Examining the role of sense of community: Linking local government public relationships and community-building.

• The study tested dynamic linkages among local government-public relationships, sense of community, and community-building. • Local government-public relationship directly influences a sense of community and positive word-of-mouth. • A sense of community significantly influences positive word-of-mouth and community participation. • A sense of community mediates the effects of the local government-public relationship on the public's community engagement. This study examines the relationship between factors central to community building, including local government-public relationships, sense of community, positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM) toward community, and community participation. A national survey of U.S. respondents (n = 447) was conducted through MTurk. The results indicate that the effects of local government-public relationships on positive WOM and community participation are mediated by individuals' sense of community. This study advances the relationship-management scholarship by demonstrating that managing government-public relationships is ineffective in community-building when a sense of community is absent. In addition, the results of this study may benefit government public relations practitioners who are interested in public engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]