Exploring the Comparative Communications Effectiveness of Advertising and Public Relations: A Replication and Extension of Prior Experiments

The comparative effectiveness of public relations compared to advertising has long been controversial. This study reviews a pilot and initial experimental study of the effect of public relations versus advertising and replicates and extends the research as the second part of a continuing body of research dedicated to comparing the communications effectiveness of these communications methods. The results once again failed to establish an advantage of advertising over public relations. Discussion focused on extending the research to different settings and message control.