An Analysis of the Perception of Public Relations Practitioners on the Use of Advertising Value Equivalent Tool in Measuring Public Relations Campaigns: the Case of Reelforge Media Intelligence Company

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyze the perception of Public Relations practitioners on the use of the Advertising Value Equivalent tool in measuring Public Relations campaigns. The research was guided by three specific objectives: to analyze the level of awareness on the use of the advertising value equivalent tool among Public Relations practitioners, to find out which tools Public Relations practitioners use in measuring their campaigns and to find out the tools preferred by Public Relations practitioners to measure their campaigns. The study adopted a descriptive research design. It used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. It was conducted amongst Public Relations practitioners working at the Reelforge Media Intelligence Company. The target population of the study were the 120 Public Relations practitioners working at the organization. The study used Fisher‘s sample size model to establish the sample size of 91 respondents. A pre-test was conducted where a sample questionnaire was administered to ten respondents to find out if the respondents understood the questions and to find out if their interpretation coincided with what the researcher intended to study. The researcher analyzed 52 questionnaires the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of graphs and pie charts and findings were presented in terms of themes. The qualitative data was analyzed according to themes derived from the research objectives. The findings show that PR practitioners know about the use of the AVE tool. The study found out that the most popular PR measurement tools were AVE and media content analysis. Client request was cited as the most motivator for selecting a PR measurement tool. The study therefore concluded that media content analysis and advertising value equivalent, which have been shown to be ineffective measures of PR campaigns are widely used by practitioners in the organization with client‘s requirement influencing the preference of using a certain tool. The study recommends that a framework to be developed by the Public Relations Society of Kenya that standardizes PR measurement in the industry and also training and education on PR measurement among PR practitioners.