SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION PRACTICES IN PUBLIC RELATIONS: A

STUDY OF TWO AGENCIES IN KENYA.

LARISSA A. ODINI
SHRD/PGC/011/14

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (MSc) IN
COMMUNICATION STUDIES, TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION
STUDIES, SCHOOL OF INFORMATION SCIENCES, MOI UNIVERSITY

APRIL 2019
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DECLARATION

Declaration by the Candidate:

I hereby declare that this Thesis is my original work and has not been submitted for the award

of a degree in any other University. No part of this Thesis may be reproduced without the

prior permission of the author and/or Moi University.

Larissa Odini

SHRD/PGC/011/014

Signature……………………………………………...Date………………………………

Declaration by Supervisors:

This Thesis has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors:

Prof. Okumu Bigambo

Department of Communication Studies,

School of Information Sciences,

Signature………………………………………………Date……………………………..

Dr. Jared Obuya

Department of Communication Studies,

School of Information Sciences,

Signature………………………………………………Date………………………………
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DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis to my dearest children, Adriana and Alvin for being the greatest
motivation behind my determination to study.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“A single hand cannot tie a bundle” says an old adage. I am greatly Indebted to the following
people whose unreserved contribution and assistance enabled and supported the development
of my thesis: I would like to thank my Supervisors Prof. Okumu Bigambo and Dr. Jared
Obuya for their invaluable guidance, encouragement, advice and valuable criticism. They
have indeed steered me to the right direction by sharing their knowledge and expertise,
cultivating in me the will to achieve more in the scholarly field.

I also would like to thank the Moi University fraternity for the tuition and mentoring accorded
to me since the inception of my postgraduate studies and my classmates for their mutual
support and peer uphold. My sincere gratitude to the participants to this study who made the
interviews for data collection possible.

To my loving parents and siblings, your unfailing support and continuous encouragement and
assistance has been exceptional. Thank you for your advice, prayers and not forgetting moral
and financial support. To my loving children to whom this thesis is dedicated to, this
accomplishment would not have been possible without you. Thank you.

There are a number of people who supported this study in one way or another. While it is
impossible to mention all of you, I greatly appreciate your constant motivation and
inspiration. Your support brought in lots of humor and kept me going.

May God bless you all abundantly.

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ABSTRACT

Social media has revolutionised the entire spectrum of public relations practice globally and
practitioners are under growing pressure to optimize on it for the benefit of their various organizations.
On this backdrop, this study investigated the utilization of social media in public relations (PR)
practice by two agencies in Kenya. To contribute to this, the research sought to answer the following
questions: How do public relations agencies use social media in the PR practice in Kenya? What are
the challenges faced by the public relations practitioners in the use of social media? What perceptions
are held by PR professionals on the use of social media in the PR practice? The study was informed by
Grunig and Hunts theory of Public Relations (1984) which illustrated the industries various
management and organizational practices. A qualitative approach was employed in the study hence a
case study of two PR firms in Kenya. Purposive sampling technique was employed to identify 10
public relations practitioners spread across two PR firms based in Nairobi. In depth interviews
supplemented by document analysis were used to generate data. The data was then analyzed
thematically in line with the research questions. The findings of the study indicate that PR firms use
social media for brand visibility, content creation and marketing, crisis communication and to build
relationships with their target audiences and other professionals such as journalists and the media at
large. However, the study revealed that in spite of the opportunities that social media has offered
practitioners to engage effectively with their stakeholders, it has also posed a number of challenges to
practitioners, including integrating the traditional and the new media forms in PR strategies. The
emergence of social media opinion shapers known as influencers and in addition the rise of citizen
journalists has posed a challenge to the use of social media in the PR practice. Undistinguishable
policy guidelines and regulations on the use of social media have also emerged as a challenge in use of
social media in the PR practice in Kenya. The study also revealed that PR practitioners are yet to fully
exploit the potential of social media in enhancing the practice due to the belief that social media is
informal and frivolous. There is need for PR practitioners to consider social media as an innovative,
viable and inevitable option in engaging with the more enlightened audiences in Kenya. The
importance of a well-crafted public relations strategy that includes social media as a key function has
become a necessity to the PR practice. This includes not just generating social media coverage and
visibility but also fostering meaningful relationships with stakeholders and the public. The study
contributes to literature in the PR practice generally and offers a scholarly resource on the use of social
media in the PR practice in the Kenyan context specifically.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY RESEARCHER........................................................................................
DECLARATION BY SUPERVISORS........................................................................................
DEDICATION..............................................................................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................................
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................................
LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.......................................................................................................
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS...........................................................................

CHAPTER ONE…………………………………………………………………………... 1
1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
1.2 Background to the study...................................................................................................1
1.2.1 Academic context……………………………………………………………...1
1.2.2 Social Context………………………………………………………………….4
1.3 Statement of the problem................................................................................................10
1.3.1 Social Problem…………………………………………………………….…11
1.3.2 Academic Problem……………………………………………………….......12
1.4 Aim of the study..............................................................................................................13
1.5 Research questions..........................................................................................................13
1.6 Scope of the study...........................................................................................................14
1.6.1 Content Scope……………………………………………………………......14
1.6.2 Geographical Scope…………………………………………………………..15
1.6.3 Methodological Scope………………………………………………………..15
1.7 Justification of the study.................................................................................................16
1.8 Significance of the study.................................................................................................18
1.9 Summary.........................................................................................................................19

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………..……20

2.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................20
2.1.2 Public relations as communication...............................................................................20
2.1.3 Public relations and social media.................................................................................25
2.2 Situating the study in the field of communication studies……………………………..32
2.3 Review of related theories……………………………….……………………............ 36
2.3.1 Grunig and Hunts model of public relations…………………………………37
2.3.2 Application of Grunig and Hunts theory to study……………………………39
2.4 Review of Previous research…………………………………………………………..43
2.5 Rationale of study based on literature review………………………………………….49
2.6 Summary……………………………………………………………………………….50
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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………………………………52

3.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................52
3.2 Research Approach.........................................................................................................52
3.3 The Case study method…………………………………………………………………53
3.4 Population and Sampling................................................................................................54
3.5 Data generation techniques.............................................................................................55
3.5.1 In-depth interviews......................................................................................................56
3.5.2 Document Analysis......................................................................................................58
3.6 Data Analysis..................................................................................................................60
3.7 Ethical considerations.....................................................................................................65
3.8 Trustworthiness of the study...........................................................................................67
3.9 Summary.........................................................................................................................70

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION………………………………………………………………………..71
4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..71
4.2 Social media use by public relations agencies………………………………………….72
4.2.1 Brand Visibility................................................................................................72
4.2.2 Relationship building and management...........................................................74
4.2.3 Content creation and marketing.......................................................................78
4.2.4 Monitoring and Crisis Management................................................................81
4.3 Challenges faced by PR professionals while using social media……………………….84
4.3.1 Use of traditional media vs. the advent of the 24/7 news cycle.......................84
4.3.2 The raise of influencers and citizen journalists................................................88
4.3.3 Inadequate social media Regulations...............................................................91
4.3.4 Inefficient skills and training in the public relations practice………………..92
4.4 Perceptions held by PR professionals regarding social media………………………....93
4.4.1 Evolution of social media use..........................................................................87
4.4.2 Strategic planning and research.......................................................................96
4.4.3 Stereotypes concerning social media use by PR professionals........................99
4.5 Summary…………………………………………………………………………….....100

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS......102

5.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................…102
5.2 Summary of key findings..............................................................................................102
5.3 Discussion of findings...................................................................................................104
5.3.1 Social media comprehension in the public relations practice........................104
5.3.2 Influence of audiences on social media use in the public relations practice..108
5.3.3 Social media regulatory frameworks in the PR practice............................... 111
5.3.4 Training of social media use in the public relations practice……………….118
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5.4 Conclusions...................................................................................................................121
5.5 Contributions of this study……………………………………………………………123
5.6 Implications for policy and practice..............................................................................124
5.6.1 Improvement of content management to compliment social media use…….124
5.6.2 Capacity building for social media use by PR practitioners………………...125
5.6.3 Strengthening interaction and communication with networks……………....128
5.6.4 Regulation of social media policies in the PR practice….................................129
5.7 Suggestions for further research………………………………………………………,,,131

REFERENCES133
APPENDIX ONE: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR PR PRACTITIONERS48
APPENDIX TWO: COPY OF RESEARCH PERMIT
APPENDIX THREE: LETTER FROM NACOSTI
APPENDIX FOUR: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
APPENDIX FIVE: WORK PLAN
APPENDIX SIX: THE BUDGET
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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Highlights of key issues in Chapter One.................................................................19

Table 2: Highlights of key issues in Chapter Two...............................................................51
Table 3: Highlights of key issues in Chapter Three..............................................................70
Table 4: Symbols used to indicate sources of data…………………………......…………...…71
Table 5: Highlights of key findings in Chapter 4……………………………………...……..101
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BAKE - Bloggers Association of Kenya

CIPR - Chartered Institute of Public Relations
CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility
CCK - Communications Commission of Kenya
ICT - Information and Communication Technology
KOT - Kenyans on Twitter
MCK - Media Council of Kenya
MDG - Millennium Development Goals
MTN - Mobile Telecommunications Network
NGO - Non Governmental Organisation
OMM - Online Media Monitoring
ORM - Online Reputation Management
PESO - Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned
PR - Public Relations
PRO - Public Relations Officer
PRSA - Public Relations Society of America
PRSK - Public Relations Society of Kenya
SM - Social Media
SNS - Social Networking Sites
UGC - User Generated Content
WWW - World Wide Web
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OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following is a list of key terms used in this Thesis and how they are operationalised:

Audience - Denotes a group or groups to whom the public relations programme, or any part
thereof, is directed.

Channel - A place on television dial where a station can be received. Also, in communication,
one of avenues for reaching an audience.

Organisation - Can be a government body, a business, a profession, a public service or a

body concerned with health, culture, education; any corporate or voluntary body large or
small.

Media - Avenues through which public relations messages are transmitted. Common media
(singular is "medium") include newspapers, magazines, radio, books, music, paintings,
cartoons, posters, leaflets, brochures, speeches, window displays, car cards, trade or business
papers, envelope stuffers, calendars, house publication, motion pictures, slide films,
television.

Publics - Are audiences that are important to the organisation. They include customers -
existing and potential, employees and management, investors, media, government, suppliers,
opinion-shapers.

Technology - Application of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems that includes

use of materials, tools, techniques and sources of power to make life easier, more pleasant and
more productive.
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Web - Part of the internet that contains linked text, image, sound, and video document.
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