TY - JOUR
T1 - Practicing transparency in a crisis
T2 - Examining the combined effects of crisis type, response, and message transparency on organizational perceptions
AU - Holland, Derrick
AU - Seltzer, Trent
AU - Kochigina, Anna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Public relations practitioners allocate a vast number of resources to constructing and building strategic messaging for targeted stakeholders. Two important factors within this message construction deal with organizational crisis responses and message transparency. The present study sought to combine concepts from Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and message transparency to investigate what combined impact these two fields in public relations research have on perceptions of an organization. By utilizing a 3 (crisis type) X 3 (crisis response) X 2 (message transparency) experimental design, this study (n = 898) found that victim crisis types, rebuild strategies, and high transparency messages resulted in more positive perceptions of the organization. A three-way interaction was also found, namely that use of highly transparent messages contributed to greater perceived organizational credibility when a rebuilding or denial strategy was used in response to a preventable crisis and when a diminishing strategy was used in response to a victim or accidental crisis. Practical and theoretical implications are also discussed.
AB - Public relations practitioners allocate a vast number of resources to constructing and building strategic messaging for targeted stakeholders. Two important factors within this message construction deal with organizational crisis responses and message transparency. The present study sought to combine concepts from Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and message transparency to investigate what combined impact these two fields in public relations research have on perceptions of an organization. By utilizing a 3 (crisis type) X 3 (crisis response) X 2 (message transparency) experimental design, this study (n = 898) found that victim crisis types, rebuild strategies, and high transparency messages resulted in more positive perceptions of the organization. A three-way interaction was also found, namely that use of highly transparent messages contributed to greater perceived organizational credibility when a rebuilding or denial strategy was used in response to a preventable crisis and when a diminishing strategy was used in response to a victim or accidental crisis. Practical and theoretical implications are also discussed.
KW - Crisis communication
KW - Experimental design
KW - Message transparency
KW - Organizational transparency
KW - Public relations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101522161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102017
DO - 10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102017
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85101522161
VL - 47
JO - Public Relations Review
JF - Public Relations Review
SN - 0363-8111
IS - 2
M1 - 102017
ER -