Public Acuity, Home-made Vehicles and Public Relations in Nigeria
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IBIMA Publishing
Abstract
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Product quality and industry-public relationships enhance organisations' reputations
worldwide. In Nigeria, both are critical to the automobile industry already bugged by public
distrust and low confidence. Thus, the study examined the public relations (PR) actions of
indigenous automobile companies amid these challenges. It looked at public relations as a
strategic organisational function that could aid acceptance and stimulate a positive public
attitude towards domestic automobile products. James Grunig’s Two-Way Symmetrical
model of public relations provided the theoretical framework for the study to investigate the
shared values, support and partnership between automobile companies and their
stakeholders. A stratified sampling technique was used to retrieve data via the survey
research design. A structured questionnaire was administered to elicit the opinions of
residents of Lagos metropolis which is a major hub of Nigeria’s automotive activities. Findings
showed that stakeholders' awareness level of public relations actions in the indigenous auto
industry was low, with a significant percentage of respondents expressing a negative
perception of the industry. The study concluded that despite the government's imposition of
restraining tariffs on imported vehicles, docile public relations of local manufacturers had not
helped the public to accept indigenous automobiles patriotically. The study recommended
that Nigerian automobile manufacturers should outsource their PR programmes and
undertake engaging productions of motoring documentaries. Moreover, the organisations
should create public acceptance advocacy for locally-assembled vehicles.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), HE Transportation and Communications