title: The adoption of communication technologies by the Aotearoa New Zealand public relations industry: Social media and artificial intelligence

authors: Leeming, Isabel

subjects: Diffusion of Innovation Theory

abstract: Purpose of research
This research aims to explore the factors that challenge or enable the adoption of new communication technologies by Aotearoa New Zealand's public relations industry. More specifically, it investigates the adoption of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, identifying associated ethical issues. The research will use past experiences of adopting social media to provide important lessons for today’s adoption of AI and highlight the importance of proactive learning, responsible experimentation, strong ethical frameworks and securing a place for public relations voices in technology policy discussions.

Design and methodology
Semi-structured interviews were conducted to detect senior professionals’ experiences and insights regarding the adoption of both social media and AI. Interviewees were selected based on their years of experience, allowing the researcher to ensure a comparison between the adoption of social media and the current adoption of AI. This meant participants had to have at least 14-15 years of experience. Based on the interviews’ content, the researcher created a questionnaire, which was distributed to 3,010 Aotearoa New Zealand public relations professionals through the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand’s newsletter. In addition, the researcher directly contacted 16 public relations professionals known to the researcher in Aotearoa New Zealand and posted the survey through the researcher’s LinkedIn page which reached 418 other LinkedIn members.

The survey questionnaire and interviews guideline were designed to gather data on public relations professionals’ initial understanding of social media, as well as their organisations’ initial attitude, how their social media policy was created and how they currently used social media in their work. It also sought to understand the current adoption trends of AI by gathering information and attitudinal perceptions from the respondents’ organisation, their opinions on AI, if their organisation had an AI policy, their involvement and if they had used AI in their work, as well as any future opportunities they see if adopting AI.

The major question the guide this study was:
What are the factors that challenge or enable the adoption of new communication technologies by the public relations industry?

Findings
Social media blurred the boundaries between personal and professional identities, creating new ethical and reputational considerations for public relations professionals. Social media expanded public relations responsibilities to include real-time engagement, content creation and analytics. AI has the power to enhance productivity, however the need for upskilling and training as AI becomes more prominent in communication workflows is crucial. There are explicit knowledge and skills gaps related to AI, particularly in areas such as ethical use, content verification and integration into strategic communication. Public relations pracitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand feel underprepared for AI’s rapid evolution, and there is limited access to formal training tailored specifically to public relations applications, due to organisational barriers, unclear policies and resistance to change.

Originality/value
This research is original in its dual focus on the adoption of both social media and AI in the public relations industry, using the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory as a unifying analytical framework. While previous studies have examined these technologies separately, this research is among the first to compare their adoption patterns side by side, offering a longitudinal perspective on how public relations professionals in Aotearoa New Zealand, respond to digital transformation over time. The study uniquely highlights the parallels between past and present adoption behaviours, revealing recurring organisational hesitations, generational divides and evolving role expectations. It also contributes new insight into current AI knowledge and skills gaps, which have yet to be comprehensively addressed in existing public relations scholarship. By drawing on real-world practitioner narratives, this research adds depth to theoretical understanding and offers practical implications for how the profession can better prepare for emerging technologies.

text: The adoption of communication technologies by the Aotearoa New Zealand public relations industry: Social media and artificial intelligence Purpose of research
This research aims to explore the factors that challenge or enable the adoption of new communication technologies by Aotearoa New Zealand's public relations industry. More specifically, it investigates the adoption of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, identifying associated ethical issues. The research will use past experiences of adopting social media to provide important lessons for today’s adoption of AI and highlight the importance of proactive learning, responsible experimentation, strong ethical frameworks and securing a place for public relations voices in technology policy discussions.

Design and methodology
Semi-structured interviews were conducted to detect senior professionals’ experiences and insights regarding the adoption of both social media and AI. Interviewees were selected based on their years of experience, allowing the researcher to ensure a comparison between the adoption of social media and the current adoption of AI. This meant participants had to have at least 14-15 years of experience. Based on the interviews’ content, the researcher created a questionnaire, which was distributed to 3,010 Aotearoa New Zealand public relations professionals through the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand’s newsletter. In addition, the researcher directly contacted 16 public relations professionals known to the researcher in Aotearoa New Zealand and posted the survey through the researcher’s LinkedIn page which reached 418 other LinkedIn members.

The survey questionnaire and interviews guideline were designed to gather data on public relations professionals’ initial understanding of social media, as well as their organisations’ initial attitude, how their social media policy was created and how they currently used social media in their work. It also sought to understand the current adoption trends of AI by gathering information and attitudinal perceptions from the respondents’ organisation, their opinions on AI, if their organisation had an AI policy, their involvement and if they had used AI in their work, as well as any future opportunities they see if adopting AI.

The major question the guide this study was:
What are the factors that challenge or enable the adoption of new communication technologies by the public relations industry?

Findings
Social media blurred the boundaries between personal and professional identities, creating new ethical and reputational considerations for public relations professionals. Social media expanded public relations responsibilities to include real-time engagement, content creation and analytics. AI has the power to enhance productivity, however the need for upskilling and training as AI becomes more prominent in communication workflows is crucial. There are explicit knowledge and skills gaps related to AI, particularly in areas such as ethical use, content verification and integration into strategic communication. Public relations pracitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand feel underprepared for AI’s rapid evolution, and there is limited access to formal training tailored specifically to public relations applications, due to organisational barriers, unclear policies and resistance to change.

Originality/value
This research is original in its dual focus on the adoption of both social media and AI in the public relations industry, using the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory as a unifying analytical framework. While previous studies have examined these technologies separately, this research is among the first to compare their adoption patterns side by side, offering a longitudinal perspective on how public relations professionals in Aotearoa New Zealand, respond to digital transformation over time. The study uniquely highlights the parallels between past and present adoption behaviours, revealing recurring organisational hesitations, generational divides and evolving role expectations. It also contributes new insight into current AI knowledge and skills gaps, which have yet to be comprehensively addressed in existing public relations scholarship. By drawing on real-world practitioner narratives, this research adds depth to theoretical understanding and offers practical implications for how the profession can better prepare for emerging technologies.

year: 2025

title: Funding and providing social services: The good, the bad and the third way?

authors: Harris, Paul

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The funder/provider split in the area of social services is now a long-established reality in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It has been the subject of much debate and criticism see, for example, Boston et at 1996. However, it remains the principal means by which a range of NGO service providers gains access to State funding. At the same time, with the advent of a new Labour-Alliance coalition government in 1999, the possibility arises that one of the social policy reforms the government might consider would be to amend or even to abolish the funder/provider system.

text: Funding and providing social services: The good, the bad and the third way? The funder/provider split in the area of social services is now a long-established reality in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It has been the subject of much debate and criticism see, for example, Boston et at 1996. However, it remains the principal means by which a range of NGO service providers gains access to State funding. At the same time, with the advent of a new Labour-Alliance coalition government in 1999, the possibility arises that one of the social policy reforms the government might consider would be to amend or even to abolish the funder/provider system.

year: 2001

title: Using the stars to indigenize the public sphere: Matariki over New Zealand

authors: Hardy, Anna

subjects: Arts & Humanities

abstract: As the rate of affiliation to Christian identity continues to decline in Aotearoa New Zealand (only 49 percent of the population said they were Christian in the last census), public space has become more receptive to other forms of religiosity. In particular, community rituals around the winter movements of the Matariki (Pleiades) constellation have gained support since the year 2000. For instance, the capital city, Wellington, has replaced a centuries’ old British fireworks festival, Guy Fawkes, with an enlarged version of its Matariki celebrations: an action seen as a tipping point in the incorporation of Māori spiritual values into public life. Interactions between European colonisers and Māori have been characterised for more than 250 years by tensions between the relational thinking of Māori who see human beings as both participating in and constrained by an environment resonant with divine energies, and the quantitative, hierarchical, ‘Great Chain of Being’ model that had long been dominant among Europeans. Now, when the natural environment worldwide is under strain from population and economic pressures, it seems to some both appropriate and vital to look to epistemological and spiritual models that are intimately responsive to the specificities of location.

text: Using the stars to indigenize the public sphere: Matariki over New Zealand As the rate of affiliation to Christian identity continues to decline in Aotearoa New Zealand (only 49 percent of the population said they were Christian in the last census), public space has become more receptive to other forms of religiosity. In particular, community rituals around the winter movements of the Matariki (Pleiades) constellation have gained support since the year 2000. For instance, the capital city, Wellington, has replaced a centuries’ old British fireworks festival, Guy Fawkes, with an enlarged version of its Matariki celebrations: an action seen as a tipping point in the incorporation of Māori spiritual values into public life. Interactions between European colonisers and Māori have been characterised for more than 250 years by tensions between the relational thinking of Māori who see human beings as both participating in and constrained by an environment resonant with divine energies, and the quantitative, hierarchical, ‘Great Chain of Being’ model that had long been dominant among Europeans. Now, when the natural environment worldwide is under strain from population and economic pressures, it seems to some both appropriate and vital to look to epistemological and spiritual models that are intimately responsive to the specificities of location.

year: 2019