Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Är alla medel tillåtna för att väcka uppmärksamhet? En kvalitativ studie av de etiska gränserna kring PR-bluffar

Cohen, Shira LU and Andersson Nordström, Gry LU (2015) SKOK01 20151
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract (Swedish)
Under 2013 skapades kampanjerna Marabou Black, Miss Skinny och DILL, som alla kom att benämnas PR-bluffar. Kampanjernas målsättning var att väcka uppmärksamhet genom vilseledande information. Huruvida dessa PR-bluffar kan anses vara etiskt godtagbara är något praktiker, PR-praktiker och reklammakare, varit oense om. Syftet med denna studie var att skapa ökad förståelse för fenomenet PR-bluff och undersöka om praktiker anser strategin vara acceptabel. Därtill ämnade studien utröna praktikers etiska gränsdragningar och syn på användandet av lögner. För att besvara studiens syfte genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med relevanta praktiker. Den insamlade empirin kontextualiserades i analysen utifrån väsentliga teorier och begrepp inom... (More)
Under 2013 skapades kampanjerna Marabou Black, Miss Skinny och DILL, som alla kom att benämnas PR-bluffar. Kampanjernas målsättning var att väcka uppmärksamhet genom vilseledande information. Huruvida dessa PR-bluffar kan anses vara etiskt godtagbara är något praktiker, PR-praktiker och reklammakare, varit oense om. Syftet med denna studie var att skapa ökad förståelse för fenomenet PR-bluff och undersöka om praktiker anser strategin vara acceptabel. Därtill ämnade studien utröna praktikers etiska gränsdragningar och syn på användandet av lögner. För att besvara studiens syfte genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med relevanta praktiker. Den insamlade empirin kontextualiserades i analysen utifrån väsentliga teorier och begrepp inom forskningsfältet strategisk kommunikation: PR, PR-strategier, strategiskt- och kommunikativt handlande samt etik. Undersökningen resulterade i ett flertal slutsatser gällande förståelsen för fenomenet PR-bluff. En pågående branschglidning har identifierats som anledning till att PR-bluffar uppkommit. Reklammakare använder förtjänade PR-relaterade kanaler utan att inneha de grundtankar om hur PR bör brukas som idag förespråkas. Branschens etiska riktlinjer ligger inte till grund för hur praktiker agerar, utan istället får personlig etik och moral stort utrymme. Detta resulterar i att praktiker överlag agerar utefter den situationsbaserade etikens perspektiv. Praktikerna anser att yrket behöver bli mer etiskt
och detta menar de kan ske genom ökad transparens. Den tydligaste gränsdragningen som upptäcktes för vad som anses godtagbart dras vid användandet av lögner. DILL-kampanjen anses därmed inte vara en PR-bluff eftersom mer än publicitet eftersträvats och skaparna aldrig ljög utan enbart undanhöll sanningen. Vidare blir det tydligt att PR-bluffar sätter fingret på ett samhällsproblem; att journalister inte har samma möjlighet att källgranska som förr. (Less)
Abstract
In the year of 2013 three campaigns were created: Marabou Black, Miss Skinny and DILL. These campaigns were titled as PR-scams because they aimed to get attention by using misleading information. Whether PR-scams could be considered as an ethically acceptable PR-strategy or not is something practitioners, PR-practitioners and advertisers, disagree on. The aim of this study was to create a greater understanding of the PR-scam phenomenon, and analyze whether practitioners believe this strategy to be acceptable or not. Moreover, the study intended to determine practitioner’s ethical boundaries and approach to the use of lies. Qualitative interviews with relevant practitioners were conducted to answer the purpose of the study. The empirical... (More)
In the year of 2013 three campaigns were created: Marabou Black, Miss Skinny and DILL. These campaigns were titled as PR-scams because they aimed to get attention by using misleading information. Whether PR-scams could be considered as an ethically acceptable PR-strategy or not is something practitioners, PR-practitioners and advertisers, disagree on. The aim of this study was to create a greater understanding of the PR-scam phenomenon, and analyze whether practitioners believe this strategy to be acceptable or not. Moreover, the study intended to determine practitioner’s ethical boundaries and approach to the use of lies. Qualitative interviews with relevant practitioners were conducted to answer the purpose of the study. The empirical findings have been contextualized through a theoretical framework using the following concepts relevant to strategic communication: PR, PR-strategies, strategic- and communicative actions and ethics. The study resulted in a number of conclusions regarding the understanding of PR-scams. An ongoing sector overlap has been identified as a reason for PR-scams occurring. Advertisers use PR-related channels without considering today’s views of how PR should be used. The practitioners’ actions are not based on the industry’s ethical guidelines. Instead personal morals and ethics become more important for their professional actions. Overall, this means that the practitioners are acting according to the situational ethics perspective. The practitioners believe that the profession should be more ethical and this is to be done through increased transparency. The clearest distinction found for what was considered as acceptable was drawn at the use of lies. The creators of the DILL-campaign never lied, only withheld the truth, and aimed for more then only publicity. Therefor this campaign was not considered to be a PR-scam. Furthermore, it becomes clear that PR-scams display a major problem in society; journalists not having resources to source examine received information. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Cohen, Shira LU and Andersson Nordström, Gry LU
supervisor
organization
course
SKOK01 20151
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
publicity, PR-scam, strategisk kommunikation, etik, lögner, publicitet, PR-bluff, Public Relations, lies, ethics, strategic communication
language
Swedish
id
5467347
date added to LUP
2015-06-12 08:02:46
date last changed
2015-06-12 08:02:46
@misc{5467347,
  abstract     = {{In the year of 2013 three campaigns were created: Marabou Black, Miss Skinny and DILL. These campaigns were titled as PR-scams because they aimed to get attention by using misleading information. Whether PR-scams could be considered as an ethically acceptable PR-strategy or not is something practitioners, PR-practitioners and advertisers, disagree on. The aim of this study was to create a greater understanding of the PR-scam phenomenon, and analyze whether practitioners believe this strategy to be acceptable or not. Moreover, the study intended to determine practitioner’s ethical boundaries and approach to the use of lies. Qualitative interviews with relevant practitioners were conducted to answer the purpose of the study. The empirical findings have been contextualized through a theoretical framework using the following concepts relevant to strategic communication: PR, PR-strategies, strategic- and communicative actions and ethics. The study resulted in a number of conclusions regarding the understanding of PR-scams. An ongoing sector overlap has been identified as a reason for PR-scams occurring. Advertisers use PR-related channels without considering today’s views of how PR should be used. The practitioners’ actions are not based on the industry’s ethical guidelines. Instead personal morals and ethics become more important for their professional actions. Overall, this means that the practitioners are acting according to the situational ethics perspective. The practitioners believe that the profession should be more ethical and this is to be done through increased transparency. The clearest distinction found for what was considered as acceptable was drawn at the use of lies. The creators of the DILL-campaign never lied, only withheld the truth, and aimed for more then only publicity. Therefor this campaign was not considered to be a PR-scam. Furthermore, it becomes clear that PR-scams display a major problem in society; journalists not having resources to source examine received information.}},
  author       = {{Cohen, Shira and Andersson Nordström, Gry}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Är alla medel tillåtna för att väcka uppmärksamhet? En kvalitativ studie av de etiska gränserna kring PR-bluffar}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}