Using Communication Theory for PR and Internal Communication

This briefing is written by Ann Pilkington and is designed to help you to discover the different theories of communication and how to use them in practice.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Introduction

Let’s start with mass communication

Hypodermic and two-step flow models

Communication for attitude and behaviour change

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Social exchange theory

Personality

Neuro-linguistic programming

Introduction

Communication is complicated, hard to get right and easy to get wrong.

The idea that  ‘the greatest problem with communication is the illusion it has been accomplished’ is attributed to George Bernard Shaw. Whether he said this or not, we can’t be sure, but it is a good reminder that we should never assume our message has been received in the way it was intended.

This briefing is based on a chapter from an earlier edition of Exploring Internal Communication. The book is now in its fifth edition. We’ve set out to explain some of the theories and models related to communication. Hopefully it will help to explain why sometimes communication is successful and sometimes it isn’t!

Let’s start with mass communication

The simplest way to understand communication starts from the information exchange approach and is best known as the Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) model.[1]

This is a technical way of thinking about communication, created in the 1940s to explain how telephones worked.  This simple model shows how communication is based on a person communicating a message through a channel (for example, the telephone) to another person. The concept of actual noise on the line (common up to the 1980s when new digital technologies were introduced) was extended to a wider concept of noise meaning misunderstanding in the general communication process.

Hypodermic and two-step flow models

In what is known as the hypodermic model of mass communication the principle was that getting a story into the press or into broadcast channels ‘ticked the box’ of job done.

However, if we extend a definition of communication to incorporate understanding then this becomes more problematic as the same core story is often presented in many different ways (for example, depending on the perspective of the newspaper publishing it) and then it is also interpreted in many different ways by individual readers who all put their own spin on the story.

In recognition of this, a ‘two-step flow’ model of communication was developed that suggests people consume news from the main mass channels but then they discuss that news with people they trust or people that they respect as an expert in the field before formulating an opinion which is first tested with others before becoming an adopted point of view.

Communication for attitude and behaviour change

Before exploring deeper communication theories and processes associated with attitude and behaviour change it is worth considering what is meant by these terms. According to Perloff:

‘Attitudes (and values) organize our social world. They allow us to categorize people, places, and events quickly to figure out what’s going on. They’re like notebook dividers or labels you use to categorise your collection of favourite books. Attitudes shape perception and influence judgments attitudes also influence behaviour.

They guide our actions and steer us in the direction of doing what we believe.’ [2]

Various authors suggest that there is a linear process to adopting new ideas [3]:

1. Awareness – new idea introduced in news story
2. Interest – more information sought
3. Evaluation – feedback from family, colleagues
4. Trial – idea tried out with others, e.g. “I read….”
5. Adoption – idea integrated into belief system, “I read…..becomes I think”

Stages 4 and 5 extend the two-step flow model. However, attitudes can be held very strongly and be hard to shift, for example around subjects such as capital punishment.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

One of the key models used in social psychology to explain the processes of how communication affects attitudes is the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM).[4]

This is a model based upon a dual-processing concept.  It suggests that there are two different mechanisms at play. The first is a ‘central’ route where people put in a considerable amount of mental processing and the second is a ‘peripheral’ route whereby people use quick and simple cues to make assessments.

Whether someone uses a central or peripheral approach to processing information depends upon how motivated they are towards the topic or issue (for example, how important it is to them) and their ability to process information (for example, how much time they have or how knowledgeable they are on the topic).

The ELM model suggests that the quality of the argument and message source characteristics are important factors. When it comes to the argument, presenting both sides may actually be more effective than a one-sided argument. Public relations scholar Glenn Broom presents research findings that suggest the following principles [5]:

• If receivers oppose your position, present both sides of the issue
• If receivers already agree with your position, your message will have greater impact – probably reinforcement – if you only present arguments consistent with the receivers’ views.
• If receivers are well educated, include both sides of the argument.
• If you use messages containing both sides of the argument, do not leave out relevant arguments on the opposing side, or receivers who notice the omission will grow suspicious of your presentation.
• If receivers are likely to be exposed later to persuasive messages countering your position, use two-sided messages to ‘inoculate’ the audience to build resistance to the later messages.

The credibility of the communicator may have a large bearing on the effectiveness of the communication. For example, if a speaker uses two-sided communication, he or she might be more trusted as someone who is prepared to acknowledge both sides of the issue. Perloff argues that the most important characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill [6]:

• Expertise – the belief that the communicator has special skills or know-how
• Trustworthiness – the communicator’s perceived honesty, character, and safety
• Goodwill – communicators who display goodwill convey that they have listeners’ interests at heart, show understanding of others’ ideas, and are empathic toward their audiences’ problems.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Another mainstream psychological theory known as Cognitive Dissonance Theory aims to explain a feeling people get when two thoughts are in direct opposition. [7]

For example, the thought that ‘I should exercise more’ is incongruent with the cognition that ‘I don’t like going to the gym or running’.

A central notion is that people tend, not unsurprisingly, to prefer to opt for easier ways to reduce the discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance than harder ways. So, for the exercise example, we could try to convince ourselves that gyms are not such bad places and that going to the gym is better than lazing around at home. Or, we could think that lazing around at home is actually ok after all, which is probably the easiest way to reduce the discomfort.

The hardest choice is getting up at that moment and going for a run!

Cognitive dissonance, the internal communication perspective: Cognitive dissonance has relevance for changing attitudes and behaviour at work, because it suggests that changing behaviour can be a precursor to changing attitude rather than the other way around. Instead of communication strategies that emphasise dialogue and mutual understanding, using cognitive dissonance theory suggests that some degree of behavioural inconsistency should be deliberately developed. This then leads to self-persuasion.

Take, for example, a group of people who have concerns about a proposed office re-location who are invited to a meeting where they are asked to work on the possible benefits of the move which are then presented to the whole group. Cognitive dissonance theory would suggest that after the behaviour of making a presentation, the discomfort arising from the uncertainties could be reduced by actually changing to an attitude that was more in line with the presentation. Clearly, there are important ethical considerations here and employees should always be given freedom of choice about the conditions of participation.

Social exchange theory

Social Exchange Theory is focused on interpersonal communication. Heath and Bryant suggest that ‘According to social exchange theory, individuals learn, define, and negotiate what constitutes positive and negative communication and which rules must be followed to nurture a relationship.’ [8]

Heath and Bryant suggest that quality of relationship development can be broken down into three dimensions:

• Control – exerted through commitments, norms, rules, promises, threats and contracts
• Trust – the extent to which participants experience uncertainty in regard to the amount of control exerted
• Intimacy – the extent that the relational partners have depth of attachment.

Personality

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.

MBTI is based upon the theory of psychological type as originally developed by Carl Jung who proposed the existence of two dichotomous pairs of cognitive functions:

• The ‘rational’ (judging) functions: thinking (T) (logic and analysis) and feeling (F) (personal values)
• The ‘irrational’ (perceiving) functions: sensing (S) (practical focus on facts and details) and intuition (N) (focus on concepts and theories)

There are also two further dimensions:

• ‘Attitudes’ and orientation to the world: extraversion (E) (the outer world of people and activity) and introversion (I) (the inner world of thoughts and feelings)
• ‘Lifestyle’ and dealing with the external world: judging (J) (decisive) or perceiving (P) (flexible)

The potential for misunderstanding in interpersonal communication between people of opposite types is clear. Knowing the MBTI types of people you work with can help to alleviate some of the frustrations that arise as you can adapt your styles accordingly. For example, an N type person may tend to talk more in general terms than specifics, so should aim to incorporate more examples in presentations. An “S” type person should aim to include more information about how evidence and anecdotes are connected to overall schemes.

The use of MBTI can also be extended to wider communication in groups and possibly also with specific communities. For example if you work in a group of 12 people and ten people in that group are “N” types and two are “S” types, then the “S” types may become bemused and disenchanted by an emphasis on lots of ideas with no evidence or practical applications discussed.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Another, albeit less researched, approach to understanding how people interpret their worlds has been developed within neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). This emphasises that “The map is not the territory”. Our internal representations are just that, they are not the actual physical experience. Filters are used to delete, distort, and generalise information. These are based around our values (these help us decide what is right and wrong), beliefs (generalisations about the way the world is), memories, decisions (those made in the past).

According to NLP, people use the following “sensory channels” or “modalities” to process information:

• Visual
• Auditory
• Kinesthetic (external feelings)
• Olfactory (smell)
• Gustatory (taste)

Usually one of these stands out as a dominant channel with associated communication preferences:

• Visual:  uses words or phrases such as ‘I want to look at it’
• Auditory: uses words or phrases such as ‘listen’, ‘talk to’
• Kinesthetic: uses words or phrases such as ‘grasp’, ‘I feel like’

Using words that chime with the preferred modality will help to create rapport. Using language that invokes a strong modality can be so powerful that overrides other aspects of language, such as negatives. Take for example the phrase, ‘I don’t want you to picture an elephant with green ears’. Most people, especially those with a strong visual modality, are not able to process the negative command and immediately picture the elephant!

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ENDNOTES

1. Weaver (1966) The Mathematics of Communication in ed. Alfred G. Smith Communication and Culture: Reading in the Codes of Human Interaction, Holt, Reinhart and Winston.
2. Perloff, RM (2017) The Dynamics of Persuasion, Communication and Attitudes in the 21st Century, Third Edition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
3. See the ‘buyer awareness model’ and ‘adoption of innovation model; see also Wilcox et al (2005) Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, Seventh Edition, Pearson Education.
4. Petty R and J Cacioppo (1986) Communication and Persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. Springer-Verlag.
5. Broom GM (2009) Cutlip and Center’s Effective Public Relations, Tenth edition, Pearson Education.
6. Perloff, RM cited above
7. Festinger, L (1957) A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Stanford University Press.
8. Heath RL and Bryant, J (2000) Human Communication Theory and Research, Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges, Second Edition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
9. Fawkes, J (2009) Public Relations, propaganda and the Psychology of Persuasion. in Tench, R and Yeomans, L, Exploring Public Relations, Second Edition, FT Prentice Hall.