Blackfish: A Crisis of Legitimacy at Seaworld

Abstract

A case study of a crisis in the hospitality and tourism industry was conducted and is reported on in this article. Specifically, the crisis of legitimacy at SeaWorld that resulted from the Blackfish documentary is presented and analyzed. The conceptual framework that guides the investigation is developed by reviewing and synthesizing theories of organizational legitimacy, crisis management, and crisis communication. SeaWorld's crisis response is described and its crisis communication analyzed. The results of the study indicate that SeaWorld managed crisis management and crisis communication poorly, resulting in major damage to SeaWorld's organizational legitimacy. This case provides implications for hospitality and tourism scholar-practitioners to consider. First, hospitality and tourism organizations must be proactive in their crisis management endeavors, identifying threats to the organization. Second, hospitality and tourism organizations must monitor social media actively and respond immediately and appropriately. Third, crisis communication must be consistent, or else organizational crisis may be exacerbated.