| This dissertation attempted to explain how public relations should influence the behavior of an automotive manufacturer, specifically in its handling of vehicle recalls, to improve relationships with constituents and, thus, influence the manufacturer's reputation.; I conducted a case study on the safety-related questions and recalls of the Audi 5000 vehicle during the late 1980s. I employed a triangulation of methods including qualitative interviews with 18 executives, senior managers, franchised dealers, and journalists; an examination of more than 100 archival documents and 600 newspaper articles and media transcripts; a review of existing data, and an autoethnographic approach focusing on the organization's communication, actions, and relationships with constituents.; I found that in the automotive industry, product quality, service satisfaction, company behavior, and relationships, all influenced by what is actual, and perceived, can affect how publics assign a reputation to the company. Experiential relationships (based on actual knowledge) and mediated relationships (based on perceptions from media exposure, word-of-mouth, and advertising) influenced the manufacturer's reputation. Constituents assigned corporate and brand reputations resulting from their relationship experiences as influenced by cognitive and emotive behaviors. In the absence of proactive, open, honest, and caring communication, unfavorable relationships, swayed by consumer activism and media coverage, led to a negative reputation. Corporate culture, and other internal factors, inhibited excellent communication and influenced the manufacturer's behavior.; The results confirmed that public relations must have an integral role in the communication strategies of the organization. As suggested by J. Grunig and Hung (2002), when public relations performs as a strategic management function affecting organizational behavior, the organization's relationships with constituents can improve and have a positive effect on the manufacturer's reputation as well. The results extend the Excellence theory of public relations (Dozier et al., 1995; J. Grunig, 1992b; L. Grunig et al., 2002) and combine the concepts of excellent public relations, organization-public relationships, organizational effectiveness, and reputation. I suggest as a normative theory that the ongoing practice of excellent public relations and cultivation of relationships with key constituents can favorably affect a manufacturer's reputation and help mitigate the negative consequences of service actions and recalls in the automotive industry. |
