How Social Media is Changing Crisis Communication Strategies: Evidence From the Updated Literature

• In Event: Social Media Communications in Critical Situations

Abstract

By incorporating social media strategies into the traditional framework of crisis communication strategies (CCS) (e.g., image repair strategies, situational crisis communication theory), this article presented a comprehensive review of the scholarship on CCS within a global context. Through a content analysis of research articles published in 11 journals listed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), 73 articles focusing on the social mediated crisis communication (SMCC) in the period from 2002-2014 were identified. This study examined the crises (e.g., crisis types, time, and region) and the CCS addressed in these articles. Findings showed that, among the total of 73 journal articles, new strategies such as enhancing and transferring from the organizational perspective were added; the more involved “stakeholders” and their desired strategies were analyzed; an asymmetrical CCS pattern from a contextual perspective was proposed within the SMCC research. Results also pointed out some weaknesses (e.g., the inconsistency in traditional CCS theories, the ambiguous “interactive” strategy, and the lack of a synthesized strategy toolkit) within current literature. An “interactive crisis communication” (ICC) model was proposed for future research agenda.

Keywords: Literature review, Social media, Online, Crisis Communication, Strategies,Context, Interactivity

Author

• Yang Cheng, University of Missouri