Nonprofit in Crisis: An Examination of the Applicability of Situational Crisis Communication Theory

Sisco, Hilary Fussell

doi:10.1080/1062726x.2011.582207

Cited by 79 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) (Coombs, ) is one of the most widely used theoretical frameworks for analysing communication strategies aimed at enhancing an organisation's reputation in crisis situations (Stephens, Malone, and Bailey, ; Cooley and Cooley, ; Thiessen and Ingenhoff, ; Sisco, ; Coombs, ). SCCT highlights the importance of negative emotions in crisis situations and shares the belief that the right communication protects against further negative reactions to an event (Coombs, ).…”

Section: How To Manage Response Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Syrian refugee crisis: how local governments and NGOs manage their image via social media

2019

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This study, based on situational crisis communication theory and set in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, seeks first to conduct a comparative analysis of the management of online citizen engagement by local governments and non‐governmental organisations (NGOs). Second, it aims to examine the relationship between certain factors pertaining to the types of responses submitted by citizens via the social media of the aforementioned actors. The sample is composed of several Spanish local governments and NGOs belonging to Red de Municipios de Acogida de Refugiados (Local Government Network for Refugee Allocation). The main findings are that NGOs' online engagement with citizens is more than that of local governments. Notably, NGOs are much more active on their Facebook pages than are local governments. The two actors converge, though, in terms of disseminating instructive information and paying less attention to ‘basic crisis response options’. Moreover, the factors ‘content type’, ‘reputation’, and ‘woman’ affect the type of response messages sent by citizens.

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Section: How To Manage Response Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sisco () reveals that citizens, in the victim scenario, would be more likely to engage with an NGO when the deny strategy is implemented. Kim and Liu () report that governments are more active in using SM to send messages with instructing information than are private sector corporations.…”

Section: How To Manage Response Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Syrian refugee crisis: how local governments and NGOs manage their image via social media

2019

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“…In contrast, had SGK not reversed its funding policy to continue funding PP (Drumheller et al, 2013), it is likely that the organization's recovery would be much more difficult to achieve because there is a plethora of philanthropic choices. NPOs are likely to be held to higher standards to earn donations (Fussell Sisco, 2012;Jenkins, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Socially Mediated Public Relations Crises on Planned Behavior: How TPB Can Help Both Corporations and Nonprofits

Kinsky

Drumheller

Gerlich

et al. 2015

Journal of Public Relations Research

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“…Crisis managers should select crisis response strategies that match the amount of potential reputational damage that a certain crisis inflicts, which is determined by attributions of responsibility (Coombs & Holladay, 2002). Most studies, indeed, indicate that organizations or individuals in crisis should take responsibility and apologize, especially when they are blamed for the events (e.g., Claeys, Cauberghe, & Vyncke, 2010;Dean, 2004;Lyon & Cameron, 2004;Sheldon & Sallot, 2009;Sisco, 2012;Turk, Jin, Stewart, Kim, & Hipple, 2012;van der Meer & Verhoeven, 2014). Additional research illustrates that the more an organization explicitly accepts responsibility in an apology, the more positive impressions stakeholders will hold toward that company (Lee, 2005).…”

Section: Scientific Guidelines For Effective Crisis Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why practitioners do (not) apply crisis communication theory in practice

Claeys

Opgenhaffen

2016

Journal of Public Relations Research

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Twenty-five in-depth interviews with Belgian crisis communication practitioners were conducted to examine the gap between theory and practice. Crisis communication has become an important research area within public relations. Several studies have resulted in theories and guidelines regarding the effective use of communication during organizational crises.Unfortunately, these findings are not always put into practice. This study examines to what extent public relations practitioners apply theory in practice during crises and why. The findings offer an opportunity to formulate potential ways in which we can bridge the scholar-practitioner divide in public relations, through guidelines for both scholars and practitioners. Why practitioners do (not) apply crisis communication theory in practiceCrisis communication research has offered a number of clear and useful theoretical guidelines to put into practice. Many of these guidelines stress the accountability of organizations in crisis (cf. Coombs, 2015). Situational Crisis Communication Theory (Coombs, 2007), for instance, indicates that an organization that is blamed for a crisis should communicate crisis response strategies that express acceptance of responsibility. Research on crisis timing strategies similarly stresses the importance of open and responsible communication and shows that organizations should steal thunder (Arpan & Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2005). That is, they should self-disclose incriminating information instead of trying to conceal it (Claeys & Cauberghe, 2012). Research illustrates, however, that while offering a full apology might be the most effective crisis response strategy when responsibility attributions are high, the most frequently employed strategies are bolstering and denial ). In addition, literature suggests that practitioners acknowledge the value of stealing thunder, but rarely selfdisclose crises (Kline, Simunich, & Weber, 2009;Ulmer, 2012). As such, a gap exists between theoretical guidelines and crisis communication practice. This study aims to explore the roots of this gap to formulate solutions to bridge the divide.We first discuss potential causes and solutions for the so-called scholar-practitioner divide, or rigor-relevance gap, based on insights from aligned fields (cf. Kieser, Nicolai, & Seidl, 2015). Then we examine this divide in the context of public relations and, more specifically, crisis communication. A brief overview is given of the most widely supported guidelines in the crisis communication literature. In addition, the few studies that examined the extent of the divide in crisis communication and literature that attempts to bridge it are discussed. Finally, we discuss an exploratory study that conducted 25 in-depth interviews with Belgian communication professionals between February and May 2015. The findings indicate which factors limit the practical application of crisis communication theory, according to senior public relations practitioners. These insights allow us to look ahead and explore how we can furth...

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Nonprofit in Crisis: An Examination of the Applicability of Situational Crisis Communication Theory

Cited by 79 publications

References 26 publications

The Syrian refugee crisis: how local governments and NGOs manage their image via social media

The Syrian refugee crisis: how local governments and NGOs manage their image via social media

The Effect of Socially Mediated Public Relations Crises on Planned Behavior: How TPB Can Help Both Corporations and Nonprofits

Why practitioners do (not) apply crisis communication theory in practice

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