Public Relations in the Perspective of the Catholic Church in Poland

Abstract

The issue of the use of marketing tools by religious organisations is a research problem because for moral reasons, churches declare that they do not use marketing communication explicitly. In religious circles, marketing tends to be associated with unethical practices, especially public relations, which in practice can be associated with propaganda. A careful analysis of the activities carried out by churches shows that many marketing communication methods and tools are used by religious organisations. To be successful, companies must identify the basic elements determining customer satisfaction and meet them more effectively than their competitors. At the same time, it is not about one-off transactions, but about building long-term relationships. This model is also slowly finding acceptance in religious circles, despite arguments that satisfying individual needs will be at the expense of church doctrine or will result in long-standing church traditions being abandoned and replaced by pop-cultural attitudes. The article discusses the specificity of building the brand image of the Catholic Church in Poland and the use of modern marketing tools in this process. It also presents the results of the authors’ research, which leads to the final conclusions verifying the research hypotheses set out in the research methodology. The article aims to initiate a wider discussion on the controversial topic of implementing commercial marketing tools into the image management processes of the Catholic Church. The conducted research results indicate the need for a change in the perception of the Catholic Church in Poland of the communication processes leading to the building and strengthening of its image. A major challenge for the Catholic Church in Poland seems to be changing the attitudes of non-believers towards the Catholic Church.

Untitled

“…The extent of an organisation's impact depends on the communication it establishes with the public (Koszembar-Wiklik, 2016). From this point of view, the existence of information about an organisation in the public consciousness and the methods and techniques of communication that make it possible to design its content are crucial (Sulkowski et al, 2022;Osika, 2008). The communication process itself, in turn, is influenced by technology, which determines the way communication occurs.…”

The Effectiveness of UNM Public Relations in Disseminating Information to the Academic Community

“…Public relations plays a key role in ensuring that appropriate, accurate, and relevant information is conveyed to the public or specific audiences. The effectiveness of public relations in disseminating information can be influenced by factors such as communication skills, appropriate use of media, audience segmentation, chosen communication strategies, as well as systematic measurement and evaluation (Castillo-Esparcia et al, 2020;Sulkowski et al, 2022;Tam et al, 2022). Its existence plays a role in planning and organizing communication with other individuals or groups.…”

Shaping Factor of the Normative Behavior of the Catholic Believers

“…Cognitive is a form of communication used by Jesus in conveying his teachings. Furthermore, communication refers to cognition (Sulkowski, Ignatowski, & Seliga, 2022). Affective is the consumer's attitude towards the product (Sulung, Putri, & Robbani, 2020).…”

“…In accordance with the opinion of Einstein (2007), if there is no religion mandated by the state, it needs to compete with others to get it is believers. This shows that it is necessary to use marketing techniques, such as communication (Einstein, 2007;Sulkowski, Ignatowski, & Seliga, 2022). Communication, such as the film The Passion of Christ, is a product that is no different from other products aimed at consumers (Einstein, 2007).…”

“…When religion is conceived as a product, it is necessary to have a marketing mix. Communication needs to be done to provide awareness to consumers (Einstein, 2007;Sulkowski, Ignatowski, & Seliga, 2022). The communication carried out by the church makes it increasingly popular in the market (Gawroński, 2018;Wiesenberg, 2020).…”