Public segmentation in strategic public relations: The analysis of the situational theory of publics in Turkey in the context of culture

The aim of the study is both to test the validity of the situational theory of publics in Turkey and to research culture's effect on communicative behaviour of the publics. The effect of power distance, collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation of cultural dimensions on the dependent and independent variables of the situational theory of publics are analysed in this study. Accordingly an empirical field study is carried out in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir in 2014 February with 443 questionnaires consisting of the variables of the situational theory of publics, dimensions of culture and demographics. The results of the study shows that the situational theory of publics is a valid and suitable measure to segment the publics in Turkey. The results also suggest that the publics can be segmented into active, aware and latent publics according to the theory. Although aware publics are found to be the largest publics, as the number of active publics are also enormous, building asymmetrical relationships is considered as questionable. It is suggested that this query can be realized as three folded; for corporations, public relations practitioners and academy to end the complexity of the public relations field in Turkey. When the results of the research are evaluated in terms of active publics in Turkey, it can be stated that there are some implications for the corporations, practitioners and the academy, which are the trivet of the public relations field. Moreover, the study researches how culture affects communicative behaviour of the publics. It is found that power distance, collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation of cultural dimensions have effect on the dependent and independent variables of the situational theory of publics. Power distance can be considered as the most remarkable dimension having effect on situational theory of publics. The findings asset that as the power distance decreases, the recognition of problem and the level of involvement increases. Also active publics are found to be among the cultural segment of who perceives the least of power distance. Both of these findings suggest that power distance can affect the communicative behaviour of the publics. Keywords: Strategic Public Relations, Public Segmentation, Situational Theory Of Publics, Culture.