Brand Personality Usage in Crisis Communication in Facebook

ABSTRACT

This study examines the role of brand personality in organizational crisis communication within the context of social media. Content analysis methods are employed to analyze brands' official Facebook posts pre- and post-crisis for a period of 7 months. Relationship maintenance strategies are examined through the lens of two sincere brands (Chick-fil-A and Susan G. Komen for the Cure) and two exciting brands (Netflix and Facebook). Findings demonstrate that organizations communicate with the public about a crisis differently depending on their products' brand personalities, both pre- and post-crisis. Findings indicated that sincere brands were more active in the management of crises by increasing networking strategy and decreasing positivity strategy. In contrast, exciting brands were relatively passive in crisis response communications, sustaining instead such pre-crisis strategies as openness. At the conclusion of this study, implications and future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• brand personality
• relationship maintenance strategy
• crisis communication
• Facebook
• social media