James E. Grunig on ROI of Public Relations

"Although we concluded that it is difficult to place a monetary value on relationships with publics, in order to measure ROI exactly, our interviews with CEOs and senior public relations officers revealed numerous examples of how good relationships had reduced the costs of litigation, regulation, legislation, and negative publicity caused by poor relationships; reduced the risk of making decisions that affect different stakeholders; or increased revenue by providing products and services needed by stakeholders. Those examples provided powerful evidence of the value of good relationships with strategic publics" (Grunig, 2013, p. 9).

Full reference:

Grunig (J.E). Furnishing the Edifice. Ongoing Research on Public Relations as a Strategic Management Function. In: (Eds.) Sriramesh (K.), Zerfass (A.), Kim (J.-N.). Public Relations and Communication Management. Current Trends and Emerging Topics. New York, Routledge, 2013, pp. 1-26.