The Organization-Public Relationship and Crisis Communication: The Effect of the Organization-Public Relationship on Publics' Perceptions of Crisis and Attitudes Toward the Organization

Abstract

This study examined the effect of organization-public relationships on publics' perceptions of a crisis and attitudes toward an organization in crisis. The results showed that regardless of the level of relationship, the perception of the crisis cause had a significant effect on attribution of responsibility. A three-way MANOVA found the unique effects of relationship, crisis responsibility, and the type of crisis-response strategy on attitudes toward the organization in the crisis, but interactions among these predictor variables were not significant. The findings suggest that the cultivation of relationships with publics, as well as the effective use of crisis-response strategies, is an essential part of successful crisis management.

Notes

¹Considering conceptual definitions and negative correlations between exchange relationships and the other dimensions, the item scores for exchange relationships were reversely coded.

²As in Coombs and Holladay's (1996) study, the locus of causality and personal control were considered together as “internal control,” indicating the degree to which the public perceived the crisis cause as the organization's misdeed. Asthe external control was conceptually opposed to the internal control and was negatively correlated with internal control, the item scores for external control were reverse coded so that higher values were equivalent to lower values on internal control.