The convergence of situational crisis communication theory and social media: empirically testing the effectiveness of sports fan-enacted crisis communication

Abstract

This dissertation examines the effects of fan-enacted crisis communication in response to a variety of crises facing a sports organization. Using Timothy Coombs' (2007) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), this study seeks to determine how an ever-growing online environment has changed the role of an organization's stakeholders by giving them more power to comment during times of crisis. Employing a 3 (crisis response strategy, [attack the accuser; ingratiation; apology]) X 2 (crisis type, [environmental/individual crises; organizational mismanagement]) X 3 (fan association, [identified, rival, neutral]) factorial design, the process of fan-enacted crisis communication during an ongoing sports-related crisis is examined. Several dependent variables were included in the study to measure participants' attitude and behavioral intentions toward the organization such as organizational reputation, crisis responsibility, positive word-of-mouth, and potential fan-enacted crisis communication behavior. This study revealed many interesting findings regarding online crisis communication. For instance, results showed that the type of crisis strategy did not impact any of the four dependent variables. Individual crises resulted in a statistically significant lower organizational reputation score than a crisis in the organizational mismanagement cluster. Participants also attributed a larger amount of crisis responsibility to organizations that were faced with an organizational crisis. However, the type of crisis did not impact positive word-of-mouth or potential fan-enacted crisis communication behavior. The fan association variable also led to interesting results. This study showed that the organizational reputation scores of an organization would suffer most among its fans, whereas those who were rivals of or neutral towards the organization would not be as affected. Fan association did not impact the level of crisis responsibility attributed to an organization. Lastly, a participant's willingness to engage in either positive word-of-mouth or potential fan-enacted crisis communication behaviors was in accordance to his/her fan association. Therefore, participants were most likely to engage in these behaviors on behalf of their preferred team and least likely to engage in these practices on behalf of their rival team. By testing this developing form of crisis communication, this study explores how traditional crisis communication models have evolved as a result of social media, while revealing insights about the cognitive tendencies of the modern sports fan. The theoretical and practical implications of this experiment are discussed in the final chapter. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries