ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to know the effectiveness of public relations in service industries. A case study of the Enugu state university of science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu.
To guide this study, three hypotheses were formulated. A review of related literature was done to expose the researcher to what has already been done to ensure solid conclusion for the study. A structural questionnaire was developed and administered by the researcher to respondents comprising of the students and staff/management of the institution. The data collected were from both primary and secondary sources and were duly analysed and presented in a manner in which they could be easily be understood and applied by whosoever may be interested in the work and its findings.
From the analysis, the following findings emerged
a. Majority of the students are not aware of the services provided by the public relation school of the institution.
b. Public relations activities of ESTU has led do industrial harmony, this is evidenced by the fact that there has not been major strikes that lasted for a long time.
c. Public relations activities of ESTU also led to impact positions on student's patronage of the institution.
Based on the above findings, the researcher made the following recommendations that:
a. ESUT public relations department should be well funded to enable them acquire more sophisticated equipments to improve public relations activities.
b. ESUT should up grade the quality of the service they provide by creating awareness so that all may know about them.
c. Public relations functions should be clearly defined to avoid confusion in the institution.
From this, the researcher concluded that public relations is a potent tool for marketing of goods and services, ESUT must embrace it for the satisfaction of its numerous publics.
