What biases affect strategic thinking in PR?

I remember in college in the School of Journalism and Communication when I was working on a group project, I was working with someone who constantly disagreed with my ideas and would always find ways to point out how my ideas were wrong in some way or means and her ideas were right. Even when I tried to point out certain weaknesses in her argument and perspective, she would repeat her same perspective in the hopes that as a group...we would change our mind and realize she had the right perspective due to her confidence and leadership over the group. Looking back, it's not that my ideas were wrong...I was just thinking about things in a different way than she was due to my different life experiences and the way I saw the world.

In PR, biases like sticking to our beliefs (confirmation bias) or being too sure of ourselves (overconfidence bias) can affect how we plan things. We might also rely too much on recent info (availability bias) or the first thing we hear (anchoring bias). It’s important not to just agree with everyone in our group. Knowing about these biases helps us make better decisions in PR strategy.

Questionnaire correspondents find it annoying when it becomes evident the questions force the respondent into a few pre-selected categories that do not fit the correspondent's situation or feelings. For all the bad I envision A.I. doing based on how A.I. used, who is using the A.I. and the intent of the person using the A.I., one area where A.I. might excel is ending confirmation bias. Allow respondents the option to actually insert a written comment which would trigger the questionnaire to go in a different direction. This A.I. infused questionnaire process could significantly reduce confirmation bias.

Framing is almost everything in conveying your message. Practical example: if I say “this product has a 90% success rate,” it sounds great, right? But if I say “this product has a 10% failure rate,” it might not sound as good, even though it’s the same information. That’s the framing effect – how I present the info can make you see it in a positive or negative way. In PR, choosing how to frame news or messages is important to make people feel a certain way about the information.

Framing Bias through mainstream media is dangerous. Fires ravaged California from 2017 to 2019. Tree branches contacted power lines creating major sparking led to the fires, but Climate Change was blamed. When a major freeway in Los Angeles became engulfed in fire. Cause of fire was related to unsafe storage practices under the freeway Government had allowed to remain for years. Politicians quickly framed it as a victory because freeway closure time was reduced from months to mere days. Home Insurance carriers are leaving California. Lack of fire fighting access to both front and back of rows of Code approved Mansions built in scenic locations are not blamed, Climate change is blamed instead for the Insurance companies leaving California.

A mentor once advised me to not set up a 5 to 6 copy duplication bay. I used math to explain but my Mentor kept interrupting me. My mentor had previously given the same advice to another client and demanded I do the same. The other client's edit masters were 2 hours in length and would slow down their editing jobs. My Edit Masters were usually 3 to 10 minutes in length. My client's just spent hours with me editing their project. The sheer disappointment of not being able to walk out with copies was evident to me. The copies portion of my business was an uplifting experience for my client and I as we reviewed the finished product together during duplication. My mentor's prior experience clouded their judgement and I correctly ignored it.

In PR, falling into the confirmation trap might mean only seeking information that supports our initial beliefs, which can lead to biased decisions and communications. Being aware of this trap helps PR professionals stay open-minded and consider various viewpoints.

Weaponizing a Confirmation trap abounded during Trump's Presidency. Perhaps the most successful confirmation trap occurred when Donald Trump stated there were "good people on both sides". Trump's quote was falsely attributed by Stephen Colbert show to the Tikki Torch Protestors. A review of the interview transcript shows Trump was talking about the public debate about what to do with Civil War Statues. Trump stated there were very fine people on both sides. Colbert milked his weaponized confirmation trap for a week, making all believe that Trump was obtusely refusing to apologize for something Trump never actually said. Colbert rode his weaponized confirmation trap of Trump to the number 1 ratings spot for late night television.

A melhor maneira de evitar este viés é se dedicar a uma análise de dados real time sobre o assunto ou campanha que está sendo trabalhado. Com a gigantesca quantidade de fontes de informa??es que temos hoje é impossível para apenas o olhar humano conseguir identificar riscos e oportunidades sozinho. Aqui é como dizem as letras pequenas da “laminas” dos fundos de investimento: Retornos do passado n?o garantem retornos do futuro. Portanto, ou?a sempre os dados real time

Hindsight Bias has much in common with Gaslighting. Gaslighting creates a "me first" agenda and is usually a sign of disrespect to others. When one's intention is based on truth, honesty, solid research, and the potential to succeed, and a listener responds with "They would never agree". "They" has been given more power by the listener versus what was presented as evidence. Be careful around people who use "they" to discourage. One should consider a gaslighter someone to avoid without offending since they can undermine 3rd party relationships behind one's back. However, those who cognitively engage in hindsight analysis may be more likely to resolve problems instead of minimizing their importance, and can make for excellent collaborators.

Self-reporting bias - the situation where an audience answers not the truth but the situation as they would like it to be (e.g. "I exercise 2-3 times a week" when really the person would like to be more active but hasn't gone for a run in months). Self-reporting bias can greatly influence strategic communication if rely overly much on false statements (e.g. "I would be happy to pay a higher tax to fly with less carbon emission", "Given the choice, I would pay more for higher quality" or "My family has gone part-vegetarian". Getting around self-reporting bias requires a very careful use of qualitative and quantitative methods - as well as caution and scepticism and common sense.

Toda a??o, planejamento de PR deve levar em considera??o o cenário atual dentro da temática a ser trabalhada, as implica??es e impactos que dever?o ocorrer sobre a marca. Por exemplo, uma a??o A pode gerar mais resultados para uma vertente da qual n?o é estratégica para a marca no momento. Por essa raz?o, é preciso sempre fazer uma análise 360° para que o resultado a ser obtido seja o esperado. Isso vale tanto para narrativas, posicionamentos, planejamentos.