Psychology is not just for the comfort of your therapist's couch. Venelize de Lange from media update explains why psychological literacy is a core competency for PR professionals who must understand how audiences think, feel and behave in a digitally driven world.
Publicity has always been about people — yet in the race for visibility, many campaigns forget the most important factor: how people actually think.
As more and more people's attention spans shrink (we have TikTok and Instagram Reels to thank for that) and emotional headlines cause viral outrage, understanding the psychology behind public perception has become one of public relations' most valuable assets.
According to Michal Chmiel, Associate Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, communication professionals operate at the intersection of cognition, emotion and behaviour.
Every campaign, whether it's a tweet or a crisis statement, taps into how people form attitudes, process information and decide what to believe. When PR practitioners grasp this, they move from pushing messages to shaping meaning.
And today's audiences? They are not passive receivers. They interpret, share and challenge content through the lens of identity, belonging and emotion.
The rise of influencers, social movements and cancelled culture proves that perception is socially constructed, not just individual. This means the future publicist must think like a psychologist: analysing audience triggers, biases and motivations before a message is sent.
Chmiel argues that while PR's origins are deeply intertwined with psychology, the modern profession has largely neglected this dimension. He proposes a framework for integrating psychological evidence into everyday practice — refreshing the focus on audiences as thinking, emotional individuals, not just media targets.
For PR practitioners, this shift matters in three key ways. First, message framing. Understanding how cognition and emotion interact means you can craft narratives that genuinely resonate, instead of just being noticed.
Second, audience segmentation evolves. Psychological literacy allows you to recognise behavioural triggers and identity drivers, not just demographics.
Third, ethics and trust. Persuasion informed by psychology demands responsibility. When you know how people interpret, you also take on the duty to influence ethically.
If you are new to the industry, here's a piece of advice: build your foundation on psychological insight. Do research on how people process messages, orient yourself to emotional responses and anticipate behavioural consequences.
And, a tip for the PR pros — start elevating your strategy. Embed psychological inquiry in campaign design, monitor reach and reaction, and plan for how audience states will evolve, not just how they are today.
Good publicity doesn't just reach people, it connects with how they think and react.
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*Image courtesy of Canva
**Information sourced from The Psychology of Public Relations: From Industry Practice to Societal Challenges of the Profession