PUBLIC RELATIONS ETHICS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: ETHICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES THAT USE MYSPACE AND FACEBOOK By KATE ELIZABETH WALTER A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2009 1 © 2009 Kate Elizabeth Walter 2 To Catherine 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for their unending support in any new endeavor I pursue. You have been with me through it all, and I appreciate everything you have done for me. I would also like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Ferguson, for all of her guidance, revisions and personal time that she gave me in order to make this research paper a success. In addition, I would like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Cleary and Dr. Martin-Kratzer, for agreeing to take on one more thesis student and for all of the helpful advice they gave me. Last but not least, I would like to thank Jason for being my biggest fan for the last two years. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................11 Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................................11 Gaps in Research ....................................................................................................................12 Relevance to Practitioners ......................................................................................................13 Study Objectives .....................................................................................................................14 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................16 Social Network Sites ...............................................................................................................16 Privacy and Ethical Dilemmas ................................................................................................18 Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics ...........................................................................22 Ethical Realities in Public Relations Agencies .......................................................................25 Ethical Associations for Public Relations Agencies ...............................................................30 The PRSA Code of Ethics ...............................................................................................30 The Word of Mouth Marketing Association Code of Ethics ..........................................31 Association for Internet Researchers ...............................................................................33 European Union ...............................................................................................................33 Chartered Institute of Public Relations ............................................................................34 UNESCO .........................................................................................................................35 Ethical Theories in Public Relations .......................................................................................35 Situational Ethics .............................................................................................................35 The Public Conscience View of Ethics ...........................................................................36 A Normative Model of Ethics .........................................................................................37 Practitioner’s Personal Values and Ethics .......................................................................37 Dialogic Communication .................................................................................................39 Cultural Lag .....................................................................................................................40 Research Questions and Hypotheses ......................................................................................41 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................43 Selected Sample and Location ................................................................................................43 Pilot Testing ............................................................................................................................45 Survey Methodology ..............................................................................................................46 5 Questions ................................................................................................................................47 Procedure ................................................................................................................................48 Method Analysis and Verification ..........................................................................................50 4 FINDINGS ..............................................................................................................................51 Results.....................................................................................................................................51 Research Question 1 ...............................................................................................................52 Research Question 1a .............................................................................................................53 Research Question 1b .............................................................................................................54 Research Question 1c .............................................................................................................54 Research Question 1d .............................................................................................................55 Research Question 2 ...............................................................................................................56 Research Question 3 ...............................................................................................................59 Hypothesis 1 ...........................................................................................................................62 Hypothesis 2 ...........................................................................................................................64 Hypothesis 2a ..........................................................................................................................66 Hypothesis 2b .........................................................................................................................66 Summary of Results ................................................................................................................68 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ....................................................................................71 Agency use of SNS .................................................................................................................71 Agency Ethics Codes ..............................................................................................................72 Impact of Agency Ethics Codes on Practitioners ...................................................................74 Implications for Public Relations ...........................................................................................75 Study Limitations....................................................................................................................76 Future Research ......................................................................................................................78 APPENDIX A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ...............................................................................................80 B LIST OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES .......................................................................84 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................140 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 4-1 Responses weighted for differential response rates and sample size .................................52 4-2 Difference of means test for how often practitioners use sns ............................................52 4-3 Results of mean test for rq1a, b, c and d ............................................................................53 4-4 Results of years in current position ....................................................................................60 4-5 Results of years working in public relations ......................................................................60