Identification and Prioritization of Marketing Public Relations Indicators with an Integrated Marketing Communications Approach for Service Institutions

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to identify and prioritize the indicators of marketing public relations using an integrated marketing communications approach for service institutions. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In the qualitative phase, grounded theory based on Glaser’s approach was used, while in the quantitative phase, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) mathematical technique was applied. The statistical population in the qualitative section included 14 experts and experienced academics in the relevant field, who were purposefully selected using the snowball sampling strategy and interviewed through semi-structured interviews. In the quantitative section, to determine the significance and ranking of the identified indicators, a pairwise comparison questionnaire and the AHP technique were utilized. In this phase, the opinions of 19 public relations, marketing, and sales managers from service institutions were collected and analyzed using Expert Choice software to establish the priorities. The results indicate that marketing-oriented public relations in service institutions—aimed at improving information dissemination, establishing a favorable brand position, promoting services, and effectively attracting customers—can continuously conduct their activities across four operational domains by emphasizing six key dimensions: the formation of a think tank, environmental analysis and market research, audience identification and segmentation, planning of communication messages and goal setting, use of integrated marketing communication tools, and performance measurement and evaluation.