Guanxi in intercultural communication and public relations

Quintus Cicero’s Commentariolum petitionis: The importance of personal relationships and clientship in the history of public relations

“…Not surprisingly, Roman PR practices and focus on personal relationships and clientship still find a correlate in Italy (Muzi, 2009), Spain (García, 2013) and even the United States (Wakefield, 2013). In the two most populated countries of the world, China and India, the cultivation of personal relationship-building to obtain public relations outcomes, through the use of favors and rituals, is proven (Grunig et al, 1995; Servaes, 2016). In most societies, such as the Roman – where what it was important was not necessarily to persuade public opinion with the best ideas to win the argument, but to shake the hands and call by name as many people as possible (Pina, 1990b) – the importance of harmony in personal relationships, putting community interests over individual interests, working and building teams with friends or family were all perceived as a source of stability and happiness (spiritual, emotional, psychological and even material).…”

“…In the case of the Commentariolum , we find many of the elements of public relations involved such as a strategic purpose, to win an election, cultivating audiences (mainly Roman nobility but also plebeians) based on clientship and the development of personal relationships for a mutual benefit. It is not the traditional public relations menu that is usually learned in PR textbooks and handbooks, but the importance of personal relationships has been already explored and proved in public relations scholarship (Gruniget al, 1995; García, 2013, 2014; Servaes, 2016; Sriramesh, 2019).…”

“…There is a relatively new interest in the impact of culture and personal relationships, particularly in non-Western countries (Sriramesh, 2009; García, 2016; Marschich and Ingenhoff, 2021) but also in the West (Wakefield, 2013), pointing out that public relations is much more than a rational and deliberative process but often implies an exchange of favors. There has been recent scholarship as well exploring the connection between clientship (or clientelism) and public relations (García, 2013, 2014; Servaes, 2016). This circumstance has been overlooked in much of what has been called the intellectual history of ideas in public relations (Moore, 2014).…”

The Process and Characteristics of Psychological Kidnapping: An Indigenous Model of Corruption in China

“…Third, it is crucial for Chinese people to manage his/her self-image and maintain mianzi in front of others (Hu, 1944;Hwang, 1987;Servaes, 2016), or what is called 'face work' . The kidnapped should 'give mianzi ( )' to the kidnapper in order to exchange renqing (Zhai, 2005).…”

Being Simultaneously Curious and Stressed, Precipitants to Methamphetamine Initiation Among Chinese Men Who Have Sex With Men: Findings From a Qualitative Study

“…Studies have indicated that the Chinese “Mian'zi” (or “Face”) culture contributes to male users' MA initiation because they perceive that it is necessary to maintain “Mian'zi” through fulfilling others' expectations (i.e., using MA; Liu et al, 2018). In China, “Mian'zi” refers to the way in which an individual's social esteem and social position are commonly acknowledged by others and is highly associated with power and class relationships (Servaes, 2016; Zhai, 2004). Moreover, the desired gender roles of the male within traditional Chinese culture are son, husband, and father; being gay is not acceptable (Ren et al, 2019); the collectivism highly praised in Chinese culture also makes many MSM experience feelings of shame associated with identifying as gay.…”