Public Relations and Business Legitimacy

The vast field of public relations contains multiple theoretical, methodical and conceptual approaches, with research spanning such disciplines as sociology, ethics, linguistics, communication studies, behavioural psychology, management theory and many more. Upon giving an introductory overview of main developments in the field with a specific focus on the concept of business legitimacy, this article proposes to follow a specific path promising fruitful insights for the student, practioner or researcher with an interest in business legitimacy. It is argued that the two-way symmetry model of excellence benefits from being theoretically informed by a habermasian perspective on publicity and communication when dealing specifically with issues of pragmatic, moral and cognitive forms of legitimacy. Taking such theoretical bearings, the article ultimately presents a contemporary case study exemplary of a prototypical business legitimacy issue.