Globalization of the public relations agency industry: a country-level analysis of global public relations agencies and environmental factors

PurposeThe present study examined the status of globalization of the public relations (PR) agency industry and its environmental factors by analyzing 101 countries.Design/methodology/approachData were constructed from content analysis and multiple archival sources. Cluster analysis and multiple regressions were used for data analysis.FindingsThe present study identified the four distinctive groups of countries in the number of global PR agencies per country. These groups are (1) globalized top countries, (2) globalized major countries, (3) globalizing countries and (4) peripheral countries. The study also found that the degree of globalization of the PR agency industry in a country was associated with its democracy, economic system (gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign direct investment inflow), legal system (rule of law), cultural system (power distance and long-term orientation) and media system (Internet penetration rate) factors.Originality/valueThe previous studies on the global PR agency industry was limited to investigating a few leading agencies, but this study analyzed 114 global PR agencies and their diffusion in 101 countries and explored the influence of each country's characteristics (i.e. political, economic, legal, cultural and media factors) identified as the global PR environment factors.