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An Analysis of Ethnic Diversity in Public Relations Campaigns: An Aotearoa New Zealand Perspective

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Date

2025

Authors

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Bhargava, Deepti

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Communication Studies

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

In the context of today’s multicultural societies, this study explores how public relations practitioners of Aotearoa New Zealand address the ethnic diversity of publics in campaigns. It aims to discover the relevant trends pertaining to consideration of minority ethnic groups in strategic planning and how practitioners reflect on ethnic identities in key areas of planning, including research, strategy, and tactics. The study also reflects on the salience of ethnic diversity across campaigns from different organisational sectors. The study has used quantitative content analysis, guided by a post-positivist framework, to examine 91 award-winning PRINZ case studies from 2019 to 2023 aimed at generating foundational findings pertinent to ethnic diversity in strategic campaign planning. Overall, the study revealed a respectable degree of awareness and acknowledgment of ethnic diversity among practitioners since over half of the campaigns considered minority ethnic groups in their planning. At the same time, the findings also found planning efforts pertaining to minority ethnic groups to be more tactical in nature, without necessarily being informed by research or strategy. As a result, communication with ethnically diverse publics may be prone to issues of othering and/or stereotyping. Importantly, most campaigns which addressed ethnic diversity in their planning reflected a consideration for Māori publics, which is desirable given the country’s bicultural foundations. Yet, the limited or a complete lack of presence of other minority ethnicities, including Pacific peoples, Asians and MELAA, in campaign planning merits reflection as well, in view of the country’s demographic reality. Additionally, relational tactics were found to be used mostly in the case of Māori publics while communication with other minority ethnic groups were less participatory and collaborative in nature. Finally, the study found a higher proportion of public and not-for-profit sector campaigns considered ethnic diversity in strategic planning in comparison to campaigns from the private entities. As a piece of foundational research, the study offers relevant insights into strategic planning practices specific to minority ethnic groups, with an emphasis on the role of research and strategy. Further, on account of its focus on how practitioners engage with publics’ identities in planning, the study also contributes to the evolving understanding of public relations as a socio-cultural practice. It is thereby hoped the study motivates further research around ethnicity, culture or race in public relations within the context of public relations in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19266

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