I Didn’t Do It: Comparing Denial Posture Crisis Strategies Between Government and Business

Abstract

Businesses and governments occasionally face crises as a result of being falsely accused of harming their stakeholders. This research seeks to determine how they can most effectively respond using an experiment with 617 participants. Using situational crisis communication theory’s (SCCT) prescribed responses, the study examines unique reputation repair impact of post-crisis response strategies on a government organization compared with a business organization. This study also defines four different types of kategoria as strategies within SCCT’s denial posture and tests their crisis outcomes against other denial posture strategies. Participants were significantly more favorable toward a government organization compared with a business organization. Significant differences were detected in outcomes between different denial posture strategies. Implications for theory and practitioners are discussed.