social media use by public relations departments in saudi arabia

205 Pages·2017·2.42 MB·English

SOCIAL MEDIA USE BY PUBLIC RELATIONS
DEPARTMENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

By
Abdulhadi Almfleah
Student Id Number: @00346534

A Doctoral Thesis Submitted to
The University of Salford
In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in
Arts and Media

June 2017
Declaration
The work presented in this thesis is my own and has not been submitted to any examination
body or for any academic award. All the works adapted from other sources have been
acknowledged through proper citations and the generation of a corresponding bibliography.

ii
Dedication
To my lovely wife and the four amazing fruits of our love.

iii
Acknowledgements
I acknowledge the supremacy and providence of Allah (SWT) and remain eternally gracious
for all the gifts He has endowed me including good health and adequate resources to
complete this work.

Through the difficult times of illness and raising our children, I am forever indebted to my
wife for the support, patience and love that inspired me every day when my energies were
low.

To my children, those little eyes full of innocence and faith in daddy without the doubt that
daddy was the superman challenged me to live up to those expectations. Thank you.

I am grateful to The University of Salford and especially the postgraduate department,
particularly Emma, for giving me the endless opportunities to complete my PhD without any
hindrances.

I am also thankful to Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) and Saudi Ministry of
Commerce and Industry (Saudi MCI) for allowing me the opportunity to undertake research
based on their PR practice and social media use. Special thanks to all the interviewees, those
who participated in this research and all the questionnaire respondents.

My dear, patient and ever-understanding supervisors Dr. Carole O’Reilly and Dr. Sharon
Coen, I cannot thank you enough for the consistent advice and guidance throughout the entire
research process. Despite busy schedules and lives, you were there for me when I wrote long
chapters and short, numerous emails seeking your feedback. Your energies were amazingly
challenging and your constructive criticism was given with so much love and understanding
it made me feel like a spoilt, doctoral infant. May Allah grant you the grace to accomplish
your dreams according to His will.

To Dr. Cristina Archetti , although I did not complete this PhD journey with you, I will never
forget your contribution in helping me lay a firm foundation for this work.

To anyone that has not been mentioned by name, yet contributed to the accomplishment of
this PhD, especially my friends and the Saudi Community in Newcastle, please accept my
sincere gratitude.

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Table of Contents
Declaration................................................................................................................................ ii
Dedication ............................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. iv
Abstract ................................................................................................................................. viii
List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... ix
List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... x
1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1
1.1 Research motivation....................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Saudi Arabia................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Saudi MCI and STC ....................................................................................................... 6
1.4 Public Relations ............................................................................................................. 7
1.4.1 Definition ........................................................................................................... 7
1.4.2 Internet and PR .................................................................................................. 9
1.4.3 Culture and PR ................................................................................................ 10
1.4.4 Islam and PR .................................................................................................... 13
1.5 Aims and Objectives of the study……………………………………………………15
1.6 Research questions ....................................................................................................... 15
1.7 Research contribution .................................................................................................. 16
1.7 Structure of thesis ........................................................................................................ 17
2. CHAPTER TWO: HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE ARAB WORLD
AND SAUDI ARABIA ............................................................................................... 19
2.1 Public Relations in the Arab World……………………….……………………..........20
2.2 Public Relations in Saudi Arabia……………………………….……………………..22
3. CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................
3.1 Studies Done Outside the Arab World…………………………………………………...26
3.2 Studies Done in The Arab World………………………………………………………...29
4. CHAPTER FOUR: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA……………… 31
4.1-Online Public Relations………………………………………………………............. 31
4.2-Engagement in Social Media…………………………………………………………..31
4.3. New media…………………………………………………………………………….32
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4.3.1 PR theory and new media…………………………………………………….…….…34
4.3.2 PR practice and new media………………………………………………….…37
4.4 Social media and Social Networking………………………………………………….....40
4.4.1 Social media’s potential in PR…………………………………………………43
4.5 Organisational communication and affordances of social media usage………………….45
4.5.1 Social M edia and Visibility………………………………………………………….46
4.5.2 Social Media and Persistence………………………………………………………47
4.5.3 Social Media and Editability………………………………………………………...48
4.5.4 Social Media and Association…………………………………………………49
4.6 Network theory……………………………………………………………………….......50
4.7 Change management and PR communication……………………………………………52
4.8 Theoretical foundations for current research……………………………………………..53
5. CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................... 56
5.1 Research strategy ......................................................................................................... 57
5.1.1 Qualitative research......................................................................................... 56
5.1.2 Quantitative research....................................................................................... 57
5.1.3 Contextual criticism of quantitative and qualitative research strategies...…..59
5.1.4 Implementation of Mixed Methods in this study…………………………..…60
5.1.5 Cross-sectional research design………………………………………………… ..60
5.1.6 Archival research design…………………………………………………...61
5.2 Data collection ............................................................................................................. 61
5.2.1 Interviews ......................................................................................................... 61
5.2.2 Target population and sampling……………………………………………………..63
5.2.3 The interview process…………………………………………………………..64
5.2.4 Questionnaires ................................................................................................. 63
5.2.5 The data collection instrument………………………………………………....…65
5.2.6 Questionnaire administration………………………………………………………...66
5.2.7 Reliability……………………………………………………………………………..…67
5.2.8 Validity…………………………………………………………………………………..67
5.2.9 Archival data .................................................................................................... 67
5.2.10 Data operationalization ................................................................................... 68
5.3 Data analysis ................................................................................................................ 74
5.3.1 Qualitative data analysis ................................................................................. 74
5.3.2 Quantitative data analysis ............................................................................... 75
5.4 Ethical considerations .................................................................................................. 75
6. CHAPTER SIX: QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS .................. 78
6.1 Demographic profiling of questionnaire respondents .................................................. 78
6.2 How STC and Saudi MCI use Social Media ............................................................... 79
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6.3 Quantitative results for extent of social media usage in ethical and two-way
symmetric manners .............................................................................................................. 81
6.3.1 Ethical usage of social media .......................................................................... 81
6.3.2 Two-way symmetrical usage of social media ................................................... 82
6.4 Extent of two-way symmetrical model application ..................................................... 88
6.5 Social media impact on organisation engagement with publics and stakeholders ...... 90
6.6 Social media opportunities/affordances ....................................................................... 92
7. CHAPTER SEVEN: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSES AND RESULTS ............. 94
7.1 Interview analyses and results ..................................................................................... 94
7.1.1 Interviewee profile ........................................................................................... 96
7.1.2 The more the merrier? ..................................................................................... 97
7.1.3 Age is not just a number................................................................................. 100
7.1.4 Islam and culture influence Saudi PR practices ............................................ 102
7.1.5 One-way PR practice through social media dominates ................................. 105
7.2 Archived analysis and results ..................................................................................... 110
7.2.1 STC has more than MCI ................................................................................ 110
7.2.2 Content and conversation initiator influence public engagement ................. 113
7.2.3 Two-way symmetrical model traits ................................................................ 114
8. CHAPTER EIGHT: DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS…..120
8.1 Facebook and Twitter usage by Saudi organisations in their communication with
stakeholders and their publics ............................................................................................ 120
8.2 Ethical/Two-way symmetrical usage ......................................................................... 123
8.3 Effect of Facebook and Twitter usage on how Saudi organisations communicate ... 129
8.4 Social media opportunities that Saudi organisations have yet to exploit in PR
terms ........................................................................................................................... 132
8.5 Applicability of the two-way symmetrical model in the Saudi Context .................... 136
8.6 Conclusions and suggestions ..................................................................................... 141
8.7 Practical suggestions .................................................................................................. 145
8.8 Research implications ................................................................................................ 146
8.9 Research limitations ................................................................................................... 147
8.10 Suggestions for further research ................................................................................. 148
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 150
Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 170
Appendix 1: Participant Invitation Letter .......................................................................... 170
Appendix 2: Participant Information Sheet ....................................................................... 171
Appendix 3: Participant Informed Consent Form .............................................................. 173
Appendix 4: Interview Guide............................................................................................. 174
Appendix 5a: Facebook Questionnaire .............................................................................. 176
Appendix 5b: Twitter Questionnaire ................................................................................. 179
Appendix 6: Ethical Approval Form.................................................................................. 182
Appendix 7: Interview coding manual ............................................................................... 193

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Abstract
The aim of this research is to study and compare the use of social media by public relations
departments in the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) and The Saudi Ministry of
Commerce and Industry (Saudi MCI). An integration of cross-sectional and archival research
designs was implemented using both secondary and primary data.
Qualitative primary data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, with
12 purposively selected senior public relations and communications’ officials PR and
communication practitioners working at STC (n= 7) and Saudi MCI (n= 5). Quantitative
primary data was collected through web-administered surveys designed using Google survey
Forms (N= 511) and whose links were placed in the STC (n= 262) and Saudi MCI (n= 249)
with Facebook pages and Twitter handles. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS
version 21, after data preparation and arrangement in Microsoft Excel 2013 Interview and
archival data were analysed using inductive content and thematic analysis, which led to the
development of thematic maps.
The findings showed that both STC and Saudi MCI use social media to publicise their
activities through public information, lobby public support for their positions, enhance
information quality and provide a question and answer platform for their publics. Findings
show that both STC and Saudi MCI were ethical in their PR practices. The usage of
Facebook and Twitter changed the way STC and MCI PR practitioners engage with their
publics and stakeholders by easing contacts between the organisation and the public, allowing
the public access to important information and enabling the public a voice in the engagement
especially through criticising the organisation. The findings also showed that the private and
public organisations in Saudi Arabia exploit the social media affordances comprising
visibility, editability, persistence, and association.

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List of Tables
Table 5.6.4a. Questionnaire prompt data, research questions and/or hypotheses’ relationship
.................................................................................................................................................. 71
Table 5.6.4b. Interview prompts and research questions addressed ........................................ 72
Table 6.2. Demographic data for questionnaire respondents ................................................... 79
Table 6.3. Group statistics describing social media usage differences between STC and Saudi
MCI .......................................................................................................................................... 80
Table 6.4.1. Independent samples t-test results comparing STC and Saudi MCI on overall
ethical usage of social media ................................................................................................... 82
Table 6.4.2a. Operationalization of the two-way symmetrical model's traits .......................... 82
Table 6.4.2b. Independent samples test for two-way symmetrical traits ................................. 88
Table 6.4.2c. One sample test for two-way symmetrical traits ................................................ 88
Table 6.5a. Independent samples t-test results comparing STC and Saudi MCI means on
overall two-way symmetrical usage of social media ............................................................... 89
Table 6.5b. One sample t-test results on overall two-way symmetrical usage of social media
by STC and Saudi MCI ............................................................................................................ 90
Table 6.6a. Group statistics for effect of social media on the way PR practitioners and
communicators engage with the public and stakeholders ........................................................ 90
Table 6.6b. Independent samples t-test on effect of social media on the way PR practitioners
and communicators engage with the public and stakeholders ................................................. 91
Table 6.6c. Independent samples t-test for overall effect of social media on the way PR
practitioners and communicators engage with the public and stakeholders ............................ 91
Table 6.6d. One-sample t-test results on effect of social media on the way PR practitioners
and communicators engage with the public and stakeholders ................................................. 92
Table 6.7a. One sample test comparing STC and Saudi MCI on exploitation of social media
affordances ............................................................................................................................... 93
Table 7.1.1. Interviewee demographic profile ......................................................................... 97
Table 8.6. Summary of hypotheses and confirmations/rejections ......................................... 143

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List of Figures

Figure 7.1a. Thematic map developed during the initial coding phase ................................... 95
Figure 7.1b. Final thematic map .............................................................................................. 96
Figure 71.2. A section of the thematic map illustrating the "the more the merrier" theme ..... 98
Figure 7.1.3. A section of the thematic map illustrating the "age is not just a number" theme
................................................................................................................................................ 101
Figure 7.1.4. A section of the thematic map illustrating the "Islam and culture influence Saudi
PR practices" theme ............................................................................................................... 102
Figure 7.1.5. A section of the thematic map illustrating the "one-way PR practice through
social media dominates" theme .............................................................................................. 106
Figure 7.2.1. Selected images posted by the public on social media during the STC boycott
................................................................................................................................................ 113
Figure 8.5. New model of online PR in Saudi Arabia ........................................................... 140

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