مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

In recent years, organisations have become aware that committing to social good can only improve their reputations and consequently help them achieve their goals (Sommerfeldt, 2013; Sage, 2012). Organisations have increasingly committed to socially beneficial projects through corporate social responsibility programmes, proving that PR has the power to set agendas and cause behavioural change. For example, PR has gained social relevance and embraced the age of the social collective (Fournier and Avery, 2011). The Internet and social media have enabled an open environment in which both audiences and organisations exert influence and power.

The majority of studies in PR address power as an internal force and a source of contention (Edwards, 2006); this paper looks at power as an external force that is impactful on the community. It attempts to understand the extent to which public relations could be a force in monarchical environments and advocate on behalf of minority groups to support their interests. Drawing on seminal public relations campaigns, this research uses a case study approach to discuss corporate PR activism in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).