Effects of crisis severity and crisis response strategies on post-crisis organizational reputation
Date
2019
Authors
Choi, Sera, author
Kim, Jangyul, advisor
Park, Youngeun, committee member
Long, Ziyu, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Using situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), this study investigates the impact of crisis severity and crisis response strategies on post-crisis organizational reputation within the field of crisis communication. In the experiments, 289 respondents participated in a 2 (crisis severity: low vs high) x 2 (crisis response strategy: match vs mismatch) between-subjects factorial design. The results show that in the case of high crisis severity, a matched crisis response strategy positively influenced post-crisis organizational reputation as compared to a mismatched crisis response strategy. However, in the case of low crisis severity, there was no impact of a matched or mismatched crisis response strategy on organizational reputation. The study discusses its theoretical and empirical implications and limitations.