A quantitative review of crisis communication research in public relations from 1991 to 2009

Abstract

This study quantitatively examines 18 years (1991–2009) of data, 66 published articles, from the crisis communication domain in public relations using Coombs’ situational crisis communication theory and Benoit's image restoration theory as the theoretical foundation for analysis. Overall recommendations indicate crisis communication research in public relations may be enriched both theoretically and pragmatically through more diverse contextual and methodological applications and could be less descriptive and more prescriptive through richer scholarly commentary and criticism in support for the models.