Reconceptualizing the Communicative Action of Publics: Acquisition, Selection, and Transmission of Information in Problematic Situations

This article proposes a new concept about communication behaviors related to problem solving. Communicative action is epiphenomenal to problem solving: As problem solvers, members of a public use communication as an instrument to cope with their problematic life situations. A good theoretical description of the communicative features of problem solving, therefore, is critical to understanding the social phenomena related to the development and behavior of publics. In existing literature, however, communication behaviors are conceptualized mostly as acts of information acquisition with little regard to other communicative actions such as information transmission. In this article, we propose a new model, communicative action in problem solving, which encompasses broader aspects of communication behaviors related to a problematic life situation: information acquisition, information selection, and information transmission. We then test the reliability and validity of the new construct for one personal and two social problems. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the new concept for public relations research and practice.