The purpose of this report is to define framing as part of the communications theory and establish an understanding of its use in public relations. This will be done by giving the definition of framing, exhibiting through the theory’s history, and putting it within the context of public relations. By the conclusion of this paper, the reader will have a clear understanding of the framing theory and its uses.

In today’s current communication fields across the world, public relations practitioners are relying on more innovative strategies to reach their audience. When attempting to reach their audience, it is important to portray a constructed message. Public relations practitioners are continuously finding ways to adapt to the changing environment such as incorporating different strategies and theories. The framing theory, is an advanced and complex theory of public relations. The framing theory puts a message within parameters. The parameters are focused on targeting the specific audience. In order to gain a more in depth understanding of the framing theory, this paper will define framing, educate the history of the theory, and explain how public relations practitioners relate their messages using the framing theory.

Framing is a concept which is commonly used to understand the media effects. Public relations practitioners use the framing theory to attempt to have a certain message perceived a certain way. Many people commonly confuse the agenda setting theory with the framing theory. The agenda setting theory makes the audience think about its effects whereas the framing is based on the idea of how professionals within the communications field can base an event or an issue about a certain topic which plays an important role in people’s decision making process. The process of placing the information into a well thought out field of meaning is called framing. The framing theory consists of four major elements in the communication process; the sender, the receiver, the informative message and culture.

The psychological origins of framing lie in experimental work by Kahneman and Tversky (Kahneman, 1979), for which Kahneman received the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics. They examined how different presentations of identical decision-making scenarios influence people’s choices and their evaluation of the various options presented to them. The sociological foundations of framing were laid by Erving Goffman in 1974 and others who assumed that individuals cannot understand the world fully and constantly struggle to interpret their life experiences in order to make sense of the world around them. In order to efficiently process new information, Goffman argues that individuals therefore apply interpretive schemas or primary frameworks to classify information and interpret it meaningfully. Goffman describes the framing theory as having two broad classes of primary schema. The classes consist of natural and social. He describes natural frameworks as having absolutely nothing applied. It has to do with one’s physical and biological make up and nothing else. Social frameworks are much more complex. Goffman describes a reaction driven from the social framework is, “based on its honesty, efficiency, economy, safety, elegance, tactfulness, good taste and so forth” (Goffman, 22). Therefore, all human reaction is determined by these two primary frameworks. Goffman called these frameworks primary because there is no original interpretation of an event that occurs before this one. Goffman stated that, “a primary framework is one that is seen as rendering what would otherwise be a meaningless aspect of the scene and into something that is meaningful” (Goffman, 21).

Goffman was a Canadian-American sociologist who played a significant role in the development of modern American sociology. Some individuals consider him to be one of the most influential sociologists of the 20^th century. One of Goffman’s famous pieces of work is a book called Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Goffman published the book in 1974. He enjoyed writing about how conceptual frames structure an individual’s perception of society. Throughout his career, Goffman produced five other major publications and received six honors and awards.

In today’s current field of communications, public relations professionals can successfully use predisposed feelings to target a specific group of people. Once they frame the message and send it, the message is then filtered through each individual’s primary frame that Goffman introduced. When the message is in the primary frame of an individual, it is manipulated and perceived in its own unique way. The individual then reacts to the message, reshapes its feelings and the process begins again. The figure below can be identified as Scheufele’s Model of Framing.

When looking to use the framing theory in a successful way, public relations professionals turn to Kirk Hallahan’s “Seven Models of Framing: Implications for Public Relations.” Hallahan took the research and ideas put before him about framing in the media and applied them to seven different situations in public relations. These seven unique and interesting theories have drastically helped professionals frame successfully. Hallahan described how each of these theories will work. However, an individual must understand the public’s frame before deciding which of the seven techniques will work best. After evaluating the public’s frame, Hallahan states that an individual must pick between three of the seven techniques. These three consist of story framing, valence framing and semantic framing. Each of these three techniques are very specific to the public’s frame. After one of the three techniques above is chosen, Hallahan then suggests creating a message. When the message is created, there are four other techniques that can be selected to deliver the best possible message. These techniques include script, thematic, syntactical and rhetorical. It is so important for public relations professionals to first understand Goffman’s theory and then be able to understand and apply Hallahan’s techniques so they can successfully use the framing theory.

For example, a French company, L’Oréal has been successfully using the framing theory for decades. L’Oréal is a beauty care company. Many years ago, L’Oréal introduced their famous tagline, “Because You’re Worth It.” This tagline frames a woman’s desire to purchase skincare products from L’Oréal. Woman want to purchase their products because they are worth it. The line “Because You’re Worth It” effects issues that women may have about self-esteem and beauty; these are cognitive biases of an extremely personal nature. Thoughts such as: “Am I beautiful?” “How can I become beautiful?” “Do I deserve to be beautiful?” “Should I purchase skincare products?” are influenced by the verbal frame “Because You’re Worth It.” These four words answer all these questions at once and seemingly resolve any guilt or doubt about skincare purchases or the right to think about one’s personal appearance.

Another example of framing often occurs in most grocery stores or grocery store’s advertisements. Grocery stores target potential customers with a sale price and a higher price. This provides the consumer with the expected gain of saving money on an item that they need or want after seeing the sale price. The framing of the price also plays a role in how it is interpreted. Offering “free” items with the purchase of one item can take the focus from the price of what is usually the more expensive item and shift it to the perceived deal.

In conclusion, framing is not only useful, but necessary in order to be successful with public relations campaigns. Public relations professionals can successfully use predisposed feelings to target a specific group of people. Once they frame the message and send it, the message is immediately filtered through each individual’s primary frame. It is imperative for every campaign to have a meaningful frame within their message. It is so important for public relations professionals to first understand Goffman’s theory and then be able to understand and apply Hallahan’s techniques so they can successfully use the framing theory and have a successful campaign.

References

Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: an essay on the organization of experience. New York, NY. Harper & Row

Hallahan, K. (1999). Seven Models of Framing: Implications for Public Relations. Journal Of Public Relations Research, 11 (3), 205-242.

Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory—Analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47, 263–291.