Rethinking crisis dynamics from the perspective of online publics: A case study of Dolce & Gabbana’s China crisis

Abstract

On November 18, 2018, the Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) released a controversial video on all their social media channels. The video triggered an instant outcry from the general Chinese public, who called the video a racist caricature of Chinese culture. D&G responded to the crisis with several image repair strategies. This study examines D&G’s crisis communication efforts in the wake of this incident. Departing from corporate-oriented perspectives prevalent in the field of public relations, this study employs a dynamic, public-oriented view of crisis communication, which focuses on the dynamic, interactive process of crisis development from the standpoint of the publics. By analyzing communicative behavior on Twitter (an increasingly influential alternative public sphere in China) and in particular, comments and responses toward the crisis communication strategies employed by D&G, we have identified four prominent themes, or ways that publics framed their key messages against the corporation: “Apology not enough”; “Apology done badly”; “Call to unite against D&G”; and “Sarcasm, mockery, and abuse.” And they can be interpreted as a number of crisis communication strategies of the global, online publics. Based on our analysis of the D&G case, we discuss the theoretical implications of a dynamic, public-oriented perspective (DPOP) on crisis communication, highlighting its key areas of difference from the corporate-oriented perspective (COP).

Indonesian public officials after erroneous statements about COVID-19: An application of image restoration theory

“…Denial and mortification were not found in this study. This is in line with previous research, especially when the image recovery theory is applied to developing countries (Yamazaki, 2005;Zeng et al, 2018;Ban and Lovari, 2021;Wong et al, 2021).…”

Provocative products, the boomerang effect, the shooting star crisis and the panacea of workforce diversity

“…Recent crises and the actions taken against them expanded crisis management at a theoretical and practical level. Indicatively, based on Dolce and Gabbana's China crisis in 2018, Ban and Lovari (2021) proposed a new dynamic, public-oriented perspective (DPOP) on crisis communication. Moreover, referring to crisis typologies, Alpaslan (2009) expanded Marcus and Goodman's (1991) crisis typology.…”

“…A plethora of organizations claim that the crisis they had to confront, occur unintentionally. Characteristic examples are the crises of D&G and H&M in 2018, Adidas and Gucci in 2019 (Associated Press, 2019b; Ban and Lovari, 2021; Bauck, 2019; Hsu and Paton, 2019; Thomas, 2018). Additionally, the crisis is internal because the top management of an organization always has the last word and has control over the products and marketing campaigns to be launched.…”

“…Though the crisis may often be triggered by external agents (such as a post in the social media from an angry and dissatisfied consumer, as was the case with one of the organizations analyzed in this study), the organization itself is held responsible for allowing any external agent to cause it. Indicatively, regarding the D&G's China crisis, the crisis was intensified externally (by angry consumers/users of social media), yet the company's marketing campaign with the series of videos released were the actual triggering points that “raised instant questions about racist and sexist caricatures and stereotypes” (Ban and Lovari, 2021, p. 7).…”

Crisis Management and Communication: Sriwijaya Air Sj182 Crash Flight

“…Due to the potentially significant risks to reputation and financial assets associated with crisis, scholars and organizational managers alike devote attention to crisis anticipation and mitigation [19][20]. This study employes a dynamic, public-oriented view of crisis communication, which focuses on the dynamic, interactive process of crisis development, as opposed to the corporate-oriented perspectives prevalent in the field of public relations [21]. Heath (2004a) declared that crisis create rhetorical problems that require the organization suffering the crisis to "understand and respond to the various kinds of sense that are being made" about the crisis event and perceptions about decisions the organization made (or did not make) that contributed to the onset of the crisis [20].…”