Public Relations Review 41 (2015) 376–377 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Public Relations Review Research in Brief Implementing dialogic communication: A survey of IPR, PRSA, and IABC members Jin Huang, Aimei Yang * Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States article info Article history: Received 7 December 2014 Received in revised form 30 January 2015 Accepted 13 February 2015 Keywords: Dialogic communication Organizational factors Strategy implementation abstract A line of public relations research argues that dialogic communication is both ethical and beneficial for organizations. However, empirical studies found many organizations hesitate to implement dialogic communication. This article seeks to explore the obstacles that pre- vent some organizations from engaging the public in dialogues. We analyzed data from a large scale national survey among senior level public relations practitioners and our findings suggest that organizations’ tolerance for risk and the role of public relations in organizations influence organizations’ implementation of dialogic communication. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Dialogic communication is an ethical practice approach that aims to improve community relationships and organization- public relationships, and allow organizations to realize their social responsibilities (Botan & Taylor, 2004; Kent & Taylor, 1998, 2002). Further, as new media became essential in contemporary public relations practice, the availability and convenience of new media could help to create various opportunities for online dialogic communication (Kent & Taylor, 1998; Yang & Taylor, 2010). Yet, research has revealed that most organizations failed to fully utilize the dialogic potential of new media (Yang & Kent, 2014). The potential benefits of dialogic communication and the evident lack of its implementation in reality creates a sharp and surprising contrast, which begs an important question: Why do some organizations hesitate to engage in dialogic communication? Motivated by this question, the current study explores the dimensions of organizational factors that affect the implementation of dialogic communication in the new media context. Specifically, this article reports partial findings from a national survey among senior public relations practitioners and reveals the extent to which online dialogue implementation associates with organizational tolerance for risks, as well as the role public relations plays in organizations. 2. Methods Organizations were selected from the contact lists of Institute for Public Relations (IPR), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), The Page Society, and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). The most senior public relations practitioners were identified as respondents. All identified practitioners received multiple invitations for participation. The final sample included 620 senior practitioners. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 405 706 2835. E-mail addresses: huangjin@usc.edu (J. Huang), aimei.yang@usc.edu (A. Yang). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.02.003 0363-8111/© 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.