Personal influence and pre-industrial United States: An early relationship model that needs resurgence in U.S. public relations

•The personal influence model is common in Asian nations.•A few authors have argued that the model is universal and can be seen in the U.S.•These practices are not documented because U.S. historians focused on persuasion.•In early U.S. society, interpersonal communication was predominant over persuasion.•A few examples of personal influence in early U.S. history are included here.•With social media, personal influence can help restore relationship building.

The personal influence model of public relations, using one's influence to seek favor with government and other power bases, is seen as most applicable in Asia but also is found elsewhere in the world. Only a few writings have explicitly broached the possibility that the personal influence model is practiced in the United States. Muzi Falconi (2010) argued that U.S. public relations emphasizes persuasion, espoused by Bernays and brought to fruition through one-way messaging. While it is easy to see persuasion as dominating U.S. practice, such observation ignores the prevalence of personal influence through at least 150 years of U.S. society. As early settlers built agrarian communities, interpersonal communication fostered community pride and solidarity. During World War II, Katz and Lazarsfeld identified personal influence as a major element in U.S. communication, overriding the mass media in importance. Even today much public relations activity in the U.S. consists of organizations seeking favor from the power elites. However, with the focus on message control, scholars have overlooked the efforts and effects of personal influence. The purpose of this paper is to identify early evidences of the personal influence model in the U.S. Today, the increasing power of social media and virtual stakeholders renders the persuasion model as somewhat specious. It is time to reexamine the concept of personal influence and the greater promise it holds for returning to what public relations was and should be in the first place—a function for maintaining relationships.