A quantitative review of crisis communication research in public relations from 1991 to 2009

Avery, Elizabeth Johnson; Lariscy, Ruthann Weaver; Kim, Sora; Hocke, Tatjana

doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.01.001

Cited by 190 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Corporations can adopt an anticipatory model of crisis communication to prepare for environmental catastrophes (Olaniran and Williams, 2008), emphasize common societal values shared with its customers (Miller and Lellis, 2016), or systematically discredit perceived industry opposition (Faber, 2008;Bell and York, 2010;Matz and Renfrew, 2015). One of the primary foci of crisis communication is the notion that organizations can repair damaged reputations (Avery et al, 2010), and image restoration theory 1 specifically addresses this strategic action (Liu and Fraustino, 2014). Image restoration theory proposes that an organization or an individual accused of being responsible for an offensive action must respond to that action (Benoit, 1997).…”

Section: Background Energy Democracy As a Communication Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Case Study of Electric Utility Companies’ Use of Energy Democracy in Strategic Communication

McKasy

Yeo

2018

Front. Commun.

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A substantial increase in distributed renewable energy resources is changing the face of the energy environment, leading to strategic communication efforts by key stakeholders. The energy democracy movement supports this transformation from fossil fuels to distributed renewable energy and aims for equitable involvement of publics in energy decision making. These tenets challenge utility company earnings as they are directly related to energy sales and infrastructure returns on investment. Proposals by electric utility companies to restructure net-metering policies as a solution to financial issues have been criticized as prohibitive to the success of renewable energy advancement. To address these disagreements, the Edison Electric Institute and a communication firm, Maslansky & Partners, created The Future of Energy: A Working Communication Guide for Discussion. This handbook provides utility companies with strategic communication guidelines to portray themselves as supportive of renewables within a dynamic energy industry. We posit that aspects of the energy democracy movement have been employed by electric utility companies, as shown through the use of the handbook, as a strategy for communicating with customers in discussions around net metering. We examine two case studies in states with recent controversial net-metering policy changes by analyzing utility company websites and press releases for the use of the communication handbook terminology. We found that, in both cases, the suggested language was used to position their companies as pro-renewable energy and their utility-scale projects as more equitable for their customers. In addition, we found differences between each company's use of key terms from the handbook. We posit that this is due to the temporal context of each net-metering debate at the time of the handbook release. Conclusions and future directions for research in the growing area of energy democracy are discussed.Keywords: electricity, energy, energy democracy, net metering, strategic communication A dramatic increase in solar power adoption has occurred in the last decade, in part because of the growing consumer interest in green energy, coupled with significant decreases in associated costs (Weiner, 2015;Muro and Saha, 2016). The unprecedented speed at which distributed resources are changing energy systems underscores the challenge and importance of understanding the roles of humans in this transition. This evolution is especially apparent in democratic societies in which participatory communication is integral to resolving environmental issues (Stephens et al., 2015). Energy democracy is a movement that aims to involve publics in energy decision making with emphasis on the transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy and distributed systems (Fairchild, 2017). This aligns with a broader effort in environmental communication to address human-caused threats to ecological systems and the failure of social institutions to confront these threats (Cox, 2007). Some propose that scholars...

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Section: Background Energy Democracy As a Communication Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Case Study of Electric Utility Companies’ Use of Energy Democracy in Strategic Communication

McKasy

Yeo

2018

Front. Commun.

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“…Most crisis communication research has focused on the content of an organizational crisis response and more specifically on whether or not organizations should accept responsibility (Avery, Lariscy, Kim, & Hocke, 2010). The two most influential theories in crisis communication research are Image Repair Theory (IRT) (Benoit, 1995) and Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) (Coombs, 2007).…”

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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“…In a quantitative review of 18 years of crisis research, Avery, Lariscy, Kim, and Hocke (2010) found that image repair was the crisis response goal of organizations in 86% of published crisis communication studies. Coombs (2009) likewise noted that the majority of crisis communication research has focused on image repair.…”

Section: Media Choice Crisis Type and Demographics As Predictors Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Media Channel, Crisis Type and Demographics on Audience Intent to Follow Instructing Information During Crisis

Park¹,

Avery

2016

Contingencies & Crisis Mgmt

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Media channel use during crisis is an underdeveloped area of crisis communication research. A thorough understanding of how and where people seek information during a crisis is central to effective crisis message strategy, and understanding how the media source of crisis information affects motivation to comply with crisis directives to audiences can further inform crisis management. A survey (N = 454) examines how audiences use media during crisis communication and reveals that (1) people use different media for information seeking during different types of crisis, (2) among demographics, age predicts preferences in information channels during crisis and (3) crisis type and age shape the relationship between media choice and intent to follow recommended behaviours. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

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A quantitative review of crisis communication research in public relations from 1991 to 2009

Cited by 190 publications

References 2 publications

A Comparative Case Study of Electric Utility Companies’ Use of Energy Democracy in Strategic Communication

A Comparative Case Study of Electric Utility Companies’ Use of Energy Democracy in Strategic Communication

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

Effects of Media Channel, Crisis Type and Demographics on Audience Intent to Follow Instructing Information During Crisis

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