audience size and geographic spread, thus generally increasing the pace of
This study is set within the framework of the uses and gratification and the
for selecting traditional media sources and the gratifications they obtained from
them. However, as the new media technologies evolved, attention began to shift to
the technologies and how uses and gratifications approach could be applied to
them. Hence the theory's scope continues to expand to embrace other media of
Akakwandu(2012), the uses and gratification theory states that the media do not do
things to people rather people do things with media. In other words, .the influence
humanistic theory. The basic idea behind the theory is that changes in the way
humans communicate are what shape our existence. McLuhan feels that our culture
shape human life. Thirdly, as McLuhan himself puts it, "We shape our tools, and
driven by the development of machines. Espousing the concept, Baran noted that
some people perceive technology as more neutral and posit that the way people use
majorly determined by the level of power it is given by the people and the culture
that use it. So, if technologies are indeed neutral and their power resides in how we
choose to use them, then they can be utilized responsibly and thoughtfully to meet
our needs.
The technological determinism theory is relevant to the study because it helps give
media since these innovations are assumed to be neutral. In view of this, the uses
and gratification theory further expanded the framework lo emphasize that beneath
the adoption and usage lays the gratification individuals get. Hence, as big as
technology might be, it may also be a function of individuals' interest to take action
even though they have seen the advertisements on the social media.
One thing that stands out in the attribution of meaning to the concept of social
media is the role that the word 'social' plays. The chapter reviewed the concept of
social media, usage of new media in public relations impact using the uses and
Research Methodology
3.0 Introduction
For this study, the survey research method was used. Survey Method according
words, survey method focuses on a representative, it goes into the field and in the
data, selects sample out of the entire population. The survey method was used
generalizations on the basis of data collected and analyzed It would .be considered
more appropriate for topics that have to do with audience exposure and utilization
of media contents.
3.2 Population of the Study
The population of this study comprises of residents in Awka state, who are722,664,
imperative in that only few elements of the population shall be selected for actual
investigation. To get the sample size for this study therefore, the Taro Yamane
= N
1+ N (e)
n= 722,664
1+722,664(0.05)'
n= 722,664
1+722,664(0.0025)
n= 722,664
1+ 1806.66 n= 722,664
1807.66
= 399.92
Approximately n= 400
The Questionnaire was used for the study. The questionnaire was well structured in
order to keep the respondents with the school of the study. The questionnaire is
partitioned into two pails, (1) The demographic details of the respondents and (2)
The Thematic details which deals with items that directly and closely interact with
the thrust of the investigation, in this segment of the research instrument, the bulk
Validity means the degree to which a research instrument measures what it was
meant to measure. Validity involves internal and external validity. The internal
However, the researcher made efforts to ensure and guarantee the validity of the
producing the same result whenever applied in the same context. However, the
instrument, from this exercise; secondly, the work was presented for vetting by the
reason or due to some unexpected reasons, there was 100% return of the
questionnaire.
Data was presented in simple tables and analyzed in percentage. These tools would
be efficient to breakdown and analyze the values of variables. The simple tables
which are used to categorize a set of classified data into a single column were used.
Due to the constraints of time on the part of the researcher and also the inability of
the respondents to give out information. Therefore, the study was only limited to
3.11 Summary
In all, the sample size was determined, the multistage sampling and accidental
sampling were used as the technique and the questionnaire were used as instrument
This work looks at the distributed questionnaire that out of 400, 390 copies were
returned.
Data Analysis
respondents.
From the table above, 185 respondents (47%) were male, while 205 respondents
questionnaire.
Table 2: Age of Respondents
32-38 55 14%
39-40 30 8%
From the above, 125 respondents fell under the age bracket of 18-24, while 180
respondents (37.1%) were under the bracket of 25-31; 55 respondents (14%) were
under the age bracket of 32-38,, while 30 respondents (8%) were between the age
brackets of 39-40 years. This shows that a greater number of respondents were
Other 59 15%
From the table above, 151 respondents (38%) were students, 126 respondents
(32%) were entrepreneurs, 60 respondents (15%) were Civil servants and other
No - -
From the table 5 above, all respondents are aware of the existence of social media
Education 32 8
Socialization 74 19
Convenience 51 13
From the table 5, the 32 respondents (8%) were exposed to social media due to
when they want to relax or when they need convenience. This table however shows
that a greater number of respondents are exposed to social media due to the
business purpose
Table 6: Gratification from social media
Jokes 91 23
Family connections 46 12
Product marketing 73 19
Information 180 46
Table 6 represents the gratification gotten from social media. From the analysis,
23% (91) of the respondents stated that the types of information they get from
social media are mostly jokes, which members of the group chat crack. 12%
opined that it is majorly Family connections, 19% argued that it is partly product
marketing as the 46 % remaining (180 respondents) are mostly getting updates and
Facebook 173 44
Whatsapp 132 33
Instagram 83 22
Twitter 2 1
Others - -
Table 7 represents the type of social media platform the respondents are exposed to
had 132 respondents, while Facebook had the highest respondents ratio as 173
students out of the 390 sampled were in this category showing that Facebook is the
Low 42 12
Moderate 95 23
High 182 46
Very High 71 19
From the analysis in table 9, 42 respondents regarded the social media as having a
be moderate, 182 respondents were of the opinion that it is high as 71 ticked the
very high option. This shows that soeial media has a high impact on the consumers
behaviour.
Table 9: Exposure to social media on a daily basis
7-11 hours 67 18
12-16 hours 4 i
Unaware 210 53
From the Table 9, the exposure rate of the respondents on a daily basis is shown.
109 respondents are exposed to social media within 2-6 hours daily, 67 are
exposed within 7-11 hours daily, 4 are exposed within 12-16 hours daily and 210
Low 61 15
Moderate 73 19
High 253 65
Very High 3 1
respondents which is the lowest ticked very high. The above shows that a greater
No 171 44%
Table 12 clearly shows that 219 (55%) of the respondents said Yes while
No 88 23%
Table 12 clearly shows that 302(77%) of the respondents said Yes while 88(23%)
No 170 44%
Table 13 clearly shows that 219 (55%) of the respondents said Yes while
From the tables, 185 respondents (47%) were male, while 205 respondents are
questionnaire. 125 respondents fell under the age bracket of 18-24, while 180
respondents (37:1%) were under the bracket of 25-31; 55 respondents (14%) were
under the age bracket of 32-38, while 30 respondents (8%) were between the age
bracket of 39-40 years. This shows that a greater number of respondents were
youths between the ages of 25-31. 151 respondents (38%) were students, 126
and other occupations arc 59 representing 15%. This shows that a greater number
of respondents are students. From the Table 9, the exposure rate of the respondents
on a daily basis is shown. 109 respondents are exposed to social media within 2-6
hours daily, 67 are exposed within 7-11 hours daily, 4 are exposed within 12-16
hours daily and 210 are unaware of the time they spend on social media platforms.
From the Table 10, 61 respondents opined that their connection to people in reality
The project so far has revealed that social media refers to those Internet-based tools
and services that allow users to engage with each other, generate content,
distribute, and search for information online. In other words, the social media are
interactive web-based media platforms that offer citizens opportunity and place to
well as other things like job and career tips. They belong to a new genre-of media
with friends and share information with greater freedom as well as publish their
5.2 Conclusion
Social media public relations though one of the major influences in the purchasing
habit of consumers but there are also other factors that affect the purchase which
include: the price, the taste, family and friends. Also, the advertiser needs to make
effective use of the medium by selecting the appropriate strategy that would be
used choosing a wrong medium for a product is like sending the product to its
graveyard.
5.3 Recommendations
Based on the result and conclusion of this study. The recommends that;
1. The company should also engage in relations thai is bringing the products
closer to the both men and children and selling it at a cheaper rate so that the
old users will always continue to use it and those that don't use it will come
2. The company should pay more attention to using social media as a medium
of public relations
4. They should also endeavour to check that all claims which they are making
about their products such as price factor, taste, quantity etc. which would be
to be a part of the new media revolution. If you aren't a part of it, you won't
be able to enjoy the success that you and your business want and deserve.
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APPENDIX
Department Of Mass Communication,
Federal Polytechnic, Oko,
January, 2021.
Dear Respondents,
Yours faithfully,
QUESTIONNAIRE (PART I)
Instruction:Click [.] the appropriate box among the alternated response categories
1. Sex:
2. Age
a. 18-24
b. 25-31
c. 32-38
d. 39-40
a, Yes [ ]
b. No [ ]
a) Jokes
b) Family connection
c) Product marketing
d) Information
b) Whatsapp
c) Instagram
d) Twitter
e) Others
b)-Moderate
c) High
d) Very High
a) 2-6 hours
b) 7-11 Hours
c) 12-16 hours
d) Unaware
a) Low
b) Moderate
c) High
d) Very High