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Ethical Public Relations: The Impact of Societal Culture on the Ethical Principles of Practitioners in Ghana

Afriyie, Naana LU (2023) SKOM12 20231
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract
Although scholars concluded that culture influences public relations practice worldwide, there is a call for a universal code of ethics. This call met with concerns as doubts arose about its feasibility since public relations is practised differently in every country due to societal culture. Another problem is how the practice is Western-dominated, with major theorists and scholars from the USA and Europe. From this perspective, there is a disparity regarding ethical public relations, as voices from underresearched areas such as Africa are not represented in this discussion. This study, therefore, aims to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of how societal culture impacts ethical public relations. To address this, Ghana is selected... (More)
Although scholars concluded that culture influences public relations practice worldwide, there is a call for a universal code of ethics. This call met with concerns as doubts arose about its feasibility since public relations is practised differently in every country due to societal culture. Another problem is how the practice is Western-dominated, with major theorists and scholars from the USA and Europe. From this perspective, there is a disparity regarding ethical public relations, as voices from underresearched areas such as Africa are not represented in this discussion. This study, therefore, aims to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of how societal culture impacts ethical public relations. To address this, Ghana is selected as the case study because it is part of the underresearched countries and has its national public relations association operating with an international professional association's code of ethics. The study design is qualitative, with empirical material gathered through practitioner interviews. The analysis revealed how practitioners practise certain universal ethical principles but apply them differently due to their cultural background, societal ideologies, and societal
expectations. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Afriyie, Naana LU
supervisor
organization
course
SKOM12 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
ethical public relations, universal code of ethics, ethical principles, societal culture, public relations practitioners, cultural dimensions
language
English
id
9131608
date added to LUP
2023-08-25 13:24:18
date last changed
2023-08-25 13:24:18
@misc{9131608,
  abstract     = {{Although scholars concluded that culture influences public relations practice worldwide, there is a call for a universal code of ethics. This call met with concerns as doubts arose about its feasibility since public relations is practised differently in every country due to societal culture. Another problem is how the practice is Western-dominated, with major theorists and scholars from the USA and Europe. From this perspective, there is a disparity regarding ethical public relations, as voices from underresearched areas such as Africa are not represented in this discussion. This study, therefore, aims to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of how societal culture impacts ethical public relations. To address this, Ghana is selected as the case study because it is part of the underresearched countries and has its national public relations association operating with an international professional association's code of ethics. The study design is qualitative, with empirical material gathered through practitioner interviews. The analysis revealed how practitioners practise certain universal ethical principles but apply them differently due to their cultural background, societal ideologies, and societal 
expectations.}},
  author       = {{Afriyie, Naana}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Ethical Public Relations: The Impact of Societal Culture on the Ethical Principles of Practitioners in Ghana}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}