International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research (IJSSAR)

Background: Trust building through public relations for positive public perception and acceptance of governments’ policies is one important subject that has not attracted sufficient scholarly scientific enquiry. Objectives: This study investigated the impact of Public Relations in trust-building for citizens’ positive perception and support of socio-economic programmes of the government of Rivers State, Nigeria (2015-2023).
Method: The study anchored its discussion on persuasion and social influence theory, and social exchange theory. This study adopted literature review method as its research design, reviewing existing concepts and theories with a view to compare contrast findings.
Result: Public Relations played significant role in building trust for citizens’ positive perception and support of socio-economic programmes of the government of Rivers State, Nigeria during the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike (2015-2023).
Conclusion: The study concludes that public relations should be recognised and treated as a profession where only professionals should be allowed to practice.
Unique Contribution: Practically the paper made incursion with a view to reinventing public relations as an introspective review of the profession.