Measuring Public Response to Crisis Communication Strategies: A Crisis Case of Two Chinese Herbal Tea Companies

• In Event: Stakeholder Response to Crisis

Abstract

In crisis, the perceptions of organizational responsibility and culpability are sometimes greater than what the reality is. The most vital thing is not whether an organization in fact should shoulder the responsibility for a crisis or not, but whether it is thought to be responsible for crisis (Benoit, 1997). Today, with the booming of Internet and social media, crisis managers are facing even more challenges (Coombs, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to test the theoretical models that organizations utilize to manage and handle crisis. Four kinds of crisis strategies are taken into consideration: deny, diminish, rebuild and reinforce. This article also compares three kinds of crisis information resources, namely traditional media, new social media and offline work-of-mouth communication, and their effects on crisis response strategies. A famous lawsuit between two Chinese herbal tea companies is used in this research to test the crisis strategies and crisis information resources in public’s mind. The results show that the “diminish” crisis response was more acceptable for study participants. Additionally, traditional media are regarded as a more reliable source of information about the crisis for participants. The implications for crisis research and information channels are explored.

Author

• Ying Xiong, University of Oklahoma