Mayday: 4 Crisis Response Strategies To Use (Or Avoid)

A companys’ reputation can take years to build and seconds to break. So, in the face of a crisis, a response strategy can be the difference between success—or failure.

Further, with the rise of social media, it's now easier for the blame of a crisis to circulate globally online which is something PR professionals must account for in every day practice, researchers Moreno, Navarro, Tench and Zerfass (2014) found.

So, what’s the best way for a company to come out clean and PR practitioners to get them there? Or at least on the positive end of the spectrum.

Crisis communication researcher Timothy Coombs (2011) found there are 4 main strategies for a company to deal with crises: 

— Denial —

For a denial crisis response, the company will try to remove any connections with the crisis by attacking the accuser, denying the issue or scapegoating.

Cosmopolitan Magazine used this crisis denial response in 2017 when they released a story about a cancer survivors’ fitness journey with this "misleading" headline:

Source: Twitter

Instead of admitting their wrongdoing of focusing on a cancer survivors weight loss instead of her struggle back to health, they simply ignored the issue and later removed the story like nothing had happened.

— Diminishment —

During a diminishment crisis response, the organization will attempt reduce attributions of organizational control and reduce the negative effects of the crisis by excusing or justifying their actions.

Source: The New York Times

In 2017, when United Airlines “disturbingly” dragged a man off the plane due to overbooking and his refusal to leave, they tried to detour around the issue only apologizing for having to “re-accommodate” the other customers. While they later apologized publicly for the incident, this was their first response with an aim of reducing their attribution to what actually happened.

— Rebuilding —

For the rebuilding crisis response, an organization will try to rebuild their reputation by compensating those affected or by apologizing for the wrongdoings.

The PepsiCo company quickly pulled an advertisement and publicly apologized in 2017, after their campaign with Kendall Jenner protesting caused backlash as it was deemed offensive to the Black Lives Matter community.

Source: Pepsi Twitter Account

— Reminding —

Finally, the reminding crisis response strategy aims to build positive connections between an organization and the public by reminding them of the companys' “clean” track record. 

During the Virgin Trains crash in Cumbria, the company’s response was to remind the public of its’ exemplary record with safety. Its’ founder immediately made a statement reminding the public of the company's’ 25-year clean track record, while emphasizing his empathy towards those affected by the crash.

Source: BBC

While each crisis response strategy is tailored to the specific company and situation, what do researchers say is the best response?

In their crisis communication research, Brown and White (2007) found none of the four strategies listed above were statistically better. However, he did find the reminding strategy to be dominant (in theory) for two reasons:

1. The reminding strategy centers communication on the relationship between the organization and the public—promoting empathy and personal relationships over reputation.

2. The other strategies focus on removing the connection between the organization and the crisis—focusing on reputation and saving face instead of those affected by the issue.

Brown and White found emphasizing the organization's good deeds and reminding the public why they became involved with the organization from the beginning will equally distract the audience and in turn, help mitigate the crisis.

But overall, they agreed, the best crisis strategy is maintaining good relationships.

__________________________________________________________

About the Author: 

Nicole Ares is a Political Communications Master's Student at the University of Amsterdam. She has previous experience in journalism as well as strategic communications work for non-governmental organizations. 

Scholarly Sources For This Article: 

Brown, K. & White, C. (2010) Organization–Public Relationships and Crisis Response Strategies: Impact on Attribution of Responsibility, Journal of Public Relations Research, 23:1, 75-92. doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2010.504792

Coombs, T. (2007). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing and responding. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Moreno, A., Navarro, C., Tench, R., & Zerfass, A. (2015). Does social media usage matter? An analysis of online practices and digital media perceptions of communication practitioners in Europe. Public Relations Review,41(2), 242-253. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.12.006