Monitoring the behaviors of public relations practitioners in influencing public opinion through multimedia

Abstract

The importance of the current research setting provides an opportunity to explore the extent of communicative behaviors and the role played by public relations practitioners in influencing public opinion through continuous media dissemination based on trust exchange between relevant institutions and various segments of the public. This is achieved through interactive public relations behaviors employed by communicators to build an environment of trust and empathy between their symbolic and non-symbolic messages and the level of satisfaction achieved among the audience.The aim of the present study is to uncover the communication behaviors employed by public relations practitioners to influence public opinion through various media. Additionally, the research provides insights into individual and collective reactions towards public issues in the Iraqi society regarding the government.The research adopts a descriptive survey methodology, focusing on the content and audience of two selected sets: (25) Facebook posts by the Iraqi Prime Minister's office and a field sample of (100) individuals from Wasit Governorate who follow and engage with the Prime Minister's Facebook posts.The findings reveal that the behavior of "sadness" ranked first, followed by "anger" in the second place, while "disgust" ranked third. "Surprise" was in the fourth place, and "negative emotion" was ranked last. These results align with the content analysis and the surveyed audience.