PRSA EQ Quiz - 2010
262 attempts already made
Welcome to the 2010 PRSA Ethics Quotient (EQ) Quiz.
This is a 10-question quiz to test your knowledge of the ethical practice of public relations.
The quiz has been developed to help public relations practitioners assess their sensitivity and knowledge of professional standards, according to the Member Code of Ethics of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). If you get any questions incorrect, please read the explanation of the correct answer.
To learn more about the PRSA's Code of Ethics, go to: http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/CodeEnglish/
We hope you find this exercise challenging, perhaps even surprising. Most of all, we hope it helps your thinking as you establish personal guidelines for your practice, and face the ethical questions and dilemmas the practice of public relations generates.
As a part of its ongoing responsibility to teach, educate, and advance the ethical practice of public relations, the PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS) will periodically issue revised Ethics Quotient Exams. While this exercise is voluntary, PRSA members are obligated to abide by the PRSA Code of Ethics. Should you have any questions as a practitioner, please feel free to contact BEPS. We would be happy to respond to any questions you might have.
Have a great time, bend your brain, and if you can think of additional examples, stories, or dilemmas we could include in future Ethics Quotient Exams, please send them to the Chair of BEPS c/o Judy Voss, 212.460.1480 or judy.voss@prsa.org.
Thank you and enjoy this exercise.
Sincerely,
Tom Eppes, APR, Fellow PRSA
BEPS Chair
Please Note: Some of the questions in this EQ Test were provided by Dean A. Kruckeberg, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, taken from his article "Testing Your Public Relations E.Q.," published in the spring 1997 issue of The Strategist (pages 31, 33-35).
Question Excerpt From PRSA EQ Quiz - 2010
- The focus of the PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards is to enforce the Member Code of Ethics for PRSA members.
- An employee who has a highly visible position within her company also does modeling and acting on the side. She accepted a gig to appear in a TV commercial for a company that competes against one of the subsidiaries of her existing company. She would be able to be seen and heard in the advertisement. Which of the following provisions of the PRSA Code of Ethics are affected? (Select one.)
- You have been working for the Tourism ministry of a Caribbean country (Client A) for a number of years. In fact, you have established an important reputation based on your work with this country. You are known for it in the industry and are often called upon to speak about issues that are related to this country’s tourism industry. It seems that just about everyone on the island knows who you are and what you do. Now you have been asked, privately, to compete for a major assignment from the Tourism ministry of another Caribbean country (Client B). Clearly, Client B is asking you to make a pitch because of the success you have had with Client A. Client B even seems willing to allow you to continue working with Client A, should you be successful in the competition for this major assignment for Client B. Although the industry in the Caribbean is aware that Client B is looking for special help to resolve their issues, it is customary to keep the identities of the competing firms private until the winner is announced. You get the sense that you are competing with other successful consultancies from the Caribbean or Central American markets. Which of the following values and provisions of the PRSA Ethics Code are affected? (Select two.)
- For years your company has used celebrities to endorse its products. Many of these celebrities have also enthusiastically participated in other feature-like coverage. A consumer activist group has contacted you, and apparently the media as well, claiming that your company’s failure to disclose that these celebrities are paid makes their endorsements more powerful than they really should be. In fact, these celebrities may be attracting consumers who can’t afford your products and may buy them simply because of a popular celebrity’s endorsement. Each of the celebrity endorsements seems perfectly credible. It is likely that the celebrities do use, appreciate, or recommend these products outside of the visibility that they get in paid placements and public relations activities, for which they also are paid. The dilemma you face is that some celebrities may not wish the fact that they are being paid to be disclosed. Some of these celebrities may stop endorsing your product, which could be quite newsworthy. In any event, you are in the sights of this consumer activist organization. Which of these potential outcomes presents the greatest difficulty for your company to overcome? Which element (s) of the PRSA Code of Ethics are affected? (Select one answer choice.)
- A “code of ethics”—strictly defined—can be written by any group wishing to distinguish its members in some way from the rest of society, and should be concerned about how the behavior of its members impacts upon society.
- You work for a cosmetics company that specializes in marketing its products through department stores and a growing network of “Tupperware”-like parties run by the consultants who work in your department store settings. One of the most successful sales people is Emily Wilson who (for reasons only she knows), after getting a Ph.D. in psychology from a Midwestern university, chooses to work in one of your cosmetic departments. She is very good and a great relationship builder with customers. In fact, many customers call her “Doc.” A local television station calls and asks about her and her credentials. The reporter seems to think it is pretty cool to have someone like her in a department store cosmetics department. They want to interview customers to see if they really know why she is called “Doc.” Which provisions of the PRSA Code of Ethics are affected? (Select the two that apply.)
- A team of employees from a company had a two-day offsite meeting. After the first day of meetings concluded, the group went to dinner at another location. The meeting and dinner included the department manager. The meal was charged to a company card by an employee reporting to that manager. When the meal was expensed, the manager’s name was omitted from the list of attendees to avoid triggering review by the department manager’s boss. Which of the following provisions of the PRSA Code of Ethics come into play? (Select one.)
e911
195 days ago