The Role Of Public Relations In Promoting Sustainable Practices Within The Energy Sector Of Ghana

Abstract

This study investigated the pivotal role of public relations (PR) in promoting sustainable practices perceptions and shapes corporate accountability. The primary objectives were to assess the effectiveness of PR strategies in communicating sustainability initiatives, to evaluate the extent to which PR mitigates or contributes to greenwashing in sustainability reporting, and to identify the challenges faced by TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC. The study adopted a positivist-oriented quantitative research approach employing a comprehensive design that combined structured surveys and quantitative content analysis of PR materials. Data was collected from a sample of approximately 222 internal and external stakeholders of TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC using a simple random sampling technique. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The study confirmed a strong positive relationship between PR Strategy Effectiveness and Stakeholder Action. Crucially, the analysis established that Trust is the central mechanism (Partial Mediation) for converting PR efforts into supportive stakeholder behavior. While PR efforts showed positive awareness, the research highlighted the existence of a significant "Trust Gap". The findings revealed that the full potential of PR is currently limited by an underlying perception of greenwashing and a demand for verifiable, measurable transparency and operational consistency. The study recommends that TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC intensify efforts to align communication with verifiable operational practices to enhance stakeholder trust and mitigate greenwashing perceptions.