ROI or evidence-based PR: The language of public relations evaluation

As evaluation of public relations programmes moves from output to outcome measurement with greater emphasis on integrated planning, research, and evaluation,the term Return on Investment (ROI) has been increasingly used by practitioners to express campaign results to decision-makers from managerial and financial backgrounds. Yet the United Kingdom’s Institute of Public Relations rejects ROI as “not only confusing” but misleading. This article reviews the language of public relations evaluation from theoretical and best practice viewpoints in order to propose a platform of common terminology that can be implemented in theory and practice.