The public relations practitioner worth their salt (pardon the cliché) must be proficient in what psychologists call coattail riding or psychosocial hijacking. This aligns with the opportunistic nature of public relations (PR).

Barring the essential communication skill of riding on others’ coattails, brand custodians would be hard-pressed to satisfy the varied and often conflicting interests of their organisation’s stakeholders. But hey, that is just one of the ways PR conjures its magic. There are several others, as you will find out momentarily.

If indeed “the mass media do not tell us what to think, but tell us what to think about,” then public relations has the tools to stimulate and shape stakeholders’ expectations. Expectation setting, or expectation management, is a corporate tactic that reduces uncertainty by narrowing the gap between what audiences imagine will happen and what eventually happens.

Stakeholders, in this context, are individuals and groups with a positive or negative interest in, influence on, or exposure to the activities of an organisation or project. Our concern in this treatise is stakeholders, not audiences or the general public. This distinction is necessary because expectation setting is a cost centre that demands the judicious use of resources.

Agenda-Setting Finds Expression in Expectation

This theory dates back to the work of mass communication researchers Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972. They argued that members of the “audience not only learn about public issues through the media, they also learn how much importance to attach to an issue or topic from the emphasis the mass media place upon it.”

You would be spot on if you replaced “audience,” “public issues,” and “mass media” with “stakeholders,” “tactical objectives,” and “public relations,” respectively.

Leveraging the same influence that this theory confers on the media, PR can shape what appeals to stakeholders while harmonising their expectations. You can now appreciate why media relations is a critical component of PR. Whereas the media concerns itself with setting the agenda for public discourse, PR focuses on expectation setting.

Meanwhile, the need for coherent messaging makes the moderation and management of stakeholder sentiment imperative. When expectations run amok, public relations defaults to staccato communication, with chaos replacing clarity.

PR does not have the luxury or latitude of the legacy media to set the public agenda without consulting the public. Given that expectation setting is, more or less, an exercise in alignment, PR must first ascertain the basis on which to build a project that takes different interests into account. Even if a campaign ultimately adopts a one-size-fits-all approach, stakeholders whose expectations have been subsumed may find consolation in having been consulted ab initio.

Carrying Stakeholders Along Saves the Day

While expectation setting is essentially about owning the narrative, it does not happen in a vacuum. It begins with genuine engagement with stakeholders. This is where their concerns and pain points are understood, clarifying questions are asked, and expectations are confirmed before solutions are proposed. Such interaction ensures that the right people understand the right message at the right time.

In complex campaigns, active listening often brings risks and misalignment to the surface before they escalate. Through collaboration, PR practitioners can help stakeholders understand a campaign’s purpose and potential challenges. Be clear from the outset about what the PR project can deliver, and establish realistic timelines and benchmarks.

The resulting feeling of being part of a team working towards a shared goal fosters a sense of ownership, potentially turning stakeholders into ride-or-die supporters, regardless of how the campaign unfolds. The lines of communication must therefore remain open throughout the process to ensure that stakeholders feel involved and valued.

One Man’s Meat Is Another’s Poison

Public relations is concerned with building goodwill towards a brand, particularly among its stakeholders. However, universal goodwill is almost utopian in light of this first-century BC Latin maxim attributed to the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius: “Quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum.” Its English translation is: “What is food for one man may be bitter poison to others.”

Preferences, needs, and reactions vary considerably, even among people with shared interests. What helps or pleases one person may harm or upset another. This often leads to friction. A company’s decision or product that provokes an angry tweet or negative review from one customer may be welcomed by other stakeholders. As the Igbo would say, “Osondi Owendi.” Yet, discounting the “Owendi” folks is risky, as their ululation can assume unimaginable dimensions.

In PR, escalation occurs when a minor issue, negative comment, or localised complaint grows in severity, reach, or media attention until it becomes a full-blown crisis. Continuing with the example above, escalation happens when a tweet or negative review on Reddit attracts the attention of social media influencers, online forums, or mainstream journalists.

This might not have happened if there had been no gap between what was anticipated and what was delivered. Expectations must therefore be aligned from the outset so that stakeholders—such as customers, the public, and the media—do not feel misled or taken advantage of. By defining the boundaries of a situation early, PR practitioners can prevent assumptions from distorting it.

Strategies for Balancing Stakeholders’ Expectations

1. Identify

The goals of each stakeholder must first be understood to establish common ground and identify potential areas of conflict. The earlier stakeholders are involved in decision-making, the more realistic their expectations become.

This requires in-depth conversations with partners, customers, internal teams, and other relevant parties to understand what they hope to achieve through the PR project. Communication is critical here because silence may be interpreted as agreement or concealment—both of which can create expectation gaps.

2. Segment

Different stakeholder groups have different concerns. Investors care about financial returns, employees about job security and work-life balance, and communities about empowerment and environmental sustainability.

Through stakeholder mapping, PR practitioners can tailor their messaging and commitments to each group’s actual interests rather than broadcasting a single narrative to everyone.

3. Prioritise

After identifying the various stakeholders and their interests, rank them according to their relative importance. Since not all expectations carry equal weight, stakeholder needs should be assessed against the project’s overall impact and the organisation’s values.

Prioritisation should also take into account the potential risks and benefits of meeting—or failing to meet—each expectation.

4. Align

Creating alignment or achieving strategic compromises among stakeholders is a delicate task that requires diplomacy and creativity. Find ways to integrate different stakeholders’ goals into a unified campaign strategy. This may involve compromise or innovative solutions that accommodate multiple interests simultaneously.

5. Under-Promise but Over-Deliver

PR teams must be careful to avoid what the British call a damp squib—something that generates excitement or high expectations but ultimately disappoints. Instead, the baseline should be set at a level slightly below what the team can confidently deliver.

Adhering to the principle of “under-promise and over-deliver” creates a pleasant surprise rather than disappointment. PR practitioners should gently recalibrate inflated expectations by explaining possible limitations and challenges. This helps stakeholders remain supportive even when a campaign encounters inevitable hurdles.

6. Mind the Information Gap

Regular updates and transparent progress reports can also help keep expectations in check. Stakeholders tend to fill information vacuums with assumptions. Proactively share what you do not yet know, along with when you expect to have answers.

For instance, saying, “We don’t have the data yet, but we’ll report back by Friday,” establishes a better expectation than remaining silent.

7. Establish Feedback Loops

Stakeholders may not realise that their expectations are being shaped when engagement takes place through structured interactions such as surveys, town halls, open houses, or regular briefings. These platforms allow stakeholders to express whether their expectations are being met.

Such feedback provides an early indication of misalignment and creates an opportunity to make necessary adjustments before it is too late.

Trust as the Ultimate Reward for Expectation Setting

Trust and credibility accrue to organisations when people can reliably predict their behaviour and responses. This is the currency of PR: the perception that expectation setting seeks to establish in people’s minds.

Every fulfilled expectation and positive experience becomes another data point reinforcing the belief that “this company does what it says.” Over time, this pattern develops into what social scientists call competence-based trust—the conviction that a brand is capable, reliable, and consistent.

Ugochukwu, the Communications Manager at Rhiagano, can be reached via ugo.ugwuanyi@rhiagano.com.