Applying evolutionary epistemology to PR tool analysis: the case of press release aggregators
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47475/2070-0695-2026-60-2-29-39Keywords:
evolutionary epistemology, press release aggregators, PR communication effectiveness, communication strategy, Synthetic Theory of Evolution, artificial selection, transduction, media planAbstract
The article proposes a methodological approach to overcoming dogmatism in communication studies through the traduction (conceptual transfer) of models from the synthetic theory of evolution (STE) and Karl Popper's evolutionary epistemology to the analysis of PR tools, specifically press release distribution services. Dogmatism manifests itself in absolute, data‑unsupported judgments about the "uselessness" of such services, which creates a risk of losing the variability of communication strategies in a chaotic and unpredictable media environment.
Using Yu. A. Urmantsev's algorithm for predicting the similarity of two systems, the author establishes a homomorphism between the process of media planning (according to S. F. Galanin) and artificial selection (according to A. S. Severtsov). This methodologically sound transfer of STE models to the subject matter of communication studies explains the inclusion of press release distribution services in media plans as a rational "selection" choice: they are retained when quantitative KPIs are prioritised, acting as a contextually useful "variation". An empirical analysis of Medialogia data (January–April 2025) for insurance companies (AlfaStrakhovanie, SberStrakhovanie, and T‑Strakhovanie) confirms that the effectiveness of press release distribution services is context‑dependent: market leaders retain them in their media plans despite their low contribution to the MediaIndex. The principles of Karl Popper's evolutionary epistemology interpret the retention of "marginal" channels in the PR specialist's arsenal as an adaptive strategy, while counterexamples refute the dogma of the absolute ineffectiveness of press release distribution services.
The main conclusion of the article is that the adaptability of a given communication strategy and, more broadly, its sustainability, are ensured not by adherence to dogmas, but by the deliberate preservation and management of a diverse set of tools through a permanent cycle of trial, evaluation, and error correction – that is, through conscious "artificial selection".
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