International public relations: A research on the small and medium size organisations in Antalya and on the trade and economy counsellors of Turkish Republic Abroad

The small and medium size companies are one of the fundamentals of the country?s economy. However their capital, workman power, informative and technological means are limited. They need to use their those limited means efficiently and productively in the conditions of international competition. On the other hand, the public relations of which the importance is well realized in local markets, has been forming a field which has its own criterias in the international markets. The International public relations practices could be the practices which would enable the companies to use their knowledge, technology and capital efficiently and fertile. 5 Exporting is an opportunity to enter the international markets for the small and medium size companies and some of them have already been exporting even they do not have any other international facilities. What criterias the small and medium size companies who have been exporting presently consider related to their target markets, what components which affect international public relations they consider and what they do for promoting themselves in the international markets are not known. The international public relations literature has been examined and the effective components in this field have been tried to be identified in our work. Which international public relations facilites small and medium size companies who is active in the international area thanks to the exporting, practise for promoting themselves and their products has been explored too. Besides these firms, the Turkish Commercial Counsellors Abroad have been the subject of the reaserch too6. Turkish Commercial Counsellors are non profit public institutions who plays an important role in the international public relations. According to the Turkish Commercial Counsellors who have been involved in the research within the concept 5 In our study, terms such as international public relations practices and/or means are to express the practices of common public relations in the international area. 6 Turkish Commercial Counsellors Abroad is the organisation of the Undersecretariat of the Prime Ministry of Turkish Republic for Foreign Trade. According to the law 4059 the missions of Undersecretariat are; to assist the determination of the foreign trade policy; to regulate the exporting, encouragement of the export, importing, contractoring in abroad services and dual and multi partial business and economical relations; to practise them; to follow up the practices and; to improve the practices in the frame of this determined policy. of this thesis, the most important component is to attend international exhibitions. Another important components which should be considered are; the cost of transportation from Turkey to target country, potantial buyers in the target market, ecomonical structure and technical infrastructure of the country. Acording to the Turkish Commercial Counsellors, the most appropriate international public relations facilities for the small and medium size companies are visits to abroad and to attend international exhibitions, to have promotional catalogues in foreign languages, to have representatives or agencies abroad and to have web site. According to the research results of this thesis; it has been established that the small and medium size companies which are based in Antalya and have been exporting, do not work with public relations experts and they do not purchase any agency services because of different reasons. However, those mentioned firms believe that they are being promoted abroad sufficiently. The component that they consider related to their target countries? markets is; the potantial buyers in that market. Another equally important component is; legal regulations such as restrictions, customs duities and import permits. The cost of transportation from Turkey to target country, economic structure of the country and international exhibitions are also considered. The most frequently used method to promote themselves is to have web site. Other frequently used methods are visits to abroad to meet with potantial buyers, to have promotional catalogues in foreign languages, to attend international exhibitions, to advertise on the internet, to practise direct mailing and to cooperate with canber of commerces abroad. As a result, most of the small and medium size companies in Antalya who have been exporting presently benefit from the power of public relations with the point of publicty view in the international markets and thanks to the present technological opportunities.