ABSTRACT
Despite its significance as the foundation for both communication and relationship building, culture continues to be neglected by public relations scholarship. The culture–public relations nexus can be discerned in three levels: culture as an antecedent for public relations; public relations as an “influencer” of culture; and public relations itself as “a culture.” Building on the chapter on culture in the previous edition, this essay contends that only the first relationship has been empirically studied by public relations scholars. It discusses how studying the other two linkages between culture and public relations will contribute to a holistic understanding of not only the relationship between the two but more importantly helps create the true identity of what it means to be a public relations professional.
