THE ROPE MODEL OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations is a process to establish and maintain mutual understanding and
good will between an organization and its publics; and is a method for solving
potential problems that can be faced on the way.
Rope model of PR is a formulation which involves initial research, the setting of
the objectives, programming and the evaluation.
The phases of the model can be modified by the demands of different audiences or
publics.
The research phase of the process involves identifying and learning about three key
elements (1) the client (2) the problem or potantial problem to be solved, (3)
audiences or publics.
The objectives phase involves the setting of the objectives for a program. The
objectives can be the influence the client exerts with the audiences: such as
informing them, or modifying their attitudes or behaviors.
The third phase consists of designing the program to accomplish the objectives.
The program comprises a central theme, messages and various forms of the
communication aimed at reaching the audiences.
The final phase involves the follow-up evaluation of the program. Evaluation
examines the practitioner’s degree of success in achieving them.
Now we will have a detailed look at each of the elements in this process.
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THE ROPE MODEL OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Rope model of PR is a formulation which involves initial Research, the
setting of the Objectives, Programming and the Evaluation.
The phases of the model can be modified by the demands of different
audiences or publics.
Research  identifying and learning about three key elements
(1) the client
(2) the problem or potantial problem to be solved,
(3) audiences or publics.
Objectives  setting of the objectives for a program.
(1) informing the audience
(2) modifying their attitudes
(3) modifying their behaviors.
Program  to accomplish the objectives.
a central theme,
messages
various forms of the communication
Evaluation

examines the practitioner’s degree of success in
achieving objectivess.
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I) RESEARCH
Research consists of investigating three aspects of the PR procedure.
1) The client
 for whom the program is being prepared.
2) The opportunity or the problem
 why does the client need the program
at this moment
3) The audiences  who are targeted for communication in the PR program.
CLIENT RESEARCH
Public relations practitioners must be thorougly familiar with their clients. So the
starting point of any program should be about the back ground data of the clientits financial status, reputation, past and present public relations practices, strengths,
weaknesses and opportunities.
If the client is a business organization  the practitioner must be familiar with its
products and services. Interviews with key management personnel and documents
such as annual and quarterly reports can provide this information. The location of
the organization, whether in a single city or in multiple branches, the delivery
system for the products or services, the organization’s major suppliers are all
necessary to understand the client.
If the client is a nonprofit organization  the practitioner must become familiar
with the services and the audiences of the organization, including major donors.
Other important background information includes - the precise mission of the
organization -- its management’s goals, priorities and problems -- its total
workforce, its financial status.
Finally the practitioner needs to raise questions that directly relate to public
relations: - what is the client’s reputation – what image liabilities or assets does
the organization possess? – what are its PR strengths, that is practices or programs
that would enhance its public image? – sf. 9
Thus, the first requisite for effective research in the public relations process ,s an
indepth understanding of the client for whom the program is being prepared.
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OPPORTUNITY OR PROBLEM RESEARCH
The second aspect of research consists of clearly why the organization should
conduct a particular PR program at a particular time (now):
- Is it because of a unique opportunity to favorably influence public opinion or
behavior toward the client? or
- Is it in response to the development of unfavorable opinion or behavior
toward the client? (problem!!!)
Public relations programs that arise out of opportunities are called PROACTIVE
programs.
Programs that are needed to respond a problem are called REACTIVE programs.
When a fire breaks out, we must call the fire department. Public Relations
practitioner must be ready to extinguish “fires” but they should also be skilled in
“fire prevention”.
Thus, the investigation of why a public relations program is necessary. Through
the investigation we can find out if the program should be a proactive one, or a
reactive one.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
The third aspect of research involves the investigation of target audience or
“publics”. This part of the research includes identifying the particular groups that
should be targeted.
AUDIENCE all organizations should have long-term or sometimes short-term
relations or communications with certain “standart” publics. There are publics of
principal concern to most organizations such as the media, internaş employees or
members, the organization’s home community, and the national or local
governments. Besides these, for example, a business that provides a product or a
service is concerned with consumers as an important public. A nonprofit
organization may target its donors.
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To address publics most effectively each one should be segmented into its diverse
components, so that each segment can become a seperate public to send special
messages.
DESIRED DATA Once target audience is segmented into their key components,
the practitioner is ready to collect data for each public. The practitioner needs to
know:
- each targeted public’s level of information about the organization,
- the image and other relevant attitudes held about the organization and its
products and services,
- the past and present audience behaviors relevant to the client or
organization.
II) OBJECTIVES
Objectives are the single most important element in this model. They represent the
practitioners desired outcomes in communicating with the targeted publics.
Later on we will discuss the types of objectives used in public relations, but first
we will see the methods to formulate such objectives.
 Objectives should be stated in the form of infinitive phrases.
Each one should be specific and measurable.
to publicize special event X
to stimulate attendance at special event X.
These objectives can be combined, but this compound phrasing would complicate
the measurement.
Some PR directors prefer that each objective be seperately measurable, usually in
quantitative terms such as :
to publicize special event X through the local daily newspaper during the
month October.
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to stimulate attendance of at least 1,500 persons at special event X, on May 15.
 Two basic types of objectives are used in public relations programs: 1) impact
objectives 2) output objectives
Below is the hierarchy of these objectives in ascending order of importance.
HIERARCHY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS OBJECTIVES
Impact Objectives

Informational Objectives
* Message Exposure
* Message Comrehension
* Message Retention

Attitudinal Objectives
* Attitude Creation
* Attitude Reinforcement
* Attitude Change

Behavioral Objectives
* Behavior creation
* Behavior Reinforcement
* Behavior Change
Output Objectives


Distribution of uncontrolled media
Distribution and execution of controlled media
lower category in
the hierarchy
OUTPUT OBJECTIVES, the lower category represent the work to be produced,
such as distribution or execution of the program materials. Such objectives can
easily be made specific and quantitative.
- to publicize special event X through the local daily newspaper during the
month October.
These objectives can be easily measured by counting the number of news releases
sent to the media. Some practitioners use only output objectives in their programs
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and thus, have the advantage of seting definite, specific and attainable goals, which
can be measured quantitatively. Once these goals have been met, the practitioner
can claim success.
Unfortunately, output objectives are unrelated to the influnces of the program on
the audience.
IMPACT OBJECTIVES There are 3 kinds of impact objectives: informational,
attitudional, and behavioral. These are called impact objectives because they
represent specific intended effects of PR programs on their audiences.
- Informational Objectives include message exposure to, message
comprehension by, or message retention by the target audience.
Two examples of informational objectives are:
to increase awareness of the company’s new plant by (15 percent) among
all segments of the community (during May).
- Attitudional Objectives aim at modifying the way an audience feels about
the client or organization and its works, products, or services. Attitude
modification may consist of forming new attitudes where none exists,
reinforcing existing attitudes, or changing existing attitudes.
to promote favorable attitudes toward the company’s new retirement policy
(among 80 percent of current employees during 1988)
It is rather easier to create or reinforce the attitudes, than changing them. The
reversal of the attitudes is the most difficult of all tasks in public relations.
- Behavioral Objectives involve the modification of behaviors toward the
client. Like attitude modification, behavior modification can consist of the
creation or stimulation of new behavior, the enhancement of existing
favorable behavior or the reversal of negative behavior of the audience.
to persuade 60 percent of people overthe age of 50 to regularly take a
cancer test.
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Objectives result from and are shaped by the findings revealed in the research
phase.
In ROPE model of PR, objectives precede and govern programing decisions. The
degree of the influence of these objectives depends on the design of the
programming.
III) PROGRAMMING
Includes :
1. statement of the theme, if applicable, and messages to be communicated to
the audiences.
2. action or special event(s) sponsored by the client
3. use of the media, either uncontrolled or the controlled
4. principles of effective communication
1. THEME AND MESSAGES
The first element of a program, its theme and messages, should frame the
program’s entire scope and must be carefully planned in conjunction with the
action or special event central to the program.
The program should be catchy and memorable. The best themes are in the form of
short slogans consisting of no more than 5 words. Not all programs require themes
or slogans, but a brief creative theme can become the mostmemorable part of the
entire PR effort.
2. ACTION OR SPECIAL EVENT(S)
In any program, a central action or a special event has to be sponsored by the client. The
client’s actions or events are usually the focal point of the theme and messages. Some PR
programs do not realize actions and concentrate only on theme and messages. But, it is
highly recommended to be action oriented in programs. A central action or event can
make most programs more newsworthy, interesting and effective.
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3. UNCONTROLLED AND CONTROLLED MEDIA
The two forms of communication used in Public Relations are usually classified as
uncontrolled and controlled media.
First one is called uncontrolled media, because the practitioner loses control of the
materials. Here, our target audience is the decision making editors of mass media.
The objective is “to favorable news coverage of the client’s actions and events”.
The standart formats used to communicate client news to the media include news
releases, feature stories, captioned photographs, ans news conferences.
As this is the uncontolled media, the editor may choose to use the practitioner’s
release or feature story entirely, or partly, or may choose not to use it. Or the editor
may choose to send a reporter to write or videotape their own stories ignoring the
practitioner’s efforts.
The controlled media is paid by the client. The wording of the material, its format,
and its placement in the media are all up to the client.
4. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
The final aspect of programming concerns the use of effective communication
principles. The factors of source, message, channel, receivers and feedback will bw
useful in our examination of communication principles.
1) source credibility 2) message: salient information 3) message: effective nonverbal
cues 4) message: effective verbal cues 5) channel and feedback 6) receivers: opinion
leaders 7) receivers: group influence 8) receivers: selective exposure 9) feedback :
audience participatipation
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IV) EVALUATION
Evaluation of PR program is realized according to its stated objectives, each of which can be
measured by different methods.
 Evaluating Informational Objectives
Measurement of informational objectives include 3 dimensions:
1)message exposure
2)message comprehension
3) message retention
 Evaluating Attitudinal Objectives
Attitudes can be measured by well-established survey research instruments, most known of these
are Likert Scales. Attitude measurement require both pretesting and posttesting and must be
done by competent professionals well-schooled and experienced in quantitative research
methods.
 Evaluating Behavioral Objectives
1) Target audience can be asked what their behavior have been since exposure to the PR
program (requires pretesting and posttesting)
2) Observations can be done, behavior is simply observed, in some cases can be counted.

Evaluating Output Objectives
Involve the distribution of controlled and uncontrolled media.
Evaluation by
- keeping records of number of news releases sent to publications and broadcaststations, the
number of contacts made by journalists, number of speeches given to the targer audience, the
number of meetings held with key audiences.
The evaluative data are recycled as a part of a continuing procedure. Data helps practitioner
in adjusting ongoingrelations with various audiences.
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