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Den affektiva PR-byrån: En kvalitativ studie av PR-byråers självpresentation och legitimitet
Umeå University, Faculty of Arts, Department of culture and media studies.
Umeå University, Faculty of Arts, Department of culture and media studies.
2025 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesisAlternative title
The Affective PR-Agency : A Qualitative Study of PR-Agencies Self-presentation and Legitimacy (English)
Abstract [en]

This study aimed to investigate Swedish PR-agencies’ self-presentation and which legitimization strategies they incorporate in their external communication, specifically on their website. The study relied on a theoretical framework consisting of CCO, organizational identity and legitimization. The research focused on how these agencies portray their identities to external stakeholders. The primary aim was to analyze the methods through which PR-agencies construct organizational identity and legitimacy, especially with the historical critique towards the industry in mind. The study was conducted through a thematic content analysis using a coding frame consisting of five legitimization strategies. The analysis showed that all strategies, to a varying extent, could be identified in the PR-agencies external communication. The researchers found that impression management was the most commonly used legitimization strategy. Key findings in this study revealed that the agencies tend to emphasize expertise, creativity and collaboration as core traits in their self-presentation. The study also showed that the phenomenon of anthropomorphism was a common occurrence in the PR-agencies organizational identity, with the purpose to humanize the organizations. Regarding how the agencies counteract the critique against the industry, the study did not reach any definitive conclusions. We did, however, interpret the usage of legitimization strategies and core traits as the organizations partly trying to prevent critique.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 58
Keywords [en]
PR-Agencies, Self-presentation, Legitimacy, Organizational Identity, Communication, Thematic Content Analysis
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-237751OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-237751DiVA, id: diva2:1952926
Educational program
Programme in Media and Communication Studies: Strategic Communication
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Examiners
Available from: 2025-04-17 Created: 2025-04-16 Last updated: 2025-04-17Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
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