ABSTRACT
In the last few decades, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have become influential actors in creating awareness of international social, political, environmental and economic causes in global society. Management scholars have recognized them lately as “high profile actors within public policy landscapes at local, national and global levels” (D. Lewis, 2003, p. 326) and “strategically mature organizations” (Lambell, Ramia, Nyland & Michelotti, 2008, p. 75). Many NGOs, such as Oxfam, Plan International or Reporters Sans Frontières, operate in culturally diverse and institutionally complex contexts. At the same time “as they have looked to expand their role in global governance, NGOs have faced mounting pressure to establish their legitimacy in the eyes of a range of stakeholders, including the media, governments, inter-governmental organizations and other civil society actors” (Lambell et al., 2008, p. 80). Hence, the use of public relations (PR) and other types of strategic communication should be crucial for NGOs to establish and maintain legitimacy as well as to achieve their goals. However, these organizations have not received much attention in research on international PR (Tkalac & Pavicic, 2009). NGOs were typically studied in their role as activists; the organization’s perception of being ‘acted’ on was the center of inquiry, rather than the activists’ strategic communication itself (Dozier & Lauzen, 2000).
