Strategic Media Response to a University Athletics Scandal: The Interaction of Initial News Coverage Medium and Crisis Response Medium

• In Event: Higher Education Interventions: Reputation and Social Media Presence of Universities

Abstract

This study evaluated whether the efficacy of crisis response media depended on the media by which stakeholders learned of a crisis. A 2 (news coverage medium: video vs. print) × 2 (crisis response medium: video vs. print) experiment was conducted whereby participants (N = 217) watched or read a news report of a university athletics scandal and then watched or read a crisis response by a university spokesperson. Results indicated that a print response elicited greater perceived organizational reputation after following video coverage compared to print coverage. No significant differences were found between video coverage and print coverage when followed by a video response. Similar indirect effects were found on potential supportive behavior and positive word-of-mouth intent toward the university as mediated by reputation. Practically, these findings emphasize the need for crisis managers to consider stakeholders’ previous crisis-related media experiences when strategically selecting post-crisis communication channels.

Authors

• Adam S. Richards, Texas Christian University

• Tyler Sinclair, Texas Christian U