| Chapter 1: | Introduction and Underlying Assumptions |
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Because most, if not all, Web sites build some kind of relationship with some kind of public, it becomes very difficult to distinguish between public relations and nonpublic relations Web sites. Instead of dwelling on this distinction, it might be more productive to conceptualize public relations as a function or purpose of Web sites. Various organizations’ and even countries’ so-called online headquarters (Web sites that provide general information about an organization or country, usually identified by the use of the organization’s name in the URLs, such as www.ge.com, www.redcross.org, or www.poland.com) have a very strong public relations function and have been studied before from a public relations perspective (Brunn & Cottle, 1997; Durham, 2000; Esrock & Leichty, 1998, 1999, 2000; Gustavsen & Tilley, 2003; Jackson & Purcell, 1997; Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003; Marken, 2002; Taylor, Kent, & White, 2001). The phrase “public relations Web sites” is used throughout this study as shorthand, to refer to Web sites with a very strong public relations function. Although various types of organizations, and even nations and governments, create Web sites with strong public relations functions, the scope of this research is limited to corporate Web sites authored by U.S. business corporations.
Two main reasons account for limiting the project’s scope to U.S. corporate Web sites. First, corporations are innovators and Web content pioneers (O’Leary, 2002). They have the resources and the motivation to invest in their Web sites and to implement the newest technologies and online communication strategies. U.S. corporations spend millions of dollars a year to maintain their Web sites (Jupiter Media Metrix, 2002) and can afford to innovate and set trends that other types of organizations follow. Second, most existing public relations research focuses on corporate Web sites, and this project aims to build upon this body of research.