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CN 34-1054/N

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The release of effective crisis statements during product-harm crises in China

  • School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

Funds:  Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61004108，91024027, 70821001)
Cite this:
https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.0253-2778.2017.03.004
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  • Author Bio:

    DING Qiying, female, born in 1984, PhD. Research field: Crisis communication and risk management. E-mail: dqy0227@mail.ustc.edu.cn.

  • Corresponding author: WANG Fei
  • Received Date: 26 April 2015
  • Accepted Date: 10 September 2015
  • Rev Recd Date: 10 September 2015
  • Publish Date: 30 March 2017
    Abstract

  • Abstract

    The release of effective corporate statements in crisis communication was investigated. Based on 92 crisis statements released by companies in China between 2005 and 2012 during product-harm crises, two key parameters were studied: statement diffusion range and statement acceptability within news coverage. The results show that the approach taken (crisis statement releasing strategy) is more important than the content (instructing and adjusting information) in predicting diffusion range. Although the hypotheses regarding statement acceptability were rejected, nine key statement errors and omissions that result in negative comments from news media were identified. These can be used to guide practitioners to an error-free crisis statement. Additionally, regarding corporate characteristics, listing status and nationality do not influence the two parameters. Crisis type, however, shows an effect on statement diffusion range.

    Abstract

    The release of effective corporate statements in crisis communication was investigated. Based on 92 crisis statements released by companies in China between 2005 and 2012 during product-harm crises, two key parameters were studied: statement diffusion range and statement acceptability within news coverage. The results show that the approach taken (crisis statement releasing strategy) is more important than the content (instructing and adjusting information) in predicting diffusion range. Although the hypotheses regarding statement acceptability were rejected, nine key statement errors and omissions that result in negative comments from news media were identified. These can be used to guide practitioners to an error-free crisis statement. Additionally, regarding corporate characteristics, listing status and nationality do not influence the two parameters. Crisis type, however, shows an effect on statement diffusion range.
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    • References(36)
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    SWEETSER K D, BROWN C W. Information subsidies and agenda-building during the Israel-Lebanon crisis[J]. Public Relations Review, 2008, 34: 359-366.
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    LIU B F. Distinguishing how elite newspapers and A-list blogs cover crises: Insights for managing crises online[J]. Public Relations Review, 2010, 36: 28-34.
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    HUANG Y H . Crisis situations, communication strategies, and media coverage: A multicase study revisiting the communicative response model[J]. Communication Research 2006, 33: 180-205.
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    GONZALEZ-HERRERO A, PRATT C B. Marketing crises in tourism: Communication strategies in the United States and Spain[J]. Public Relations Review, 1998, 24: 83-97.
    [30]
    HAYES A F, KRIPPENDORFF K. Answering the call for a standard reliability measure for coding data[J]. Communication Methods and Measures, 2007, 1: 77-89.
    [31]
    COOMBS W T. Choosing the night words: The development of guidelines for the selection of the “appropriate” crisis response strategies[J]. Management Communication Quarterly, 1995, 8: 447-476.
    [32]
    WEINER B. An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion[M]. New York: Springer, 1986.
    [33]
    ECCLES R G, NEWQUIST S C, SCHATZ R. Reputation and its risks[J]. Harv Bus Rev, 2007, 85(2): 104-114, 156.
    [34]
    WEINER B. Social Motivation, Justice, and the Moral Emotions: An Attributional Approach[M]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 2006.
    [35]
    EGELHOFF W G, SEN F. An information-processing model of crisis management[J]. Management Communication Quarterly, 1992, 5(4): 443-484.
    [36]
    HUANG Y H, SU S H. Determinants of consistent, timely, and active responses in corporate crises[J]. Public Relations Review, 2009, 35(1): 7-17.
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    [1]
    SEEGER M W, SELLNOW T L, ULMER R R. Communication and Organizational Crisis[M]. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003:26.
    [2]
    COOMBS W T, HOLLADAY S J. The Handbook of Crisis Communication[M]. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010:31.
    [3]
    CALDIERO C T, TAYLOR M, UNGUREANU L. Image repair tactics and information subsidies during fraud crises[J]. Journal of Public Relations Research, 2009, 21: 218-228.
    [4]
    COOMBS W T. Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory[J]. Corporate Reputation Review, 2007, 10: 163-176.
    [5]
    PERRY D, TAYLOR M, DOERFEL M L. Internet-based communication in crisis management[J]. Management Communication Quarterly, 2009, 17: 206-232.
    [6]
    ALLEN M W,CAILLOUET R H. Legitimation endeavors: Impression management strategies used by an organization in crisis[J]. Communication Monographs, 1994, 61: 44-62.
    [7]
    HEARIT K M. Corporate apologia: When an organization speaks in defense of itself[C]// Handbook of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 2001: 501-511.
    [8]
    HOLLADAY S J. Crisis communication strategies in the media coverage of chemical accidents[J]. Journal of Public Relations Research, 2009, 21: 208-217.
    [9]
    McCOMBS M. A look at agenda-setting: Past, present, and future[J]. Journalism Studies, 2005, 6: 543-57.
    [10]
    MEIJER M, KLEINNIJENHUIS J. Issue news and corporate reputation: applying the theories of agenda setting and issue ownership in the field of business communication[J]. Journal of Communication, 2006, 56(3): 543-559.
    [11]
    TRUMBO C W. Information processing and risk perception: An adaptation of the heuristic-systematic model[J]. Journal of Communication 2002, 52(2): 367-382.
    [12]
    SOBEL M R. Chronicling a crisis: media framing of human trafficking in India, Thailand, and the USA[J]. Asian Journal of Communication, 2014, 24(4): 315-332.
    [13]
    HUANG Y H. Trust and relational commitment in corporate crises: The effects of crisis communicative strategy and form of crisis response[J]. Journal of Public Relations Research, 2008, 20: 297-327.
    [14]
    KIM S, LIU B F. Are all crises opportunities? A comparison of how corporate and government organizations responded to the 2009 flu pandemic[J]. Journal of Public Relations Research, 2012, 24: 69-85.
    [15]
    COOMBS W T. Information and compassion in crisis responses: A test of their effects[J]. Journal of Public Relations Research, 1999, 11: 125-142.
    [16]
    AUGUSTINE N R. Managing the crisis you tried to prevent[J]. Harvard Business Review, 1995, 73: 147-158.
    [17]
    WEI J C, ZHAO D T, LIANG L. Estimating the growth models of news stories on disasters[J]. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2009, 60: 1741-1755.
    [18]
    SWEETSER K D, BROWN C W. Information subsidies and agenda-building during the Israel-Lebanon crisis[J]. Public Relations Review, 2008, 34: 359-366.
    [19]
    LIU B F. Distinguishing how elite newspapers and A-list blogs cover crises: Insights for managing crises online[J]. Public Relations Review, 2010, 36: 28-34.
    [20]
    HUANG Y H . Crisis situations, communication strategies, and media coverage: A multicase study revisiting the communicative response model[J]. Communication Research 2006, 33: 180-205.
    [21]
    SCHULTZ F, UTZ S, GORITZ A. Is the medium the message? Perceptions of and reactions to crisis communication via twitter, blogs and traditional media[J]. Public Relations Review, 2011, 37: 20-27.
    [22]
    ZHANG LE, ZHONG QI, LI ZHENG. The ISKS- ISK model of crisis information dissemination under time-varying communication rules[J]. Journal of University of Science and Technology of China, 2010, 40 (9): 985-990.
    [23]
    STRONG K C, RINGER R C, TAYLOR S A. The rules of stakeholder satisfaction (timeliness, honesty, empathy)[J]. Journal of Business Ethics, 2001, 32: 219-230.
    [24]
    CNNIC. 29th Statistical report on internet development in China[R/OL]. [2015-04-10] Beijing: China Internet Network Information Center. http://www.cnnic.cn/dtygg/dtgg/201201/W020120116337628870651.pdf.
    [25]
    TAYLOR M, KENT M L. Taxonomy of mediated crisis responses[J]. Public Relations Review, 2007, 33: 140-146.
    [26]
    GILENS M, HERTZMAN C. Corporate ownership and news bias: Newspaper coverage of the 1996 telecommunications act[J]. The Journal of Politics, 2000, 62: 369-386.
    [27]
    ROSE C, THOMSEN S. The impact of corporate reputation on performance[J]. European Management Journal, 2004, 22: 201-210.
    [28]
    FEARN-BANKS K. Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach[M]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 1996:48.
    [29]
    GONZALEZ-HERRERO A, PRATT C B. Marketing crises in tourism: Communication strategies in the United States and Spain[J]. Public Relations Review, 1998, 24: 83-97.
    [30]
    HAYES A F, KRIPPENDORFF K. Answering the call for a standard reliability measure for coding data[J]. Communication Methods and Measures, 2007, 1: 77-89.
    [31]
    COOMBS W T. Choosing the night words: The development of guidelines for the selection of the “appropriate” crisis response strategies[J]. Management Communication Quarterly, 1995, 8: 447-476.
    [32]
    WEINER B. An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion[M]. New York: Springer, 1986.
    [33]
    ECCLES R G, NEWQUIST S C, SCHATZ R. Reputation and its risks[J]. Harv Bus Rev, 2007, 85(2): 104-114, 156.
    [34]
    WEINER B. Social Motivation, Justice, and the Moral Emotions: An Attributional Approach[M]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 2006.
    [35]
    EGELHOFF W G, SEN F. An information-processing model of crisis management[J]. Management Communication Quarterly, 1992, 5(4): 443-484.
    [36]
    HUANG Y H, SU S H. Determinants of consistent, timely, and active responses in corporate crises[J]. Public Relations Review, 2009, 35(1): 7-17.
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