Communication Functions Performed by Public Relations and Marketing Practitioners

Public Relations Review, 17(3):293-305 Copyright 0 1991 by JAI Press Inc.

ISSN: 0363.8111 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

Christopher H.

Spicer

Communication

Functions Performed by

Public Relations and

Marketing Practitioners

ABSTRACT: While marketing and public relations programs

may be comingled in organizations, the research reported here

shows that practitioners in each field stress different communica￾tion skills on the job. Public relations professionals engage in a

broader, more diverse range of communication activities than do

their counterparts in marketing.

As a result, the author questions the extent to which public

relations functions are actually being encroached upon by market￾ing practitioners.

Dr. Christopher H. Spicer is a professor in the Department

of Communication Arts at Pacific Lutheran University in

Tacoma, Washington.

Researchers and practitioners have long debated the appro￾priate “mix” between the public relations and marketing functions, attempting to

divide equitably both organizational responsibilities and resources.’ This debate

has helped clarify macro-organizational distinctions between the public relations

and marketing functions, especially in terms of structure and strategy. Current

wisdom suggests that the two functions should be viewed as independent and

interdependent rather than as independent and adversarial.2 The purpose of this

article is to explore the distinctions between public relations and marketing but

from the micro-organizational systems level of employee behaviors.

That public relations and marketing are independent and interdependent should

Fall 1991 293