Managing online crisis-communication response in a South African bank

Abstract

Deregulation and rapid growth in technology removed entry barriers in the online environment,thereby forcing financial institutions to transform and at the same time to conquer consumer’sfear and the perceived risk of fraudulent online transactions. Given the nature of operations andservices in the banking sector, it is relatively amenable to innovative technologies, especiallyonline banking transactions. Various studies have been conducted on the adoption of self-servicetechnology, specifically the continued use of this technology, perceived risk in online transactions,and also purchase intention. However, very little research has examined the management ofonline crisis-communication response messages in the online-security sphere. The knowledgemanagement paradigm constitutes a way in which the acquisition, transfer and assimilationof information can be effectively used to manage and control messages in an online crisiscommunication response situation, in particular through maximising consumers’ motivation andcapability to act in response to perceived online-transaction risks. Hence, it provides a meansof reliance upon self-motivation and empowerment of individuals to ensure output control andthe safety of online banking transactions. The aim of this paper is to present a comparativeanalysis of the knowledge management of online crisis-communication response in respect offraudulent banking transactions in one of the top ten banks in South Africa during two specifiedtime periods. The paper first presents a synopsis of the theoretical underpinning based on anextensive literature review. The latter focuses on web communication, online crisis-communicationresponse, fraudulent banking transactions and knowledge management. The methodology, dataanalysis and results are subsequently presented. Finally, a discussion of the main results basedon the knowledge-management typologies proposed to manage and control messages in onlinecrisis-communication response is presented