Does stealing thunder always work? A content analysis of crisis communication practice under different cultural settings

Abstract

A content analysis of six paired stealing thunder and thunder cases in Western and non-Western cultures offers insight into effective crisis communication strategies in different cultural settings. Specifically, this study examined the differences between stealing thunder cases and thunder cases in terms of crisis communication strategies, message frames and public emotions. Results from each set of paired crisis cases indicate that the stealing thunder strategy may not always work in the same way nor have the same power in different cultural environments.