ABSTRACT Public health crises intensify existing social inequalities and challenge conventional models of crisis communication. This study examines how social work, social marketing, and crisis communication are conceptually integrated in the public health literature to support equity-oriented and behavior-sensitive interventions during emergencies. Using a semi-systematic (narrative) qualitative review, the study synthesizes interdisciplinary scholarship published between 2014 and 2024, focusing on recurring challenges, adaptive strategies, and integrative mechanisms across these domains. The findings indicate that social workers play a central mediating role by addressing psychosocial vulnerabilities, advocating for marginalized populations, and translating institutional guidance into context-sensitive practice. Social marketing principles – particularly audience segmentation, message framing, and value exchange – are positioned as tools that enhance engagement and voluntary behavior change, but also introduce ethical tensions related to self-determination, conditionality, and power asymmetries. Digital communication platforms expand reach and trust-building capacity, yet simultaneously risk reinforcing exclusion through digital divides and misinformation. By synthesizing these patterns, the study highlights how interdisciplinary integration can strengthen crisis communication when guided by social work ethics and equity considerations. Aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 3, 10, and 17, the analysis contributes an analytically grounded perspective on inclusive and ethically informed crisis communication and identifies priorities for future empirical research in diverse and resource-constrained public health contexts.

ABSTRACT This paper presents a discursive analysis of crisis communication by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during COVID-19 pandemic. Employing critical discourse analysis, the study examined 239 speeches delivered between March 2020 and December 2021. It discursively analyzed crisis communication emphasizing tone, the language used, frequency, and consistency, by Modi in communicating with the public through speeches, press conferences and media releases during the key stages of the crisis: the start of COVID-19; the peak of the pandemic in India; and post-peak. These stages help understand his broader responses and assist in analyzing the tone and language used at different stages of the crisis. While Modi effectively communicated through various mediums, expressing national pride and blending persuasive, authoritative, and informative tones, he often did not address inequalities, potentially influencing the pandemic’s impact on different communities within India. While generally most leaders in situations of crisis would focus on unifying populations, Modi used even the pandemic to encourage divisiveness as indicated through the analysis of his communication as often his messages were interwoven with undertones of religious nationalism. The study suggests that Modi could have placed greater emphasis on community building, public engagement, and addressing challenges, including the impact on marginalized communities.

ABSTRACT Grounded in the polycrisis concept, Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), and Construal Level Theory (CLT), this study examines how public sentiment and thematic discourse emerged on social media in response to Kenya’s 2024 Finance Bill protests, a crisis intensified by intersecting socio-economic challenges. Sentiment analysis and topic modeling of 99,576 X posts reveal a predominantly negative public sentiment (70.35%), reflecting widespread frustration with the Kenyan government’s fiscal policies. Key themes identified include opposition to the Finance Bill, economic hardship, demands for political accountability, active civic engagement, and media influence on public opinion. The analysis further demonstrates distinct patterns of sentiment expression, with original posts displaying heightened emotional intensity compared to replies, and user influence shaping sentiment, as high-follower accounts amplified unique sentiment trends. These findings hold practical implications for policymakers, media strategists, and crisis communicators, highlighting the importance of transparent, empathetic communication strategies that address public grievances and resonate in complex polycrisis contexts. By advancing the application of SCCT and CLT in the study of socio-political crises, this research highlights social media’s vital role in capturing and shaping public sentiment amid multifaceted crises.

This study investigates how participatory digital communication shapes brand equity recovery during institutional crises in public-sector transportation. In the digital era, brand equity arises from both institutional messaging and public participation. Drawing on Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model and Jenkins’ participatory culture theory, it analyzes two 2025 MRT Jakarta disruptions: a public demonstration and QRIS payment failure. Employing a qualitative case study, the research examines social media communication, public responses, user-generated content, and media coverage across trigger, reaction, and recovery phases. Findings show MRT Jakarta’s transparent, empathetic, dialogic digital strategies turned disruptions into trust-building opportunities. Public participation—via reposting, crowdsourcing, humor, and advocacy—stabilized narratives and bolstered credibility. The study demonstrates that public-sector brand equity thrives not on operational perfection but collaborative meaning-making and digital empathy. By framing citizens as co-creators, MRT enhanced resonance and legitimacy. This extends brand equity theory to public digital governance and provides crisis communication insights for participatory media.

Language technologies are increasingly ubiquitous and now translate emergency bulletins, draft clinical notes and mediate everyday conversations, yet their impressive fluency can be misleading–masking limited reliability, unpredictable errors and uneven performance across different user groups and languages. Building on Shneiderman’s human-centered AI (HCAI) paradigm, this article introduces the Human-Centered AI Language-Technology (HCAILT) model, a domain-specific framework that binds reliability, safety culture and trustworthiness to the full language-technology pipeline. HCAILT couples technical guardrails (such as retrieval-augmented generation and quality estimation) with organizational practices (like bias audits and incident-report loops), together with user-facing features that maintain meaningful human control. Two blueprint use cases–in multilingual healthcare and crisis communication–illustrate how the HCAILT model guides system architecture, deployment practices and evaluation. A demo system demonstrates immediate feasibility on public large language models. By translating HCAI principles into actionable design levers, HCAILT provides scholars, developers and policymakers with a pragmatic path from ethical aspiration to deployable practice. The paper concludes with a research agenda for empirical validation in real-world settings and invites multidisciplinary collaboration to ensure that next-generation language technologies are not merely powerful, but demonstrably reliable, safe and worthy of public trust.

Migrants living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Sweden were overrepresented among the infected and deceased in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and vaccination coverage was substantially lower, despite being free of charge. The overarching aim of this study was to analyze the experiences of operating a multilingual telephone service for public health crisis communication targeting migrant communities in Sweden during COVID-19. A secondary objectives was to identify specific opportunities and challenges in delivering culturally appropriate health information during a pandemic crisis. A qualitative design based on in-depth interviews with 12 health communicators staffing the telephone service was used. Additional quantitative descriptive data on the use of the telephone service are provided for context. The quantitative data revealed that relatively few callers requested basic information about the virus or asked about topics such as where to turn in case of illness. The most common topic was testing for current infection. The thematic analysis identified seven major themes: The rationale behind a multilingual telephone service; the convergence of language, culture, and professional competence in trust building; dialogical dissemination of knowledge; cooperation with other actors and organizations; responding to misinformation and myths; managing emotions, existential concerns, and mental distress; and lessons for future health crisis response. For dissemination of information about COVID-19 and vaccination to migrants during the pandemic, experiences from the multilingual telephone service point to the value of communication that includes the possibility of dialogue with health professionals in a culturally safe mode using one's native language. For future health crises, our findings emphasize the importance of having a communication strategy targeting vulnerable groups in place as a part of a comprehensive pandemic plan when the need emerges. The study protocol has been preregistered on the Open Science Framework (osf.io/rt47j).

During crises such as wars, pandemics, and economic or technological disasters, disinformation spreads faster and wider than accurate information, amplifying social anxiety and undermining institutional trust. Its effects are driven by cognitive biases (illusory truth effect, confirmation heuristics), group identity congruence, and emotional triggers. The aim of this study is to integrate these psychological mechanisms and assess the effectiveness of inoculation (prebunking) and cognitive (accuracy-prompt) interventions in countering crisis-related disinformation. A preregistered multi-wave online experiment with a 2×2×2 factorial design was conducted on a sample of about 2000 adults from Ukraine and Central/Eastern Europe. Results indicate that repeated exposure amplifies the illusory truth effect; congruence with social identity increases credibility; threatening emotional tone enhances virality. Stand-alone interventions (prebunking or accuracy prompts) reduced belief and sharing intention by about 10–15%, whereas their combination achieved more than a 20% reduction with lasting effects. Age, need for cognition, and conspiratorial beliefs moderated susceptibility to disinformation. These findings demonstrate that combined preventive strategies can substantially strengthen societal informational resilience during crises. Keywords: Disinformation, infodemic, illusory truth effect, social identity, emotional triggers, prebunking, accuracy prompts, informational resilience, crisis communication

A Socio-Pragmatics Analysis of Crisis Communication Tactics in the Presidents’ Speeches During the COVID-19

Flood disasters in North Sumatra Province show an increasing trend, both in terms of the frequency of occurrences and the magnitude of their impacts, thereby necessitating adaptive and responsive crisis communication strategies that address community needs. In this context, Instagram has become an important medium for disseminating disaster-related information to the public. This study aims to analyze the role of Instagram in the dissemination of flood disaster information in North Sumatra through a case study of the official accounts @bpbdprovinsisumut and @infobmkgsumut, using the perspectives of contemporary communication theory, crisis communication theory, and agenda-setting theory. The research employs a descriptive qualitative approach with content analysis techniques applied to posts and user interactions during the disaster period. The findings indicate a complementary division of roles: the @infobmkgsumut account is more dominant in the pre-disaster phase by delivering early warning information based on meteorological data, while the @bpbdprovinsisumut account focuses on the emergency response and post-disaster phases through evacuation information and the coordination of aid. The use of visual elements such as infographics and field documentation has proven effective in simplifying technical messages so they are easily understood by the public. However, the communication pattern applied remains predominantly one-way and institutional in nature, with limited emphasis on empathy and the narratives of victims’ experiences. In addition, the management of two-way interactions in the comment sections has not been optimally utilized as a channel for reporting residents’ emergency conditions. This study concludes that Instagram has evolved into a dynamic social space in disaster management, yet strengthening human-centered message framing strategies is still necessary.

Sexual violence in higher education poses a serious threat to campus safety, institutional integrity, and public trust. Although national regulations in Indonesia mandate preventive and handling mechanisms, their effectiveness largely depends on how communication is managed within universities. This study examines communication management in the prevention, handling, and crisis response to sexual violence in higher education institutions. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, the research focuses on Universitas Andalas, Universitas Riau, and Universitas Indonesia. Data were collected through observation, document analysis, in-depth interviews with the Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence members, university leaders, lecturers, staff, students, and public relations officers, complemented by Social Network Analysis. Data were analyzed using pattern matching and validated through triangulation. The study is grounded in the Communicative Constitution of Organizations perspective, particularly the Four Flows model, and Rhetorical Arena Theory to examine crisis communication. Findings indicate that proactive and multi-channel communication strengthens prevention, while integrated internal communication supports transparent and victim-centered case handling. Open and empathetic crisis communication enhances institutional resilience and public trust. This study offers a communication-based framework to improve sexual violence governance in higher education.

ABSTRACT This study examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) signalling and empathetic crisis communication shape stakeholder backlash during externally constrained market exits. Drawing on expectancy-disconfirmation and attribution theories, it explores whether strong CSR signalling, traditionally viewed as reputationally protective, can become a liability during crises in which external conditions constrain firm actions, and whether empathetic communication mitigates negative stakeholder reactions. Evidence from 182 multinational corporations’ exits from Russia following Ukraine-related sanctions indicates that firms with higher levels of CSR signalling experienced greater company-directed public outrage, suggesting that CSR signalling elevates stakeholder expectations and intensifies backlash when externally constrained actions generate expectancy disconfirmation among stakeholders. Empathetic crisis communication is associated with lower negative reactions overall but does not moderate the effect of CSR signalling. These findings extend expectancy-disconfirmation theory to externally constrained victim crises by demonstrating that empathetic communication operates independently of CSR signalling in shaping stakeholder reactions. This research offers practical implications for managing reputational risk amid geopolitical constraints.

Purpose This study develops and validates the CRISISQUAL framework, which extends SERVQUAL by adding three crisis-specific dimensions: Digital Resilience, Crisis Communication, and Environmental Transparency. The aim is to assess service quality in Indian green banking during normal, crisis, and post-crisis phases, and identify key drivers of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and trust. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 500 customers of three major Indian banks using a structured questionnaire with 28 items covering eight dimensions. Gap analysis, factor analysis, regression, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to compute Customer Quality Index (CQI) scores and evaluate the relationships between service quality and customer outcomes. Findings The analysis shows that while traditional SERVQUAL dimensions such as Reliability and Assurance remain relevant, the largest expectation–perception gaps occur in Digital Resilience (2.20) and Crisis Communication (1.80). Regression and SEM highlights these as the strongest predictors of satisfaction, which mediates loyalty and churn risk. Environmental Transparency also enhances customer trust in green banking practices. Originality/value This research presents the first integrated framework combining SERVQUAL with crisis dimensions for Indian green banking, offering a robust measurement tool and actionable insights for improving service quality in both stable and crisis contexts.

This study examines Terra Drone Indonesia's implementation of management dialogue in addressing crisis communication following a fire at the company's office building. The incident sparked a wave of negative sentiment on Instagram, marked by increased public comments assessing occupational safety, data security, and the company's transparency in conveying information related to the legal process. The study used a qualitative approach with a case study method to understand how the company developed a crisis communication strategy through official statements published on social media. Data were analyzed based on dialogic elements of communication, particularly empathy for victims, humanitarian commitment, and the company's position and normative and defensive stance in affirming legal handling and compliance measures. The results show that the company attempted to balance an empathetic narrative to mitigate public pressure with a defensive strategy to maintain institutional legitimacy. However, the dynamics of public opinion on Instagram indicate that the company's response has not fully met the expectations of two-way communication. This is evident in the dominance of one-way communication patterns and the lack of technical clarifications needed by the public, thus creating a productive economic outlook. Overall, dialogic management has been implemented responsively, but has not been optimal in building a space for dialogue and public trust as a whole.

Trust represents a fundamental pillar of contemporary security policy, influencing decision-making processes, institutional stability, and the effectiveness of security measures at both national and international levels. This article explores trust as a key precondition for the formulation and implementation of security policy, emphasizing its role in relations between states, within security institutions, and between public authorities and society. The analysis focuses on trust as a multidimensional concept encompassing political legitimacy, transparency, accountability, and the credibility of security actors. Particular attention is paid to the consequences of declining trust, including increased social polarization, weakened resilience of democratic systems, and reduced effectiveness of collective security arrangements. The article argues that building and maintaining trust is not merely a normative objective, but a strategic necessity for ensuring long-term security and stability in an increasingly complex and uncertain security environment.Through comparative analysis of selected European states (Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, France, and Estonia), the paper identifies critical determinants of trust, including transparency, institutional neutrality, crisis communication, and historical path-dependence. The findings demonstrate that trust acts as both an input to and an output of security policy, reinforcing legitimacy through reciprocity between citizens and the state.The article concludes that sustained trust-building must be recognized as a strategic dimension of security governance. Trust-based security strengthens societal resilience, mitigates polarization, and enhances adaptive capacity in hybrid threat environments.

Abstract The public’s attribution of responsibility during a crisis is a central process in crisis communication, often explained by the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). However, SCCT was developed in a pre-social media era, and its applicability in the new ecosystem of algorithm-driven, short-video platforms remains a critical theoretical gap. This study investigated how the core mechanisms of public responsibility attribution are reconfigured in the unique context of China’s leading short-video platform, Douyin. Analyzing 185,148 comments following the tragic Yingcai School fire, our large language model (LLM)-based analysis answered two questions: (1) How are public attributions of responsibility structured in this emotionally charged, algorithmic environment? and (2) How do offline socioeconomic factors shape these digital crisis discourses? Our findings reveal two distinct attribution pathways, namely an anger-accountability track and a sadness-reflection track and demonstrate that critical discourse is systematically linked to regional development. This research provides a crucial empirical validation of SCCT for the short-video era and offers a data-driven guide for context-aware public administration.

Objectives: This study reviewed and examined various aspects of government crisis communication, emphasizing several subject areas, including crisis communication, risk management, and social media influence. Methods: The study used bibliometric analysis to examine the trends and patterns of publications in government crisis communication. A comprehensive analysis of general information on government crisis communication, most productive countries, most popular scholarly sources, most productive affiliations, funding sources, most influential authors, and frequently occurring keywords revealed that “crisis communication” was the dominant issue. Other frequently occurring keywords were “COVID-19,” “risk communication,” “trust,” and “social media.” Results: The study highlighted the importance of government communication and the role of digital channels such as Twitter in disseminating information during a crisis. Leading institutions, including the University of Maryland and Nanyang Technological University, and leading scholars participated in the study. However, there are certain limitations; industrialized countries predominantly influence research and social media. Conclusions: Recommendations include formulating new ideas on crisis communication, researching non-digital media, and enhancing regional coverage. This research provides broader insights into how crisis communication strategies and their relevance to future crisis communication management continue to change and become increasingly complex.

ABSTRACT The rise of synthetic media, characterized by deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation and disinformation, presents serious challenges to strategic communication practices and reputation management. This study explores how strategic communication professionals in Ghana perceive, assess, and respond to these emerging threats. The study used qualitative data from 17 strategic communication professionals across various sectors. The results show that, while professionals are increasingly aware of synthetic media threats, there is a significant gap in organizational preparedness, limited use of detection tools, and a tendency toward reactive communication approaches. The study also finds that resource limitations, lack of leadership support and prioritization, and weak or inadequate policy frameworks hinder effective responses to synthetic media threats. Despite these challenges, the study identifies promising communication strategies, including multi-channel communication, systematic stakeholder engagement, and advocacy for regulatory frameworks and public education. The findings highlight the urgent need for digital literacy initiatives, proactive communication strategies, updates to existing crisis communication plans, and cross-functional collaboration. The study contributes to communication theory by demonstrating how concepts like cultural lag and the ‘liar’s dividend’ manifest within emerging markets, providing practical insights for effective strategic communication in the digital age.

This study aims to analyze the role of public relations as a key pillar in building reputation and enhancing the credibility of nature-based tourism in Jombang. The research focuses on the communication strategies employed by public relations officers in delivering information, managing public interactions, and utilizing digital media as the primary tool for strengthening destination image. The research method used is a case study with a descriptive qualitative approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six informants, including public relations staff, tourism managers, representatives from the tourism department, local community members, and visitors.The findings show that public relations plays a vital role in reputation building through four main dimensions: message consistency, communication transparency, collaboration with communities and stakeholders, and the optimization of digital media. Field findings reveal that consistent use of social media strengthens tourists’ trust, while local community involvement adds authenticity to the destination’s image. Moreover, public relations also functions as a crisis communication manager by providing fast and accurate information during operational disruptions. In conclusion, the reputation of nature tourism in Jombang is not solely determined by natural beauty but also by the quality of communication managed by public relations. The optimization of digital and collaborative communication has become a key strategy to maintain the credibility and attractiveness of the destination amid increasingly competitive tourism dynamics.

ABSTRACT This study examines how strategic communication and marketing reshape Pakistan’s destination image, addressing crisis-driven negative perceptions. Using the multi-step model and PERMA theory, it analyzes government policies, social media efforts, and TripAdvisor ratings. Findings show that digital media, influencer marketing, and events enhance branding, with TripAdvisor ratings above 4.0 reflecting success. However, challenges include limited international media outreach, untapped southern tourism potential, and infrastructure gaps. This research integrates crisis communication, digital engagement, and positive psychology, offering insights for researchers and practical recommendations for policymakers to strengthen Pakistan’s global tourism appeal. This research further offers insights for researchers and policymakers to strengthen destination image by adopting different crisis management strategies.

The paper delves into the subject of how public relations (PR) strategies might affect the corporate reputation of the Algerian food sector. So far, the expansion of the industry has been accompanied by a heavy dependence on marketing communication by the companies, and there has been a lack of properly structured PR, an absence of crisis management plans, and no system of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The author(s) use a convergent mixed-methods approach that integrates six qualitative case studies and elite interviews with a quantitative survey of 241 consumers, with a focus on the age group of 20–39. The qualitative study looks into the management’s viewpoint of PR, CSR, and reputation while the survey tests consumer viewpoints to trust, transparency, and authenticity. What emerges from the findings is a considerable discrepancy between the company's view of itself and that of its customers. The research touches on how the organization managers interpret public relations, corporate social responsibility, and brand image, whereas the consumers’ perspectives are correlated with trust, transparency, and authenticity through survey questions. Crisis communication is barely developed, digital engagement is restricted, and CSR communication is not consistent, according to the consumers. The trust that consumers have is mostly attributable to cleanliness, safety, transparency, and authentic CSR activities, to the neglect of promotional efforts. Firm PR functions, crisis management formalization, active digital media involvement, and the implementation of trustworthy CSR can indeed change how operational activities are seen and translate them into reputation. The paper shows that PR practices lead to trust, loyalty, and create a sustainable competitive advantage within the local Algerian food sector.