Lecture #3
 Verbally
 Nonverbally
 Music
 Writing
 Video
 Noises
 Pictures
 Symbols
 Tones
 Communication: the
process of creating
symbol systems that convey information
and meaning.
 Communication
cultural context.
 Culture: the
can vary depending on the
symbols of expression that
individuals, groups, and societies use to
make sense of daily life and to articulate
their values.
 This is why whenever we listen to a song,
flip through a magazine, or read a fashion
blog we try to assign meaning to whatever it
is we are doing.

The media is one of the greatest sources for
providing values to the mass public or audience.

Mass Media are the sources that deliver a message.
• Internet, blogs, editorials, interviews, TV programs, trade
journals, newspapers, radio, commercials/advertisements, etc.


Mass Communication then is the process of
designing and delivering messages to large and
diverse audiences through one or more media.
Mass communication has helped our culture become
a consumer culture by letting messages reach both
urban and rural audiences.
 We
have been communicating for
thousands of years.
 For years stories were shared through
poets, teachers, and tribal leaders.
 Many of our ways of communicating can
be traced all the way back to Ancient
Greece when Socrates made arguments
through public conversations and
debates; something that is done today on
college campuses and in political arenas.
 The
invention of the printing press
during the 15th century was a pivotal
advance in mass communication.
 In the 1400s and 1500s many books were
elaborate, expensive, and well illustrated,
making them items only the wealthy
could own.
 The printing press made it affordable for
more individuals to own books.
 The
printing press did three things that
allowed the first mass-market product to
be produced
• Duplicated- scribes no longer had to hand copy
a piece of work to produce multiple copies.
• Duplication could be done much quicker.
• The quick process brought down the cost of
printed materials.
 Print
communication was forever changed
in America in the 1840s. The use of the
telegraph had a huge impact on
communication as it shifted electronically
 The telegraph:
• Separated communication from transportation,
making messages instantaneous.
• Transformed information into a commodity that
could be bought or sold.
• Made communication easier for military, business,
and political leaders to coordinate commercial and
military operations.
• It foreshadowed future technology developments.
 Digital
communication includes text,
images, and sounds that are converted
into electronic signals through binary
numbers.
 Those
numbers are then decoded to
produce a TV picture, fashion image,
song, or voice.
 Media
convergence: older media forms
used with the newest media forms.
 Highly used in fashion today.
• Fashion magazine articles accessible on the web.
• Fashion catalogues available on the web, and
now, fashion websites available on your phone.
• Advertisements are now available in a variety of
Apps for your phone.
• Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) was at one time a
trade journal/paper that was circulated, now
available online.
 The
linear model of communication is
conceptualized as the process of making
and sending messages to the mass
audience.
• Senders- authors, producers, organizations, individuals,
•
•
•
•
•
speaker,
Messages- the programs, initiatives, texts, images, sounds, ads,
etc.
Channel- newspapers, books, social media sites, magazines,
trade papers, blogs, websites, coupons
Receivers- those that the message is intended for; readers,
customers, employees, community members, media.
Gatekeepers- filter the messages- editors, producers, media
managers, executives
Feedback- receivers send messages back to the senders; helps
answer such questions as:
 How well does a product work?
 Was a new clothing line well received by the press?
 Did an advertising campaign bring the type of attention the
brand wanted?
 Each
culture has a set of values and
beliefs, audiences typically seek
messages and produce meanings that
support those values and beliefs.
 Therefore, most
audiences use selective
exposure. The process of interpreting,
changing, and rejecting cultural
messages.
Different elements of culture appeal to various
demographics.
 High Culture-symphony, ballet, opera, art
museums, classical literature

• Fashion’s Night Out, Fashion Week, Charity Galas

Low Culture- soap operas, rock and rap music,
talk radio, and comic books
• Mall fashion shows, style events, TV infomercials
Understanding culture is extremely important in
fashion
 It is important that brands get the right message
to the correct audiences using the correct
channels of communication.

 Communication
should:
• Inform a particular public
• Persuade a public to take action
• Motivate a public to take action
• Build Mutual Understanding- often a group in
opposition
• The PR Professional is considered a
communications professional.
 There
are a wide variety of
communications theories ranging from
traditional to contemporary.
 As a PR professional it important to have
an understanding of various theories in
order to help send messages through a
variety of mediums, reaching receivers in
the way that it was intended.

An organization, brand, individual sends a message
to the mass media.

The mass media then sends that message to readers,
listeners, viewers, and followers for their response
• Messages must have a purpose

Often fashion focuses on reaching the mass media
because consumers are influenced by the media,
amongst many other things.
BRAND X Promotion on Facebook How do
Facebook followers react?
Ideas are evolving gradually in the public
moving in concentric circles, moving from great
thinkers to great disciples to great
disseminators.
 Consumers pick up and accept ideas from
leaders, who may have a higher impact on public
opinion than mass media.
•Brand X runs an ad with newest product
Low impact
•People magazine shows image of Kim
Kardashian wearing Brand X’s newest
product High impact

 Build Awareness
 Develop a Latent
Readiness- begin to form
opinions based on knowledge, emotion,
intuition, memory, relationships
 Triggering Event- something, natural or
planned that makes you want to change
your behavior
 Intermediate Behavior-determining how
best to apply desired behavior
 Behavioral Change- adopting the new
behavior
 Suggests
that communications that work
well depend on the silence and
nonparticipation of a huge majority.
 “Silent majority” fears becoming isolated
by most of their colleagues, therefore
choosing to vote with the majority.
 This
theory often pertains to decision
making that deals with ethics.
 Suggests
that knowledge is constructed, not
transmitted.
 Concerned with the cognitive processes
that comes before the communication,
rather than the actual communication
 Suggests that it is important to have
knowledge of the receiver and the their
beliefs/background.
 The task of the communicator is to
understand how the receiver thinks about
an issue
 Based
on social interaction
 Attempts to “coordinate” our own beliefs,
morals, and ideas of “good” and “bad”
with those of others so that a mutual
outcome might occur.
 The idea is that communication is a
complex, interconnected series of events,
with each participant affected by the
other.
 Model
#1- Press Agentry/Publicityessentially one-way communication.
Sends messages from a source to a
receiver with the hope of winning
favorable media attention
• Press release, pitch letter
 Model
#2- Public Information- one-way
communication not designed to
persuade, but to inform
 This model and press agentry have been
linked to “propaganda”
 Model
#3- Two-Way Asymmetric- twoway communication approach that allows
an organization to put out its information
and to receive feedback from it publics
about that information
• Social media, surveys
 Model
#4- Two-Way Symmetricpromotes free and equal information flow
between an organization and its publics
 Basic understanding- “balanced”
 With this theory the PR professional
serves as a mediator between the
organization and the public.
Most communication begins with words.
Most personal and potent weapons.
Words have the power to soothe or anger us.
What is troublesome of words is that they have
different meanings to different individuals.
 Semantics is the study of what words really mean.
 Just like culture, words change over time.
 Public relations professionals must assess their
wording before using them.
 The meaning of a word found in a dictionary may
be quite different than the meaning it has in
today’s society.




 Words
have a significant influence on the
message conveyed
 It is important that the PR professional
encode a client’s message accurately.
 The PR professional must understand and
effectively translate the true meaning to the
receiver.
 Example of how words can be unclear or
offensive when used:
• Fireman, manpower, housewife, midget, cripple,
negro, sick, cool, unique
 Messages
can be communicated in a
variety of mediums
• Speeches, brochures, press releases, press
conferences, broadcasts, newspapers, radio,
television, internet, day-to-day conversations
There are several theories that try to state what
the message really is.
 1. The content is the message- what it says is the
message; neither the medium or the individual
are important to the message.
 2. The Medium is the message- the medium
carrying the message is ultimately what makes
the message

• Vogue vs. Internet Fashion Blog Vogue wins
• 3. The person is the message- the person
delivering the message may be more important
than what the individual actually says.
Usually seen in politics
 How
a person perceives a message
depends greatly on that person’s
perception.
 Everyone
is biased.
 No
2 people perceive a message the
same.
 Biases
come from a variety of factors.
 Stereotypes-
cause people to think of
specific images and most of us are
victims of them; feminists, Generation X,
blue-collar, Right/Left Winged, computer
geek, gay.
 Stereotypes influence communication.
 Symbols-
symbols can be used to
persuade. All symbols have different
meanings to one another.
 Clenched fist salute, swastike, thumbs up
have different meanings.
 Semantics
(discussed earlier)- different
words have different meanings to
individuals. Understanding word meanings
in order to use them in the best way
possible.
 Overtime, words
 Good
change their meanings.
communicators consider the
consequences of the words they plan to use.
 Peer
Groups- individuals are all
influenced by their peers to some degree
 PR
professionals must understand peer
group influences on attitudes and actions
when constructing persuasive messages.
 The
Media- the media has power to set
the agenda.
 Agenda-Setting- the creation of public
awareness by the media
 The media does not always present us
with reality, but rather:
• Filters and Shapes it
• Concentrates on a few issues and lead others to
think that those issues are more important than
others
 If
no one at the other end is responding
to what you have said, then you really
haven’t communicated.
 You must received feedback from the
message to see if the messages are or are
not getting through to the receiver.
 Feedback also helps the sender
determine how to construct future
messages.
 Even
when communication is understood
clearly, there is no guarantee that the
motivated action will be what was desired
 When communication is understood it may:
• Change Attitudes- difficult to do.
• Crystallize Attitudes- common, get someone to do
something they were already considering.
• Create Doubt- question their original thinking.
• Do Nothing.
 Communication
is done in a variety of
ways
 Good communication must have a
sender, message, receiver, and feedback
 There are numerous cultural factors that
can hinder a message from being
received accurately
 The attention to wording you use in your
message is particularly important
 Campbell, R., Martin, C., &
Fabos, B.
(2006). Media & Culture: An introduction to
Mass Communication (5th ed.). Bedford/St.
Martin’s: Boston
 Seitel, F.P. (2011). The
Practice of Public
Relations. Prentice Hall: Boston.