The Relationship Between Crisis Response Strategies and Behavioral Intentions: A Systematic Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52152/RCR.V12.13Keywords:
Crisis Response Strategies, Behavioral Intentions, Management, Crisis Communication, PRISMAAbstract
Crisis response strategy is a pivotal concept for organizations in crisis communication, serving as a valuable framework for examining public behavioral intentions. Few systematic reviews have examined the impact of crisis response strategies on organizations. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between crisis response strategies and behavioral intentions within organizations. Adhering to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, this systematic literature review involved a comprehensive analysis of the Scopus and Web of Science databases, yielding 33 relevant studies. These studies, which utilized crisis response strategies as independent, moderating, or mediating variables, were classified into different research domains, including business and management, and communication. Analysis of the literature identified sixteen main themes of crisis response strategies: (1) accommodation-related, (2) bolstering, (3) coping strategies, (4) corporate social responsibility (CSR), (5) corrective action, (6) courtesy, (7) defensive, (8) denial, (9) diminish, (10) evasion of responsibility-related, (11) information strategy, (12) intimidation, (13) rebuild strategies-related, (14) reduction of offensiveness-related, (15) speed, and (16) sympathy, encompassing 28 sub-themes. Quantitative and qualitative analyses provided substantial empirical support for a significant relationship between crisis response strategies and behavioral intentions, including supportive behaviors, purchase intentions, secondary crisis communication, and word of mouth. The paper concludes with a presentation of the results and suggestions for future research directions and organizations.
References
Ajzen, I. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Frequently asked questions. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2(4), 314-324. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.195
Alves, J. C., Lok, T. C., Luo, Y., & Hao, W. (2020). Crisis management for small business during the COVID-19 outbreak: Survival, resilience and renewal strategies of firms in Macau. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-34541/v1
Benoit, W. L. (2013). Image repair theory and corporate reputation. In The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation (pp. 213-221). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118335529.ch19
Bozkurt, A., Jung, I., Xiao, J., Vladimirschi, V., Schuwer, R., Egorov, G., . . . Paskevicius, M. (2020). A global outlook to the interruption of education due to COVID-19 pandemic: Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 1-126.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589-597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
Bundy, J., Iqbal, F., & Pfarrer, M. D. (2021). Reputations in flux: How a firm defends its multiple reputations in response to different violations. Strategic Management Journal, 42(6), 1109-1138. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3276
Chapman, C. M., Hornsey, M. J., Mangan, H., Gillespie, N., La Macchia, S., & Lockey, S. (2022). Comparing the effectiveness of post-scandal apologies from nonprofit and commercial organizations: An extension of the moral disillusionment model. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 51(6), 1257-1280. https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640211062666
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2020). The coronavirus crisis—Crisis communication, meaning-making, and reputation management. International Public Management Journal, 23(5), 713-729. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2020.1812455
Coombs, W. T. (2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163-176. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550049
Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2012). The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Coombs, W. T., Holladay, S. J., & White, K. L. (2020). Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and application in dealing with complex, challenging, and recurring crises. In Advancing crisis communication effectiveness (pp. 165-180). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Gesser-Edelsburg, A., & Hijazi, R. (2020). When politics meets pandemic: How prime minister Netanyahu and a small team communicated health and risk information to the Israeli public during the early stages of COVID-19. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 13, 2985-3002. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S280952
Halima, M., Li, Y., Ghani, U., Kiani, A., & Cynthia, A. (2021). Impact of online crisis response strategies on online purchase intention: The roles of online brand attitude and brand perceived usefulness. Sage Open, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211003872
Ham, C. D., & Kim, J. (2019). The role of CSR in crises: Integration of situational crisis communication theory and the persuasion knowledge model. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(2), 353-372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551- 017-3706-0
Hämpke, J., Röseler, S., & Thielsch, M. T. (2022). Is being funny a useful policy? How local governments’ humorous crisis response strategies and crisis responsibilities influence trust, emotions, and behavioral intentions. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 13(5), 676-690. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-022-00436-z
Hirschfeld, G., & Thielsch, M. T. (2022). Impact of crisis communication strategies on people’s attitudes toward behavioral guidelines regarding COVID-19 and on their trust in local officials. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 13(4), 495-506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-022-00424-3
Hong, Q. N., Fàbregues, S., Bartlett, G., Boardman, F., Cargo, M., Dagenais, P., . . . O’Cathain, A. (2018). The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018 for information professionals and researchers. Education for Information, 34(4), 285-291.
Honisch, S. V., & Manchon, L. M. (2020). The effects of paracrisis origin and response strategy on Facebook audience’s perceived organisational reputation and behavioural intentions. Corporate Reputation Review, 23(3), 133-144. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-019000704
Huang, Y., & DiStaso, M. (2020). Responding to a health crisis on Facebook: The effects of response timing and message appeal. Public Relations Review, 46(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101909
Iwai, T., & Carvalho, J. V. F. (2022). Denials and apologies: Pathways to reconciliation. RAUSP Management Journal, 57(3), 332-346. https://doi.org/10.1108/RAUSP-07-2021-0142
Kamarudin, S., Tang, L., Bolong, J., & Adzharuddin, N. A. (2024). A systematic literature review of mitigating cyber security risk. Quality & Quantity, 58(4), 3251-3273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01791-9
Kang, J., Diao, Z., & Zanini, M. T. (2020). Business-to-business marketing responses to COVID-19 crisis: A business process perspective. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 39(3), 454-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP- 05-2020-0217
Kim, D. K. D., & Kreps, G. L. (2020). An analysis of government communication in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: Recommendations for effective government health risk communication. World Medical & Health Policy, 12(4), 398-412. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.363
Kim, H. R., & Yoon, S. Y. (2020). How to help crowded destinations: Tourist anger vs. sympathy and role of destination social responsibility. Sustainability, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062358
Kim, Y., & Chon, M. G. (2022). Exploring effects of message framing on supportive behaviors toward environmental corporate social responsibility. Corporate Communications, 27(4), 760-780. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-01-2022-0003
Kim, Y., & Lim, H. (Dana). (2020). Activating constructive employee behavioural responses in a crisis: Examining the effects of pre-crisis reputation and crisis communication strategies on employee voice behaviours. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 28(2), 141-157. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12289
Kim, Y., Basnyat, I., & Meganck, S. (2023). The role of base crisis response and dialogic competency: Employee response to COVID-19 internal crisis communication. Journal of Public Relations Research, 35(1), 37-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2022.2148673
Kim, Y., Kang, M., Lee, E., & Yang, S. U. (2019). Exploring crisis communication in the internal context of an organization: Examining moderated and mediated effects of employee-organization relationships on crisis outcomes. Public Relations Review, 45(3), 101777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.04.010
Kozachenko, E., Anand, A., & Shirokova, G. (2022). Strategic responses to crisis: A review and synthesis of promising research directions. Review of International Business and Strategy, 32(4), 545-580. https://doi.org/10.1108/RIBS-06-2021-0092
Kraus, S., Breier, M., & Dasí-Rodríguez, S. (2020). The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 16(3), 1023-1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00635-4
Kuipers, S., Perlstein, S., Wolbers, J., & Jong, W. (2023). Assist or accuse? Identifying trends in crisis communication through a bibliometric literature review. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 14(4), 272-296. https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12283
Langaro, D., Loureiro, S., Schivinski, B., & Neves, H. (2024). In the eye of the (fire)storm: Better safe or sorry? Crisis communication strategies for managing virality of online negative brand-related content. Journal of Marketing Communications, 30(3), 301-317. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2022.2109056
Leung, X. Y., Wu, L., & Sun, J. (2023). Exploring secondary crisis response strategies for airlines experiencing low-responsibility crises: An extension of the situational crisis communication theory. Journal of Travel Research, 62(4), 878-892. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875221095210
Li, C., & Xu, Z. (2023). A Contrastive Study on Image Repair Strategies in Chinese and American Corporate Apologies. International Journal of Linguistics, 15(1), 20-45.https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v15i1.20700
Lockwood, C., Munn, Z., & Porritt, K. (2015). Qualitative research synthesis: Methodological guidance for systematic reviewers utilizing meta-aggregation. JBI Evidence Implementation, 13(3), 179. https://doi.org/10.1097/XEB.0000000000000062
Marsen, S. (2020). Navigating crisis: The role of communication in organizational crisis. International Journal of Business Communication, 57(2), 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488419882981
Masngut, N., & Mohamad, E. (2021). Association between public opinion and Malaysian government communication strategies about the COVID-19 crisis: Content analysis of image repair strategies in social media. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(8). https://doi.org/10.2196/28074
Masuch, K., Greve, M., & Trang, S. (2021). What to do after a data breach? Examining apology and compensation as response strategies for health service providers. Electronic Markets, 31(4), 829-848. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-021-00490-3
Mohamed, H. H., Li, Y., Kiani, A., & Ghani, U. (2024). Raving fans or silent critics? Brand service recovery’s impact on positive eWOM. Sage Open, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231219555
Mohammed, A. H. A., Goodman, W. M., & Yfantidou, I. (2022). The impact of airlines’ policies during COVID-19 on travellers’ repurchase intentions: The case of Aegean Airlines. International Journal of Tourism Policy, 12(2), 133-159. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTP.2022.122238
Noh, Y., & Liu, P. (2024). Exploring how consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility impact dining intentions in times of crisis: An application of the social identity theory and theory of perceived risk. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 17(2), 44. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm17020044
Oh, H. J., Kim, J., & Ham, C. D. (2022). Crisis management for sustainable corporate value: Finding a construal fit between social distance, crisis response, and crisis severity. Sustainability, 14(16). https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610244
Othman, A. F., & Yusoff, S. Z. (2020). Crisis communication management strategies in MH370 crisis with special references to situational crisis communication theory. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(4), 172-182. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v10-i4/7118
Paek, H., & Hove, T. (2019). Effective strategies for responding to rumors about risks: The case of radiation- contaminated food in South Korea. Public Relations Review, 45(3), 175-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.02.006
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., . . . Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Pang, A., Jin, Y., Seo, Y., Choi, S. I., Teo, H. X., Le, P. D., & Reber, B. (2022). Breaking the sound of silence: Explication in the use of strategic silence in crisis communication. International Journal of Business Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884211046357
Park, S., & Park, H. W. (2020). A webometric network analysis of electronic word of mouth (Ewom) characteristics and machine learning approach to consumer comments during a crisis. Profesional de La Informacion, 29(5), 1-14. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.sep.16
Pedersen, C. L., Ritter, T., & Di Benedetto, C. A. (2020). Managing through a crisis: Managerial implications for business-to-business firms. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 314-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.05.034
Ritchie, B. W., & Jiang, Y. (2019). A review of research on tourism risk, crisis and disaster management: Launching the annals of tourism research curated collection on tourism risk, crisis and disaster management. Annals of Tourism Research, 79, 102812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.102812
Schreurs, B., & Hamstra, M. R. W. (2020). Effectively apologizing to consumers after a crisis: Psychological distance and abstractness/concreteness of an organization’s apology. Social Cognition, 38(4), 367-378. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2020.38.4.367
Sierra-Correa, P. C., & Cantera Kintz, J. R. (2015). Ecosystem-based adaptation for improving coastal planning for sea-level rise: A systematic review for mangrove coasts. Marine Policy, 51, 385-393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2014.09.013
Stadler Blank, A., Loveland, K. E., Cheng, A., Beck, S., & Rundus, A. (2024). Responding to COVID-19: The impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 48(1), e12982. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12982
Su, L., Pan, L., & Huang, Y. (2023). How does destination crisis event type impact tourist emotion and forgiveness? The moderating role of destination crisis history. Tourism Management, 94, 104636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104636
Thelen, P. D., & Robinson, K. L. (2019). Crisis communication in institutions of higher education: Richard Spencer at the University of Florida. Communication Quarterly, 67(4), 444-476.
Triantafillidou, A., & Yannas, P. (2020). Social media crisis communication in racially charged crises: Exploring the effects of social media and image restoration strategies. Computers in Human Behavior, 106, 106269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106269
Wang, Y., Zhang, M., Li, S., McLeay, F., & Gupta, S. (2021). Corporate responses to the coronavirus crisis and their impact on electronic-word-of-mouth and trust recovery: Evidence from social media. British Journal of Management, 32(4), 1184-1202. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12497
Wang, Z., Liu, X., Zhang, L., Wang, C., & Liu, R. (2022). Effect of matching between the adopted corporate response strategy and the type of hypocrisy manifestation on consumer behavior: Mediating role of negative emotions. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.831197
Wu, Y., & Zhu, W. (2021). The role of CSR engagement in customer-company identification and behavioral intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.721410
Xiao, Y., & Yu, S. (2022). Using humor to promote social distancing on Tiktok during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.887744
Yu, M., Cheng, M., Yang, L., & Yu, Z. (2022). Hotel guest satisfaction during COVID-19 outbreak: The moderating role of crisis response strategy. Tourism Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104618
Zhang, M., & Song, H. (2023). A study on the structural relationships between COVID-19 coping strategies, positive expectations, and the behavioral intentions of various tourism-related behaviors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021424
Zhong, L., Sun, S., Law, R., & Li, X. (2021). Tourism crisis management: Evidence from COVID-19. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(19), 2671-2682. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1901866
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The philosophy of the journal is to be open and to make all articles accessible. It is our belief that open access is a must in the future of science.
Authors who publish with RCR accept a slightly modified Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
You, as author, retain the copyrights for your paper, but the Review of Communication Research is granted exclusivity for publication of the article. The agreement allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and publication in this journal. We do not want third parties to make a commercial use of the article, unless we agree it with authors.
The journal will run an open review process as well as a traditional peer review process.
When the manuscript is accepted for publication, it will get a doi number and get available online to facilitate early citation.
The journal will post the published article to many public repositories for further diffusion and permanence.
You, as author, are permitted and encouraged to post your work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on your website), as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
If you have any doubts, please, contact the editor: editor@rcommunication.org
Many thanks for submitting your work to this journal.