Assessing the Effectiveness of Public Relations as Part of Organizational Information Activities in Trust Building

Abstract

This paper synthesizes the findings of recent empirical and theoretical studies that confirm the relationship between the effectiveness of public relations and the level of trust in organizations. It is established that, in the digital environment, trust is shaped not only by the content of messages but also by the nature and quality of interaction with the audience. The paper examines approaches to assessing the effectiveness of public relations as a component of organizational information activities in building consumer trust. The relevance of the study is defined by transformation of communication processes in the contemporary digital environment, where trust functions as a key factor in the interaction between organizations and their audiences. Traditional approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of public relations primarily focus on quantitative metrics, which often fail to fully capture the actual impact of communications on audience perceptions and behaviour. Public relations operates within a broader system of organizational information activities that encompasses the creation, dissemination, and interpretation of information. In this context, trust is conceptualized as an integral outcome of communicative interaction. The study analyses contemporary Ukrainian and international academic scholarship to identify key trends in the development of approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of public relations. The paper proposes a model for assessing public relations effectiveness that comprises three interrelated levels: informational, perceptual, and behavioural. The informational level reflects the organization’s presence in the information space; the perceptual level captures audience perceptions of the organization; and the behavioural level reflects actual responses to communication. Furthermore, based on an analysis of empirical data from international studies, the findings indicate that trust directly influences consumer behaviour and the economic performance of organizations. Future research should focus on the development of tools for measuring trust in the digital environment, as well as on examining the impact of emerging technologies on communication effectiveness.