social media and crisis communication

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION Lucinda L. Austin and Yan Jin

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION

Social Media and Crisis Communication provides a unique and timely contribution to the field of crisis communication by addressing how social media is influencing the practice of crisis communication. The book, with a collection of chapters contributed by leading communication researchers, covers the current and emerging interplay of social media and crisis communication, recent theories and frameworks, overviews of dominant research streams, applications in specific crisis areas, and future directions. Both the theoretical and the practical are discussed, providing a volume that appeals to both academic-minded readers and professionals at the managerial, decision-making level. The audience includes public relations and corporate communication scholars, graduate students studying social media and crisis communication, researchers, crisis managers working in communication departments, and business leaders who make strategic business communication planning. No other volume has provided the overarching synthesis of information regarding the field of crisis communication and social media that this book contains. Incorporated in this volume is the recent social-mediated crisis communication model developed by the editors and their co-authors, which serves as a framework for crisis and issues management in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Lucinda Austin is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she researches social media, health and crisis communication, and publics’ perspectives in CSR and relationship building. Austin has published in journals including Communication Research, the Journal of Applied Communication Research, Health Communication, the Journal of Public Relations Research, and PR Review. She has been awarded AEJMC’s Promising Professors and SuPRstar Awards, Arthur Page Center’s Legacy Educator and Scholar Awards, and NCA’s PRIDE Award. Yan Jin is an associate professor at the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on crisis communication, social media, and the role of emotions in strategic conflict management. She has authored over 50 journal articles and 20 book chapters. She has presented over 100 research papers and received 14 top paper awards at national and international research conferences. Jin has been awarded AEJMC’s Krieghbaum Under-40 Award and is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION

Edited by Lucinda Austin and Yan Jin

First published 2018 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Taylor & Francis The right of Lucinda Austin and Yan Jin to be identified as the authors of this part of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-81199-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-81200-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-74906-8 (ebk) Typeset Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC

CONTENTS

Contributors Introduction Lucinda Austin and Yan Jin

x 1

SECTION I

Overview of Social Media Research in Crisis Communication 1 The Status of Social-Mediated Crisis Communication (SMCC) Research: An Analysis of Published Articles in 2002–2014 Yang Cheng and Glen Cameron 2 Revising Situational Crisis Communication Theory: The Influences of Social Media on Crisis Communication Theory and Practice W. Timothy Coombs

7

9

21

SECTION II

Current Issues of Social Media and Crisis Communication 3 Communicating Strategic Change: The Continuum of Reputation, Issues Management, and Crisis Management Is Built on a Positive Corporate Culture Michael B. Goodman

39

41

vi

Contents

4 Handling Crises in Social Media: From Stakeholder Crisis Awareness and Sense Making to Organizational Crisis Preparedness Chiara Valentini, Stefania Romenti, and Dean Kruckeberg 5 Ethical Engagement at a Time of Crisis in the Social Era Chun-Ju Flora Hung-Baesecke and Shannon A. Bowen

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SECTION III

Foundations and Frameworks

81

SECTION III-A

Foundations and Frameworks: Organizational Approaches and Considerations 6 The Role of Public Relations Leadership in Effective Social Media and Crisis Communication Management Juan Meng and Bruce K. Berger 7 The Corporate Social Media Spokesperson: Who Should Speak on Behalf of the Organization in Times of Crises? Ratna Damayanti, Stacey Rodrigues, Samuel Chua, and Augustine Pang 8 Examining Public Responses to Social Media Crisis Communication Strategies in the United States and China Zifei Fay Chen and Bryan H. Reber

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85

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114

SECTION III-B

Foundations and Frameworks: Audience-Oriented Approaches and Considerations

127

9 Toward More Audience-Oriented Approaches to Crisis Communication and Social Media Research Julia Daisy Fraustino and Brooke Fisher Liu

129

10 Social Media, Hashtag Hijacking, and the Evolution of an Activist Group Strategy Nathan Gilkerson and Kati Tusinski Berg

141

Contents vii

SECTION III-C

Foundations and Frameworks: Characteristics and Types of Social Media

157

11 Social Media’s Value in a Crisis: Channel Effect or Stealing Thunder? W. Timothy Coombs, An-Sofie Claeys, and Sherry Holladay

159

12 The World’s All Atwitter: Image Repair Discourse on Social Media Mark Glantz and William L. Benoit

168

13 Augmented Reality, Wearable Technology, and Gamification: Mobile Media and Crisis Communication Emerging Specializations Karen Freberg and Michael J. Palenchar

180

SECTION IV

Areas of Application

193

SECTION IV-A

Areas of Application: Corporate

195

14 Using Twitter for Crisis Communication: A Content Analysis of Fortune 500 Companies Michael North, Cong Li, Jiangmeng Liu, and Yi Grace Ji

197

15 A Study of Malaysia Airlines’ Missing Flight Crisis: News Frames, Crisis Emotions, Negative Behavioral Intentions, Corporate Reputation, and Country Image Jueman (Mandy) Zhang, Yi Wang, Yue Wu, Xiuli Wang, and Ross Buck

209

SECTION IV-B

Areas of Application: Nonprofit

225

16 Nonprofit Organizations’ Use of Social Media in Crisis Communication Melony Shemberger

227

viii Contents

17 World Vision’s Lack of Vision: A Case Study of the 2014 Gay Hiring Crisis Nance McCown

238

SECTION IV-C

Areas of Application: Health 18 When a Pandemic Strikes: Toward the Social Media Pandemic Communication Model Rachael Song-Qi Lim, Elizabeth Yingzhi Tan, Eric Wei Lim, Norshima Bte Abdul Aziz, and Augustine Pang 19 Health Misinformation via Social Media: The Case of Vaccine Safety on Pinterest Jeanine Guidry and Marcus Messner

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SECTION IV-D

Areas of Application: Disaster

281

20 Social Media Use During Disasters: A Research Synthesis and Road Map Julia Daisy Fraustino, Brooke Fisher Liu, and Yan Jin

283

21 Natural Disasters, Twitter, and Stakeholder Communication: What We Know and Directions for Future Inquiry Kenneth A. Lachlan, Patric Spence, and Xialing Lin

296

22 Visualizing Response and Recovery: The Impact of Social Media–Based Images in a Crisis Melissa Janoske

306

SECTION IV-E

Areas of Application: Political

319

23 Exploring Crisis Management via Twitter in the Age of Political Transparency Lisa Gandy and Elina Erzikova

321

24 From Bashtags to Geobombing: Modern-Day Digital Guerrilla Tactics Patricia Swann

335

Contents ix

SECTION IV-F

Areas of Application: Sports 25 Sports, Culture, and Financial Crisis: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Social Media Responses of Struggling Sports Associations in the United States and the United Kingdom Audra Diers-Lawson and Stephen M. Croucher 26 The Role of Influencers: An Analysis of Social Media Discussion Across Platforms Through a Sustained Crisis Tina McCorkindale and Marcia W. DiStaso

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353

374

SECTION V

Emerging Frameworks and Future Directions

387

27 Digital Dialogue: Crisis Communication in Social Media Øyvind Ihlen and Abbey Levenshus

389

28 Social Media Engagement for Crisis Communication: A Preliminary Measurement Model Hua Jiang and Yi Luo

401

29 Crisis Communication in a Changing Media Environment: A Review of the Theoretical Landscape in Crisis Communication and Research Gaps Lucinda Austin, Julia Daisy Fraustino, Yan Jin, and Brooke Fisher Liu

423

30 Conclusion Yan Jin and Lucinda Austin

449

Index

453