Study: Half of European PR practitioners, who use ROI, does not understand the essence of the method

There is no unified system for the communication process result measure in Europe, but “Return on investment” (ROI) is one of the most popular methods that has both critics and supporters. The study “European Communication Monitor 2011” showed how ROI is used today in the practitioners work.

Almost half (47.6%) of the PR practitioners uses ROI in planning or in assessing of the communication process results. It is especially popular in Spain, Britain and Sweden, less - in Germany, Slovenia and Norway.

ROI is most actively used by the communication agencies executives (53.7%), less frequently – by the project managers (45.7%) and communication consultants (34.5%).

While ROI is clearly defined in the economy as the cost-benefit ratio, communication specialists tend to believe that the term is rather expressed in connection with the communication purposes fulfilment (83.1%) or can be used to demonstrate the nonfinancial value of the communication (70.5%). Only 52.8% of respondents agree with the standard definition, but even fewer know that ROI should be defined in monetary terms.

Research data show that PR practitioners are not afraid to actively use the “Return on investment”, although they do not have the full understanding of this term that can lead to the incorrect conclusions about the communication process results.

2209 PR specialists from 43 European countries participated in the “European Communication Monitor 2011” study. The full version of the study can be viewed here.