4.4 Public relations (PR)

Public relations (PR) is about creating a favourable image for the business. It often involves creating and placing favourable news stories. Unlike advertising it is not paid for, but newspapers or other print, television and online media present the story if they think it is of sufficient interest to their audience. This also means that the journalists publicising the story have the freedom to present it in their own way and put their own slant on it. Public relations operate by a number of key routes, including word-of-mouth, press and television news stories, and personal recommendation. Usually PR aims to put a positive image of the business and its products into people’s minds and conversations. Good PR can be more effective than advertising as it is free and thus saves on the promotional budget; it is often more credible in the eyes of consumers and it is more likely to be read or viewed as it is considered news rather than advertising.

One form of word-of-mouth via social media is the consumer ratings facility on hotel booking websites, such as Trip Advisor. Here, consumers can give a particular hotel or restaurant a rating between 1 and 5 stars and can also leave a comment about their impressions of the facilities and the service provided there.