How organizations framed the 2009 H1N1 pandemic via social and traditional media: Implications for U.S. health communicators

Through a quantitative content analysis, this study reveals how 13 organizations differently framed the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic crisis via their traditional (n = 211) and social media (n = 534) responses. When framing the crisis as a disaster, a health crisis, or a general health issue organizations relied more on traditional than social media. However, they tended to use social media as much as traditional media when framing the pandemic as a general crisis. In addition, organizations relied more on traditional media to address emotions than on social media. Together, the study's findings provide applied and theoretical insights for scholars and crisis managers.     

Examining the interplay of an organization's prior reputation,CEO's visibility,and immediate response to a crisis

In one of only a few crisis communication research studies taking a relational approach, examining the effects of a company's prior reputation in publics’ responses to a given crisis situation, Lyons and Cameron (2004) found that both reputation and response profoundly affected publics’ attitude and behavioral intentions toward an organization involved in a crisis situation, using hypothetical, fictitious organizations and crises. Using actual organizations and crises, our research team designed a 2 (reputation: good vs. bad) × 2 (crisis response: apologetic vs. defensive) × 2 (CEO visibility in immediate crisis response: visible vs. invisible) within-subjects experiment (N = 102) to examine the variances in stakeholders’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a company after being exposed to online video that delivered a corporate crisis response. Findings were counter-intuitive: a defensive response to a crisis is as acceptable to crisis stakeholders as an apologetic response if the CEO is visible (or audible) in the response and if the pre-crisis company-stakeholder reputation is positive. Good reputation, defensive crisis response and CEO visibility in immediate response to a crisis resulted in the best stakeholder attitudes and purchase intentions.     

Crisis response and crisis timing strategies,two sides of the same coin

This study investigates the moderating impact of the timing of crisis disclosure on the effect of crisis response strategies on organizational post-crisis reputation. It proposes that self-disclosing a crisis allows organizations to avoid explicitly taking or rejecting responsibility by means of a crisis response strategy. A 2 (crisis timing strategy: ex-ante vs. ex-post) × 2 (crisis response strategy: response strategy vs. objective information only) between-subjects factorial design was conducted among 137 participants. The results show that organizations that do not steal thunder better use a reputation restoring crisis response strategy than just providing stakeholders objective information about what happened. In addition, the results demonstrate that if an organization steals thunder, it is not necessary to offer reputation restoring crisis response strategies such as an apology. These findings stress the importance of timing to disclose crisis information in addition to the content of crisis communication strategies.     

Communicating during crisis: Use of blogs as a relationship management tool

Using a post-test only experimental design with control group, this study investigated the impact of blogs on relationship management during a crisis. Participants (N = 109) were exposed to a personal blog (n = 45), organizational blog (n = 46), or control (n = 18). Results indicate blogs impact the perception of the level of crisis an organization experiences. Additionally, relationships created through blogs impact the perception of crisis. Use and credibility were also investigated.     

How financial crisis history informs ethical corporate communication: Insights from corporate communication leaders

This study explored how financial crisis history can inform corporate crisis communication practice across industries and over time. Thirty-eight interviews with chief communications officers (CCOs) and their counselors were conducted to explore what lasting lessons these corporate communication leaders learned from their crisis communication practice during the 2008 Financial Crisis. Key lessons learned include: 1) the importance for corporations to tailor their financial communication strategies according to victim vs. perpetrator perception and ethical response expectations held by stakeholders; 2) the importance of stakeholders, and employees in particular, when creating and implementing the plan; 3) the balance between speed and legal concerns, as well as the need for reducing complexity by making sure stakeholder communications are delivered with clarity and accessibility; and 4) a recipe for success includes honesty, transparency, trust/integrity, taking action to reform questionable practices, and abiding by one’s own personal morals. Insights from this study shed light on how learning contributes to ethical corporate communication practice in times of crisis and crisis spillover.     

Examining the expertise,experience, and expedience of crisis consultants in Singapore

By most accounts, crisis preparedness in organizations globally has been appalling (0035 and 0250). The situation is no different in Singapore (Wu & Dai, 2001). With crisis expertise often lacking from within organizations, many resort to engaging public relations (PR) agencies to help. This study, which is inspired by Frandsen and Johansen's (2008) study in Denmark, aims to evaluate the contributions of consultants from PR agencies. Adapting indicators to assess professionalism proposed by Lages and Simkin (2003) and Sallot, Cameron and Lariscy (1997) and integrating them with variables from the contingency theory (Pang, Jin, & Cameron, 2010), this study seeks to examine: (1) the level of expertise of consultants in offering crisis management consultancy; (2) the level of experience of consultants offering crisis management consultancy; and (3) the value and expedience of the consultancy services offered. Findings showed that agencies in Singapore hired consultants based on skills such as writing, speaking and ability to manage the media. For some, lack of direct experience was compensated by in-house training. International agencies appeared to have an advantage over the local agencies by virtue of their access to expertise and knowledge from their international network. However, as the majority of agencies had only managed few crises, it was difficult to assess the value these consultants added. Studies examining consultants in PR agencies are rare. It is hoped this study would trigger research around the world.     

Effects of apologies and crisis responsibility on corporate and spokesperson reputation

This study is aimed at the effects of making apologies in a crisis situation and attributed crisis responsibility on corporate- and spokesperson reputation. In a 2 × 2 scenario experiment (spokesperson making apologies versus no apologies; and accidental versus preventable crisis), 84 respondents judged corporate and spokesperson reputation. We found that the crisis has more impact on corporate reputation than on the spokesperson's reputation. This indicates that the crisis is seen as a collective responsibility of the organization, rather than the personal responsibility of the spokesperson.     

Restoring reputations in times of crisis: An experimental study of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the moderating effects of locus of control

This study attempts to provide empirical evidence for Coombs’ (2007) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), which provides guidelines for matching crisis response strategies to crisis types to best restore organizational reputations in times of crisis. The impact of crisis type and crisis response strategies on perceptions of corporate reputation is measured for 316 consumers participating in a 3 (crisis type: victim crisis, accidental crisis, preventable crisis) × 3 (crisis response: deny strategy, diminish strategy, rebuild strategy) between-subjects experimental design. The results show that preventable crises have the most negative effects on organizational reputation and that the rebuild strategy leads to the most positive reputational restoration. Moreover, the more severe people judge a crisis to be, the more negative are their perceptions of the organization's reputation. The interaction effect between crisis type and crisis response strategies on corporate reputation is not significant. However, a person's locus of control has a moderating impact on the relationship between crisis response strategy and organizational reputation. Specifically, the results show that people with an external locus of control prefer the use of deny strategies more than people with an internal locus of control.     

Incorporating competition and comparisons into crisis communication: How competing organizations respond to industry crises

Crisis communication research typically focuses on how a single organization strategically responds to crises based on its own set of situational factors. However, it is common for multiple competing organizations to be involved in responding to the same crisis. By analyzing two industry crisis cases in China, this study provides insights into what we termed competitive crisis communication, which involves not only crisis response timing and strategies but also competition and comparisons among the different organizations involved in the same crisis. The analysis of organizational statements on social media reveals the extent of differences in crisis response strategies adopted by competing organizations. Findings from an analysis of online media coverage and public posts on social media further suggest that stakeholders’ comparisons of different organizations’ crisis responses can influence stakeholders’ emotions and reputational perceptions of the organizations. Finally, the competitive advantages for an organization to respond as the first mover or late mover in industry crisis communication are discussed.     

The parallel power in organizations’ defense: Exploring faith-holders and their crisis communication

Publics can be active participants of discussions around organizational crises. Through digital media, they can provide information about a crisis, criticize crisis participants or defend the organization experiencing the crisis (Coombs & Holladay, 2014). Limited research exists on the active role of publics in defending the organization. A handful of studies have looked at crisis communication of active organization supporters, including faith-holders (Luoma-aho, 2015); however there is a limited amount of public relations scholarship about the nature of faith-holders, their communication under crisis circumstances, and whether they in fact attempt to help organizations in times of crisis. By using a combination of content analysis and rhetorical analysis, this paper examined the crisis communication strategies offered by the organization’s faith-holders in the comments to the crisis-related articles published on the websites of media outlets. Through a case study of Tesla Motors’ crisis, the paper determined that faith-holders are a powerful force in defending the organization during the crisis, using both traditional reputation repair strategies identified by Coombs (2015) as well as new strategies identified by the study. Faith-holders were not a monolithic group and differed in terms of what aspects of the organization they had faith. Their communication was not restricted by legal and ethical demands. The results provide insights into understanding of faith-holders’ communication during crises, and also highlight the need for reconsidering the situational crisis communication theory in respect to organizations' faith-holders.     

Scale development for measuring publics’ emotions in organizational crises

Although publics’ emotional responses have gained increasing importance in crisis communication research, reliable scales measuring crisis emotions specific to organizational crises are lacking. As the first study developing a multiple-item scale for measuring publics’ crisis emotions, this study examines the conceptualization and operationalization of attribution-independent crisis emotions versus attribution-dependent crisis emotions by employing two survey data sets (N = 490) for scale development and testing. Results indicate that three types of emotions are likely to be felt by publics when exposed to organizational crises: (1) attribution-independent (AI) crisis emotions; (2) external-attribution-dependent (EAD) crisis emotions; and (3) internal-attribution-dependent (IAD) crisis emotions. The scale's reliability, factorial structure, and validity are further assessed. The findings confirm that the underlying processes of publics’ emotions felt in crisis situations are different from those felt in non-crisis situations. Consequently, this scale provides a valid and reliable psychometric tool for researchers and crisis managers to measure publics’ different emotions that are relevant to a crisis situation, as a result of crisis attribution appraisal.     

Sector-dependent framing effects of corporate social responsibility messages: An experiment with non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications can be paradoxical in their effect on consumers attitudes and skepticism toward an organization, buying intentions and the organization's reputation. In this research, we investigated the effects of sector dependence and the framing of CSR messages. A 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment was used with six advertisements for two fictional organizations: one in the alcohol industry (a so-called socially stigmatized industry) and one in a non-alcohol industry. The experiment included 188 participants. The results show that the framing effects of CSR messages are sector specific: in the non-alcohol sector, CSR messages and frames had a positive effect on consumers, whereas in the alcohol sector, they had a negative effect on consumers.     

Further explorations of post-crisis communication: Effects of media and response strategies on perceptions and intentions

Crisis communication represents a rapidly growing body of research and is seeing an increased use of experimental methods. However, the experiments have relied exclusively on print stimuli resulting in little knowledge of channel effects on crisis communication. This study evaluates the effects of different response strategies and media channels on respondents exposed to a crisis. The study used a 2 (crisis response: sympathy and compassion) × 2 (media: print and video) design. We selected two similar response strategies that could differ in terms of the additional cues provided by video. Results revealed virtually no meaningful difference between the use of video versus print or sympathy versus compensation.     

Proxy communication in crisis response

This study analyzes the role of third party crisis communication during the expansive food contamination crisis caused by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The information void caused by PCA's mismanagement of the crisis and subsequent reticence was filled by third party organizations serving as proxy crisis communicators. The need for organizations to plan for and engage in proxy communication when organizations in affiliated industries fail to communicate effectively during crises is demonstrated.     

Entering new territory: A study of internal crisis management and crisis communication in organizations

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss some of the main findings from a large survey of internal crisis management and crisis communication conducted in the spring of 2011 among public and private organizations in Denmark (the ICMCC survey). The survey was conducted among the 367 largest private companies (selected from DK 1000, established by Børsen business magasin) and among 98 public organizations (municipalities). The overall goal was to get a preliminary idea of how these companies or organizations perceive, plan, coordinate and implement internal crisis management and crisis communication activities before, during and after a crisis. The survey questionnaire comprised 36 questions and was sent to respondents who typically are responsible for the crisis-preparedness of their organizations. The results from the survey show that the vast majority of organizations have a crisis or contingency plan, and most of these plans contain an internal dimension relating to the management and communication with the internal stakeholders during a crisis. Thus, the study shows a rather professional and formalized behavior towards crisis management in general, but also when it comes to managing a crisis in relation to the internal organizational stakeholders in specific. In addition, the results clearly indicate a strong relation between organizational size and crisis management; the larger the organization the more likely to have a crisis plan. This particularly pertained to the private organizations. The ICMCC survey forms part of a major collaborative research project, financed by the Danish Council for Independent Research/Social Sciences (2011–2014), entitled Internal Crisis Management and Crisis Communication in Danish Organizations. The purpose of this three-year long project is to shed light upon the role of internal crisis management and crisis communication before, during and after an organizational crisis and/or a societal crisis leading to downsizing or major changes within an organization or an organizational field.     

Evaluation of international and non-governmental organizations’ communication activities: A 15 year systematic review

The purpose of this paper is to understand how intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations have evaluated their communication activities and adhered to principles of evaluation methodology from 1995–2010 based on a systematic review of available evaluation reports (N = 46) and guidelines (N = 9). Most evaluations were compliant with principle 1 (defining communication objectives), principle 2 (combining evaluation methods), principle 4 (focusing on outcomes) and principle 5 (evaluating for continued improvement). Compliance was least with principle 3 (using a rigorous design) and principle 6 (linking to organizational goals). Evaluation was found not to be integrated, adopted widely or rigorously in these organizations.     

The paracrisis: The challenges created by publicly managing crisis prevention

Social media is emerging as critical element of scanning for many crisis risks. When these crisis risks emerge online, people often confuse them with crises and that is why we have developed the term paracrisis. Para can mean “like” something. A paracrisis is like a crisis. It can “look like” a crisis and does require action from the organization. However, a paracrisis does not warrant convening the crisis team and operating in a crisis mode. This paper details the value of paracrises, how to evaluate their threat potential, and ways to respond to them and how to evaluate those responses.     

Through the looking glass: A decade of Red Cross crisis response and situational crisis communication theory

Crisis communication has emerged as a hot topic in public relations literature. However, little attention has been paid to nonprofit organizations (NPOs), one of the largest sectors of public relations practice. In particular, few studies have examined that the crisis response strategy NPOs can employ to repair their reputations. For the Red Cross and other NPOs, when faced with a crisis, communicating with their publics is critical to restore a positive reputation and, ultimately, to the continued success of the organization once the crisis has passed.     

Getting ready for crises: Strategic excellence

Results of a national survey indicate that organizations are better prepared by having a crisis plan and a crisis management team in place. However, crisis personnel often receive little individual, team, and media training for effective crisis response. Excellent communication culture positively relates to crisis preparations with respect to having a crisis plan, maintaining a crisis team, formulating comprehensive training programs, and engaging in training frequently. Excellence also predicts whether or not public relations professionals are included in a crisis management team.     

The role of crisis in family crisis intervention: Do crisis experience and crisis change matter?

Evaluation studies of crisis intervention have focused on prevention of out-of-home placement of children or family functioning, but largely neglected the aspect of crisis. The present study examined crisis in 183 families receiving Family Crisis Intervention (FCI), addressing crisis characteristics and crisis change. In questionnaires children and parents were asked about their definition and experience of crisis and about their need for help. Results show that all families but one were in crisis at the beginning of the intervention, although the perception and extent of crisis differed among respondents. Crisis decreased from baseline to posttest according to clients and crisis intervention workers, but was not absent after the intervention. Combined with an unexpected pattern of reported family balance in the months before FCI, this result challenges the 4-6 weeks time span assumption of a crisis period. Variations in perception of crisis, clients' need for help, and possible crisis patterns are discussed, addressing theoretical and practical implications for family crisis intervention.