How Do We Talk to the Public?

Despite extensive research on crisis communication, companies still face troubles in correctly applying crisis communication strategies in practice. With a business transition where brands are ought to become more personal as well as make use of new media channels, communication managers must develop their strategy accordingly. To give guidance to these developments, the current study aimed to uncover useful handholds for communication managers who are concerned with creating crisis communication strategies. To lead this research, the main question was focused on what the effects of emotion, medium, and company sector used in crisis communication, are on the public response. The study followed an experimental research design, which was executed through a survey. A sample of 299 respondents gave useful insights concerning their preferences on company’s communication tactics in times of a crisis. The sample contained a nearly equal gender representation and largely consisted of young adults (19-29 years old) with a Dutch nationality and an education background of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. The outcome of the study revealed that the conditions of (emotional) message framing and industry are intertwined in their effect on secondary crisis communication and secondary crisis reaction: a company that falls within the hospitality industry (emotional-driven sector) benefits from an emotional approach, whereas a company that falls within the financial industry (rational-driven sector) benefits from a rational approach. Thus, we proclaim that a company’s industry is an important indicator for what type of message framing is desired in crisis communication. Also, results showed that the public prefers to be approached via an online newspaper rather than via Facebook in times of a crisis. However, as the latter was only an implication based on a weak result, this area could benefit from more extensive investigation. This study expands both on the situational crisis communication theory and social-mediated crisis communication model and gives practical handholds to communication managers predominantly by giving insights on the use of emotion in crisis communication.