Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) Review (2025)

Helping Crisis Managers Protect Reputational Assets Initial Tests of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory

2002

Abstract A situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), which articulates the variables, assumptions, and relationships that should be considered in selecting crisis response strategies to protect an organization's reputation, is advanced. Although various studies taking a situational approach have touched on certain of the theory's variables and relationships, this study represents the first attempt to articulate and begin to test a situational theory of crisis communication.

Protecting Organization Reputations During a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory

Corporate Reputation Review, 2007

Communication Theory Helping Crisis Managers Protect Reputational Assets : Initial Tests of the Situational Crisis

2011

James E. Lukaszewski Lukaszewski on crisis communication. What your CEO needs to know about reputation risk and crisis management, Rothstein Associates Inc., Publisher, Brookfield, Connecticut 2013, 400 p., ISBN 978-1-931332-57-6

2015

When to say what during crisis situations: experimental tests of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and stealing thunder

2010

Context &Relevance: The reputational damage caused by organizational crises can be diminished by the right communication strategy (Benson, 1988). For the last two decades, crisis communication has grown as a field of study (Ulmer, Seeger & Sellnow, 2007), and has been addressed from different scientific domains, making it difficult to oversee the bulk of research that has been conducted. Moreover, research on the effectiveness of communication strategies to restore reputations during crises, is still in its infancy (Hobbs, 1995).

Restoring reputations in times of crisis: An experimental study of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the moderating effects of locus of control

Public Relations Review, 2010

This study attempts to provide empirical evidence for Coombs ' (2007) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), which provides guidelines for matching crisis response strategies to crisis types to best restore organizational reputations in times of crisis. The impact of crisis type and crisis response strategies on perceptions of corporate reputation is measured for 316 consumers participating in a 3 (crisis type: victim crisis, accidental crisis, preventable crisis) × 3 (crisis response: deny strategy, diminish strategy, rebuild strategy) between-subjects experimental design. The results show that preventable crises have the most negative effects on organizational reputation and that the rebuild strategy leads to the most positive reputational restoration. Moreover, the more severe people judge a crisis to be, the more negative are their perceptions of the organization's reputation. The interaction effect between crisis type and crisis response strategies on corporate reputation is not significant. However, a person's locus of control has a moderating impact on the relationship between crisis response strategy and organizational reputation. Specifically, the results show that people with an external locus of control prefer the use of deny strategies more than people with an internal locus of control. .be (A.-S. Claeys), verolien.cauberghe@ugent.be (V. Cauberghe), patrick.vyncke@ugent.be (P. Vyncke). 1 Tel.: +32 472 23 07 87. 2 Tel.: +32 09 264 68 91. 0363-8111/$ -see front matter

Influence of Crisis Communication Strategies on Stakeholders' Perception of Organizational Reputation: A Review of Research Trends

Journal of Communication and Media Research , 2018

This study is a meta-analysis of empirical studies in crisis communication research. It provides a clearer picture of the overall trends and paradigm shifts in crisis communication discourse over the years. Its major objective is to examine thematic trends, theoretical framework and methodology that have characterized the discourse. Seventy relevant articles were identified, coded and content-analyzed. Findings revealed that dominant themes include stakeholder perceptions of communication strategies, crisis communication, crisis communication strategies and corporate reputation. Also, experiment, case study and survey are the dominant research methods that characterize research in this discourse. Findings also revealed a large domination of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and the Image Repair Theory. However, research in this area lacks significant empirical evidence from Africa and Nigeria in particular, where crisis seems to be a recurring phenomenon. Majority of the reviewed studies were conducted in the Western clime, with little attention on Africa. Scholarship needs to move beyond this point to provide a holistic and balanced view on crisis by exploring cases in Africa and particularly, in Nigeria. This gap will provide an opportunity for understanding the crisis dynamics in Africa and will further determine whether findings can be consistent across the world.

Crisis Communication: Conceptualizing the Efficacy of Information Source Credibility on Crisis Message Acceptability and Reputation Sustainability

Studies in Media and Communication

Recent studies have shown that social media users' perception of message acceptance and compliance during a crisis depends on its source credibility, and this has been relatively underexplored in the crisis communication context. The credibility of social media/information sources influences the users' attitudes and information quality, public engagement, and information believability during a crisis. In response to crisis communication, scholars revealed that despite the wide use of SCCT by crisis communication researchers, the theory still has limitations in evaluating factors that could potentially affect an organizational reputation. Response source credibility is a factor that influences crisis response strategies and sustains reputation. During emergencies, unreliable and untrustworthy sources of information and media coverage of content perceived as threatening can elicit aversive emotions, such as distress, depression, and mental damage, and further generate more cri...

Revisiting Organizational Credibility and Organizational Reputation – A Situational Crisis Communication Approach

SHS Web of Conferences, 2017

Organizational credibility, the extent of which an organization as the source of messages is perceived as trustworthy and reliable, is one important aspect to determine organization's survival. The perceived credibility of the messages will either strengthen or worsen an organization reputation. The primary objective of this paper is to revisit the concept of organizational credibility and its interaction with organizational outcomes such as organizational reputation. Based on the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), this paper focuses on the impact of organizational credibility on organizational reputation following a crisis. Even though the SCCT has been widely used in crisis communication research, the theory still has its own limitations in explaining factors that could potentially affect the reputation of an organization. This study proposes a model by integrating organizational credibility in the SCCT theoretical framework. Derived from the theoretical framework, three propositions are advanced to determine the relationships between organizational credibility with crisis responsibility and perceived organizational reputation. This paper contributes to further establishing the SCCT and posits key attributes in the organizational reputation processes..

The Role of Organization-public Relationships in Crisis Communication

i I dedicate this work to my parents, Joe and Stavroula Akinyode and sister, Sophia Osawe-Akinyode who contributed immensely to my pursuit of a Masters degree. I would have not been able to reach this far without the support of Maria Berger-Liehm and Peter Liehm and Michaela Berger; thank you. I also extend my gratitude to all the guidance provided by the staff in the Institute of Media and Communication at the Technical University of Ilmenau especially towards the completion of this thesis. Particularly, I would like to acknowledge the most often than not brief, but precise pieces of advice given to me by Professor Martin Löffelholz over the course of my two year study. I hope this work expresses my appreciation for the opportunity to study at the institute. I thank Dr. Andreas Schwarz for his patience and support but most importantly his encouragement during the period of writing this thesis. I also would have never made it this far if not for the help of my good friend Akhil Agrawal who was there when times were rough. In direct support for this research I would like to extend my appreciation to Michaela Berger for the wonderful work in the translation of the survey from English to German; this went a long way to secure the success of the field work. I also express my humble gratitude for her unconditional friendship that ensured the mental support that was crucial for making my stay in Germany a pleasurable one. Also I appreciate Dr. Akinola Akinyemi for his input during our discussions about the scientific method as it applies to the social sciences. Thanks to all those anonymous students who partook in the experiment/survey. Finally, the University Regensburg library for the vast number of material needed for this thesis. ii Two themes run recurrently throughout this thesis that details a theoretical reconstruction of organization-public relationships within crisis situations and its operationalization in current crisis communication research. Implications from the empirical investigation show support for a strategic view of public relations as a proactive management function whose main objective is to balance overall organizational missions with the dynamics that are prevalent in business environments by building and protecting its intangible resource base. The research isolates crises as peak points stemming from the inevitable conflicts of interests during the ongoing relationships that link the organization to its stakeholders. Crisis management is placed as a reactive sub-functionality of an inherently proactive public relation (PR) framework. A between-subject randomized web-based experimental design provides evidence that the primary unit of analysis in PR research-relationships-might be the more important than previously conceived when strategically responding to the threats posed by crises. A student sample (n=290) was exposed to a simulation of a past Deutsche Bahn (DB) crisis trough an article describing a preventable yet challenging situation. A post-crisis response statement given was manipulated. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of four crisis response messages that were configured based on guidelines from the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). Prior to experimental manipulation, a pre-test measured perceptions of relationships with DB. Findings indicate that (1) pre-existing perceptions of relationship quality with DB had considerable impact on how participants reacted to crisis response messages on the outcomes of (a) reputation and (b) attribution of responsibility and on (2) the extent of account honouring. That is, the extent to which they (a) accepted the message and (b) assigned credibility/trustworthiness. A relational view to crisis management theoretically welcomes crises as dangerous opportunities to learn, adapt, reconfigure and understand stakeholder dynamics. This thesis which mostly focuses on for-profit organizations offers insights to the strategic effectiveness of crisis response strategies from a stakeholder orientation and concludes that the focus of managing reputation limits the application of public relations theory. A focus on relationships provides valid and reliable performance indicators for the competitive advantage of organizations and the creation of value both for the organization and society as a whole.