Public Relations and Communication in Education: Is Creativity the Opposite of Knowledge?: Effects of Knowledge Transfer on the Development of Creativity: An Austrian Empirical Study Comparing Three Education Types

Little is known about the connections between mediated knowledge and promoting creativity. Based on a quantitative survey among 1,102 graduates from University, University of Applied Science and Vocational Academy in Salzburg, Austria, this research sheds light on the influences of knowledge transfer on the development of creativity. Moreover, the chapter highlights types of mediated knowledge that foster creativity.

Along with Csikszentmihalyi and Wolfe (2000), creativity refers to ideas or products that are originally worked out and valued by society. Regarding that, two contrary theses exist. On the one hand, according to Hadamard (1954), it can be assumed that creative processes are not linked to background knowledge. On the other hand, along with Weisberg (1993), it can be noted that creative ideas or products are affected by mediated knowledge. Moreover, extraordinary creativity in a certain professional field presupposes not only qualifications and abilities, but rather particularly knowledge. Although qualifications for public relations (PR) practice and education are ongoing topics in literature and practice (e.g. Szyszka 1998; Merten & Schulte 2007; Spatzier 2016), little is known about the empirical linkage of knowledge and creativity. This chapter deals with the question of the connections between knowledge transfer and the development of creativity in the education for public relations, marketing, advertising and graphic design.

In summary, the findings indicate the types of knowledge that foster the development of creativity, in which basic knowledge matters, as well as the other types. Last but not least, it can be demonstrated that knowledge transfer at the university should be changed concerning the embedding of creativity.