60.3% of Britons Believe PR Officers Lie

LONDON, UK (SANEPR.com) April 17, 2008 -- Leading online survey provider Ciao Surveys has revealed that 60.3% of people in Britain believe public relations (PR) officers often lie, while only 3.3% are convinced of the opposite. Additionally, only 17.9% of the respondents think public relations have a positive effect on society, against 26.5% who disagree with this concept. However, despite these findings, the survey shows that nearly a third of Britons believe the PR industry is a necessary one at 32.7%, as opposed to only 21.1% who believe it is an unnecessary profession.

The Ciao Surveys study, aimed at investigating the perception of the PR industry across the UK, surveyed a representative sample of 1,005 adults aged over 18 all over the country.

Respondents showed a good understanding of the industry because, when asked about their impression of a PR officer’s main job function, they stated it is strongly related to:

• media relations (49.6%)
• event planning (18.2%),
• advertising (9.5%)
• word of mouth marketing (7.9%).

Also, 39% of the respondents feel PR people have good writing skills, with only 6.1% disagreeing with this statement.

The survey also revealed that 35.8% of those polled believe people working in a PR environment are mostly women, as opposed to only 9.5% who think the industry has more men. It is interesting to note that 33.5% of people believe PR officers get to attend great parties as opposed to 11.4% who do not, as well as to hang out with celebrities at 23.3% as opposed to 18.1% who disagree. Nonetheless, just 21.3% of the interviewees would consider working in the PR industry while 40% would not.

Additionally, 55.1% of respondents seem to be aware of the symbiotic relationship between the PR industry and the media, as they declared that the two are biased by each other. People recognise the media as the central vehicle for much of the PR industry’s messages, a statement supported by the fact that the biggest portion of those polled (13.8%) believe that 41-50% of the content in daily newspapers initiates from public relations, a percentage which rises to 71-80% in the case of consumer magazines, as reported by 12.5% of the interviewees.

Alistair Campbell appears to be the best known PR officer in the UK, with 74.1% of those polled knowing who he is. Max Clifford was a close second at 72.7%, followed by David Cameron at 65.1%.

Finally, it is significant to note that for some of the survey questions the survey participants lacked a clear opinion. In some instances approximately half of the respondents answered that they were either indifferent or did not know the answer to the question, suggesting that the PR industry as a whole needs to better PR itself to educate the public about its role in society, in order not only to enhance their perception among the general public but, above all, to generate a better understanding of the important role PR officers play in the overall marketing process of products and companies.

This nationally representative online survey of 1,005 people in the UK was conducted by Ciao Surveys during March 2008. Full results of the survey are available by contacting Dan Brown or Cristina Arborio on +44 (0)207 928 7676 or dbrown@mulberrymc.com / carborio@mulberrymc.com.

The margin of error for a randomly drawn sample this size is approximately +/-3.1%.

About Ciao Surveys
Ciao Surveys GmbH provides a full range of Internet survey solutions including sampling, programming, translating and managing online data collection. The company has long been a pioneer in this field and has consistently delivered quality market research services with diverse, demographically representative data. Ciao Surveys’ proprietary panel with millions of survey participants is one of the world’s largest and highly profiled panel of its kind. Ciao Surveys offers market researchers and corporate clients a ‘one-stop shop’ for providing quality panels, expertise in technical programming, and hosting facilities for a range of online market research tools. Founded in 1999 in Munich, Germany, Ciao Surveys GmbH has been a subsidiary of Greenfield Online, Inc. since 2005. Ciao Surveys has its headquarters in Munich with offices in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Sydney, Timisoara and Wroclaw. For more information visit http://www.ciao-surveys.com.


Press Contacts:

Magdalena Ford
Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications
Ciao Surveys GmbH
Tel: +44 (0) 207 324 0057
Email: magdalena.ford@ciao-surveys.com

Dan Brown/ Cristina Arborio
Mulberry Marketing Communications
Tel: +44 (0)207 928 7676
Email: dbrown@mulberrymc.com
Email: carborio@mulberrymc.com