The Tweet Heard Round the World: Daryl Morey, the NBA, China, and Attribution of Responsibility

2020 ◽  
pp. 216747952098325
Author(s):  
Sitong Guo ◽  
Andrew C. Billings ◽  
Kenon A. Brown ◽  
John Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Professional Sport ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Attribution Of Responsibility ◽  
Responsibility Attribution ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Sport League ◽  
The World

Following Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey’s social media post advocating for Hong Kong independence, a 2 (NBA, Houston Rockets) × 3 (attacking the accuser, justification, apology) experimental design was utilized to explore the effects of different crisis response strategies on sports fan relationships between/among a professional sport league, one of its teams, and crisis responsibility attribution. Results indicated that apology strategy functioned better in reducing the blame placed on the organization than attacking strategy. Also, people with a more positive relationship or a higher level of identification with the organization would attribute less responsibility. However, when controlling the organization-public relationship or sport identification, response strategies could no longer predict attribution of responsibility significantly, suggesting that the previous relationship matters more than which response strategy is utilized in a crisis.

Refuting fake news on social media: nonprofits, crisis response strategies and issue involvement

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michail Vafeiadis ◽  
Denise S. Bortree ◽  
Christen Buckley ◽  
Pratiti Diddi ◽  
Anli Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Consumer Privacy ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Issue Involvement

Purpose The dissemination of fake news has accelerated with social media and this has important implications for both organizations and their stakeholders alike. Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the effectiveness of the crisis response strategies of denial and attack in addressing rumors about consumer privacy when non-profit organizations are targeted on social media. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, a 2 (response type: denial vs attack) × 2 (privacy concerns: low vs high), between-group online experiment was conducted via Qualtrics. Findings The results indicated that one’s involvement level in the issue determines the effectiveness of the crisis response strategy. Data showed that attacking the source of fake news (as a crisis response) reduces the message’s credibility more than denying fake news. Furthermore, highly involved individuals are more likely to centrally process information and develop positive supportive intentions toward the affected non-profit brand. High issue involvement also predicted organizational and response credibility. Conversely, an attack rebuttal message increased the credibility of the circulated malicious rumors for low involved individuals. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that issue involvement plays a key role in message perceptions of false information regarding consumer privacy in social media. Practical implications Practically, this study offers insights for organizations that are developing response strategies in the current environment of fake news. Findings from this study suggest that organizations need to consider the degree to which audiences are currently involved in an issue before deciding how aggressively to respond to perpetrators of fake news. Originality/value The present study examines the intersection of fake news and crisis management in the non-profit sector, with an emphasis on various response strategies and issue involvement. This is one of the first attempts to experimentally investigate how social media strategies can defend and protect non-profit reputation in the fake news era.

“Silence” as a strategy during a corporate crisis – the case of Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate”

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 921-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Stieglitz ◽  
Milad Mirbabaie ◽  
Tobias Kroll ◽  
Julian Marx
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Media Channels ◽  
Corporate Crisis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the communication behaviour on Twitter during the rise of a preventable corporate crisis. It aims to contribute to situational crisis response strategies, and to broaden the authors’ understanding of legitimacy management. In September 2015, Volkswagen’s (VW) emission scandal became public and caused debates also in social media. By applying complementing tools of data analysis to the Twitter communication around the “Dieselgate” crisis, this study unfolds a field of tension between corporate strategy and public perception. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected Twitter data and analysed approximately 2.1m tweets relevant to the VW crisis. The authors approached the data by separating the overall communication in peak and quiet phases; analysing the peaks with social network analysis techniques; studying sentiments and the differences in each phase; and specifically examining tweets from VW’s corporate accounts with regard to the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and legitimacy. Findings VW’s very few tweets were not able to reduce the emotionality and sentiment of the ongoing Twitter discussion. Instead, even during quiet phases, the communication remained rather negative. The analysis suggests that VW followed a strategy not covered by SCCT, i.e. keeping silent. Practical implications The discovered strategy of keeping silent extends the SCCT and is linked to legitimacy management. Learnings from this study help decision makers to put social media response strategies into practice to swiftly recover from crises or refrain from certain strategies to avoid further reputational damage. Social implications Examining the underlying communication patterns of a crisis case with societal magnitude such as “Dieselgate” helps sensitising customers and executives to utilise social media channels more comprehensible in future crises. Originality/value The study uncovers the unconventional and yet barely addressed crisis response strategy of a global enterprise while devising unique realisations for practitioners and communication researchers. It contributes to existing knowledge about situational crisis response strategies, and broadens the authors’ understanding of legitimacy management in times of social media ubiquity.

The Value of Brand Fans during a Crisis: Exploring the Roles of Response Strategy, Source, and Brand Identification

2021 ◽  
pp. 232948842199969
Author(s):  
Hayoung Sally Lim ◽  
Natalie Brown-Devlin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Brand Identification ◽  
Communication Source ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Selection Of

Using a two (crisis response strategy: diminish vs. rebuild) × three (source: brand organization vs. brand executive vs. brand fan) experimental design, this study examines how brand fans (i.e., consumers who identify with a brand) can be prompted to protect a brand’s reputation during crises and how the selection of a crisis spokesperson can influence consumers’ evaluations of the crisis communication. Being buffers for their preferred brands, brand fans are more likely to accept their brand’s crisis response and engage in positive electronic word-of-mouth on social media. Brand fans are more likely to evaluate other brand fan’s social media accounts as a credible crisis communication source, whereas those who are not brand fans are more likely to evaluate brand and/or brand executives as credible. Findings provide theoretical applications in paracrisis literature pertaining to social media but also practical implications for brand managers to strategically utilize brand fans in crisis communication.

scholarly journals A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF “MALAYSIAN-LAHAD DATU” CRISIS AND CRISIS RESPONSES IN ETHNIC NEWSPAPERS IN MALAYSIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (17) ◽  
pp. 132-143
Author(s):  
Manimegalai Ambikapathy ◽  
Hasmah Zanuddin
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Attribution Of Responsibility ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Crisis Responses

This research was to examine the portrayal of crisis response strategies in Malaysian local vernacular printed dailies in covering terrorism crises which is the Lahad Datu crisis in Malaysia. The researcher relied on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Framing theory to identify the news coverage and appropriate solutions through newspaper framing. Five variables were identified by the researcher in examining crisis response strategies such as news category, news slants, news framing, news sources and portrayal of visuals. Through quantitative content analysis, data revealed that the solution category was portrayed by Nanban daily, but Sin Chew focused on the problem category. For the news slants, Sin Chew daily framed negative slants of news most but Nanban daily portrayed issues in positive slants. In measuring the news frame, both dailies focused more on the attribution of responsibility frame. In examining the crisis response strategies, the researcher found, justification crisis response was portrayed predominantly but there is a significant difference between two different vernacular dailies in the portrayal of justification crisis response followed by concern crisis response. Kruskal Wallis’s test revealed that there is a significant difference in the portrayal of concern response between two dailies however, both newspapers having significant associations in portraying compensation crisis response.

Debunking the myth of denial’s effectiveness in crisis communication: context matters

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Timothy Coombs ◽  
Sherry Jean Holladay ◽  
An-Sofie Claeys
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Primary Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Organizational Reputation ◽  
Action Strategy ◽  
Positive Action

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the under-researched issue of how formal determinations of organizational responsibility for a crisis affect the effectiveness of the denial strategy in protecting organizational reputation. Because studies that omit later determinations of responsibility produce misleading representations of the value of denial, a pilot study and primary study investigated how later determinations of organizational culpability in a management misconduct crisis interact with crisis response strategies to affect reputation and anger. Design/methodology/approach Two studies used experimental designs to assess how denial interacted with determinations of crisis responsibility to influence reputation and anger. Findings The pilot study demonstrated reputational damage and stakeholder anger increased when an organization initially denied responsibility and then was found to be responsible for the crisis. The second study replicated the pilot study findings and also demonstrated that later determinations of guilt decreased reputation scores. When found guilty, the organization’s reputation was significantly more favorable when the positive action strategy was used. Comparison of three response strategies (no response, denial, and positive action) revealed the denial and no response conditions were significantly less effective than the positive response strategy when the organization was found guilty. Research limitations/implications Paper demonstrates the need for research on the denial strategy to consider later determinations of crisis responsibility (guilt) when assessing denial’s impact on organizational reputation. Practical implications When selecting response strategies in situations where crisis responsibility is unclear, practitioners should consider how later determinations of responsibility could affect reputation. Originality/value This paper questions past research on the value of the denial strategy, integrates findings from the trust violations research, and demonstrates the importance of considering formal judgments of organizational responsibility when selecting crisis response strategies.

Organisations' conversations in social media: applying dialogue strategies in times of crises

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Romenti ◽  
Grazia Murtarelli ◽  
Chiara Valentini
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
The Body ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Crisis Communications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Body Of Knowledge

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework, grounded in managerial and organisational theories of dialogue, through which organisations can take decisions in relation to the most appropriate crisis response strategies for handling social media stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework is developed through a conceptual analysis of literature on dialogue, social media and crisis communication. The theoretical framework is then tested in eight different international organisations experiencing a crisis. For each case, different web contents, such as organisations' status updates/posts, links, videos published on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, were analysed using a rhetorical research approach. Findings – The analysed organisations apply different online dialogue strategies according to crisis types and in combination with specific crisis response strategies. Most of the organisations investigated carry on those dialogue strategies suitable to develop consensus (concertative), guide conversations on specific topics or issues (framing), find solutions to the crisis collectively (transformative). Concertative strategies were often associated with informative crisis response strategies, framing strategies with denial and justification crisis response strategies and transformative strategies with corrective actions. Research limitations/implications – By using a dialogic perspective in setting up online conversations with their external stakeholders, the paper proposes a theoretical model to explain companies' decisions in carrying on online dialogues during critical situations and thus contribute to the body of knowledge on online crisis communications. Practical implications – The proposed model can support crisis communicators to manage dialogue's aims and dimensions differently by taking into account both contextual and situational conditions. Originality/value – By integrating management studies on dialogue into crisis communication and social media literature, the authors intend to offer an alternative thinking of organisations' decision-making in relation to crisis response strategies and social media stakeholders.

scholarly journals An Experimental Designs For The Impact Of Attributed Organization Crisis Responsibility On Halal Organization Image As Mediated By Crisis Response Strategy

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5C) ◽  
pp. 731-739
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Crisis Response Strategy ◽  
Halal Food ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

In Malaysia, food crises related with Halal issues is becoming an imperative issue among Halal consumer with organizations facing crisis that have been suspected to sell NonHalal food products. This type of crisis has the potential to damage the organization image. Therefore, the adoption of appropriate crisis response strategy is needed in order to manage this outcome. In crisis communication field, experimental designs start to be adopted by many of researchers thus shift away from using the case studies. This phenomena occur due to the experimental research provides more understanding on the relationship and consequences of the crisis stimuli. Therefore, this research develop an experimental designs that using 3x3 between subjects factorial design, utilizing survey questionnaires as the instrument in order to investigate the crisis response strategies that most successfully accommodate the level of organization crisis responsibility perceived by the halal food consumer that will impact the organization image. In this research crisis response strategy will mediated the relationship between the organization crisis responsibility and organization image

scholarly journals Social Media and COVID-19: a global study of digital crisis interaction among Gen Z and millennials

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Volkmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
World Health ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Space ◽  
Continuous Interaction ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Experts

The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing that global big tech platforms and social media are core sites for continuous engagement with crisis content for young citizens. This study included twenty-four countries from all continents at the time of the heightened COVID-19 crisis, and our survey targeted 18-40 year olds, Millennials and Gen Zs – overall n = 23,483 respondents. Outcomes show that for young citizens across continents, crisis communication is not just about press briefings. Instead, crisis communication is continuous interaction and engagement across their multiple source environments. Young citizens navigate social media, national media, search sites and messaging apps, they engage with peer communities, science and health experts and – across all countries – substantially with the social media content of the World Health Organization (WHO). Overall, they create their own individual crisis narrative based on the sources they use and the insights they select. This report outlines these new crisis communication dimensions within a transnational social media space and offers numerous suggestions for incorporating social media in crisis response strategies.

scholarly journals Why Do Countries Respond Differently to COVID-19? A Comparative Study of Sweden, China, France, and Japan

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 762-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Yan ◽  
Xiaomin Zhang ◽  
Long Wu ◽  
Heng Zhu ◽  
Bin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Orientation ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Important Public Health ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Cultural Determinants ◽  
National Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
Nonpharmaceutical Interventions

Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are important public health tools to fight against COVID-19. Governments around the world have instituted a variety of NPIs to modify individuals’ behavior, giving rise to four distinct pandemic response strategies: nudge, mandate, decree, and boost. To better understand the different policy choices involved in these strategies, four countries including Sweden, China, France, and Japan were compared to identify the critical institutional and cultural determinants of national response strategy. The finding shows that various responses regarding same threat are dependent on the distinctive institutional arrangements and cultural orientation of each country, and thus, there is no One-Size-Fits-All strategy.

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