Crisis Communication in a Changing Media Environment

Abstract

This chapter highlights how the social-mediated crisis communication (SMCC) model was developed through incorporation of mass communication theory and suggests research directions for future model testing and improvement. It groups crisis-relevant mass communication theories into four categories: (a) audience and stakeholder theories and models, (b) form or medium influence-based theories and frameworks, (c) source influence-based theories and frameworks, and (d) content influence-based theories and frameworks. The conceptual grouping examines established and newer theoretical perspectives from (a) media richness theory (MRT), (b) the limited capacity model for motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), and (3) the networked crisis communication (NCC) model. Social amplification of risk (SARF) focuses on the processes that underlie how a risk event generates an assessment of the risk, which is then amplified or attenuated through engagement with psychological, social, institutional, and cultural processes. Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and related research provide suggestions for when and how organizations should respond based upon attribution of responsibility.