(In)Sincere Demeanor and (In)Sincere Language in Crisis Communication

2021 ◽  
pp. 0261927X2110457
Author(s):  
David E. Clementson ◽  
Tyler G. Page
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Word ◽  
Attribution Of Responsibility ◽  
Default Theory ◽  
News Interview

Perceptions of a crisis communicator’s sincerity drive reactions to an organization’s response amidst a scandal. However, a spokesperson can nonverbally appear sincere while deceptively evading questions and can appear insincere while actually speaking sincere truths. Applying truth-default theory to crisis communication, we assess people’s reactions to a spokesperson varying in sincerity through demeanor and language. In an experiment ( N  =  801), adults from across the United States were randomly assigned to view one of four versions of a news interview. The stimuli present the spokesperson replying to questions with sincere or insincere demeanor and sincere language (conveying relevance and clarity) or insincere language (evasion and obfuscation). Results indicate that sincerity in demeanor and language interact to affect (a) account acceptance, (b) negative word-of-mouth intention, and (c) attribution of responsibility. But sincerity in language largely overrides behavioral impressions. Discussion concerns considering evasion and obfuscation as demeanor cues, when violations of relevance and clarity in language undercut a spokesperson’s believability.

scholarly journals Crisis Communication Preparedness Practices Among U.S. Charitable Organizations: Results From a National Survey

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110145
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Fuller ◽  
Antonio La Sala
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Negative Word ◽  
Organizational Crisis ◽  
Crisis Planning ◽  
Charitable Organizations ◽  
Major Stakeholder

Organizations should prepare for crises, through identifying crisis concerns, having written crisis communication plans, and designating teams for crisis planning and response, for example. Nonprofit organizations, which represent an important sector of U.S. society, are no different in needing to prepare, but to date, a review of their crisis communication preparedness is lacking. Therefore, a national online survey of 2,005 U.S. charitable organizations was administered to determine nonprofit organizations’ adoption of an anticipatory perspective of crisis management. The anticipatory perspective shifts the organization’s focus from reaction to crises to anticipation of them. According to the survey, 75% of organizations reported at least one organizational crisis in the 24 months prior to taking the survey (circa 2017–2019). Loss of a major stakeholder was the most common organizational crisis that had occurred and the greatest future concern. Most nonprofits (97.5%) reported implementing some crisis communication preparedness tactics. Importantly, charitable organizations can enact communication preparedness tactics without significantly detracting from program delivery. Moreover, given the general concerns within the sector, nonprofit organizations should prepare specifically for loss of a major stakeholder and technologically created crises such as data breaches and negative word of mouth on social media.

Coverage of Burmese refugees in Indiana news media: An analysis of textual and visual frames

Journalism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1552-1569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily A Ehmer ◽  
Ammina Kothari
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Refugee Resettlement ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Attribution Of Responsibility ◽  
Human Interest ◽  
Dominant Feature ◽  
Visual Frame

This study investigates how Burmese refugees were framed by Fort Wayne’s The Journal Gazette located in one of Indiana’s cities where refugee resettlement has taken place over the last two decades. We analyzed 335 stories and 286 accompanying images to identify salient textual and visual frames. Results show that the human interest and attribution of responsibility were most salient textual frames, while the visual frame of exotic was dominant. Feature stories were more likely to have a human interest frame and, if an image is included, to reflect the visual frame of Burmese as being exotic. As a global refugee crisis continues to unfold, this study presents implications for how media coverage of future refugees in the United States will evolve based on public opinion.

scholarly journals Stakeholder-Formed Organizations and Crisis Communication: Analyzing Discourse of Renewal with a Non-Offending Organization

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-274
Author(s):  
Jordan Morehouse
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Crisis Discourse ◽  
Motivating Factor ◽  
The Catholic Church

Scholars have examined the ways organizations practice post-crisis communication strategies, including deny, diminish, and rebuild. The current study explores the extent to which a stakeholder-formed organization utilizes post-crisis discourse of renewal to rebuild, recover, and renew the Catholic Church after allegations of sexual abuse of minors publicly surfaced in the United States. Open-ended semi-structured interviews with founders and executive committee members of Leadership Roundtable revealed stakeholders practiced discourse of renewal to help the Catholic Church, an offending organization, recover from a crisis. This study also assessed the extent to which God and religion motivated stakeholders’ responses. Results suggest religion is a critical motivating factor in stakeholders’ responses to a crisis.

scholarly journals Targeting Internal Publics During the 2014 Ebola Outbreak: An Analysis of Kaiser Permanente’s Crisis Communication Strategy

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
Ingrid Greene ◽  
Denise Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Medical Staff ◽  
The United States ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Issues Management ◽  
Corporate Communications ◽  
Kaiser Permanente ◽  
The U.S

Issues management in today’s quickly changing world can be complex and unpredictable, and in the case of the spread of Ebola, carry lethal implications. Kaiser Permanente (KP) faced a potential internal crisis due to the involvement of medical staff during the spread of the disease in the United States. In addition, KP needed to ensure the safety of the patients the healthcare provider serves. This case study examines how the corporate communications team at KP in Southern California communicated the necessary messages during this crisis in the U.S. in the fall of 2014. The methodology of this case is a textual analysis of the internal corporate communications within Kaiser Permanente during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in the U.S.

Red Bull (Abridged)

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Paul W. Farris ◽  
Ervin R. Shames ◽  
Richard R. Johnson ◽  
Jordan Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Product Category ◽  
New Product ◽  
The United States ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Brand Building ◽  
History Of ◽  
Brand Product ◽  
Red Bull

This case (an abridged version of UVA-M-0663) describes the history of the Red Bull brand and how the company stimulated and harnessed word of mouth to build a new product category (functional energy drinks) and brand franchise. The case concludes by asking the reader to consider where Red Bull will take its brand, product line, and marketing next, in light of many competitive challenges in the United States. The case was written to foster discussion of nontraditional brand-building strategies and the growing globalization of brands and products targeted toward younger consumers.

Tweeting in the midst of disaster: A comparative case study of journalists’ practices following four crises

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-316
Author(s):  
Amber Hinsley ◽  
Hyunmin Lee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Different Types

This comparative case study examines how local journalists used Twitter as a crisis communication tool during four emergency situations in the United States. The public’s retweeting and liking patterns also identified messages that resonated with them. A content analysis found that although local journalists used objective reporting most frequently across all crises, there were variances in Twitter practices of journalists covering the two human-made crises. The two natural disasters showed more similarities. These findings can help develop best-practices strategies for journalists as they cover different types of crises.

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