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estoration theory. He termed it as “offensiveness of the wrongful
doing” and took it as one of the components of an attack to the
organization [29]. Benoit argued that the perceived offensiveness
of an action is more important than the reality. In other words, the
wrongful action might not be as heinous as it is perceived by the
audience [2]; thus, the crisis manager should deliver information
that will help the public to objectively assess the damage. The
image restoration theory suggests some message options that can
reduce the perceived offensiveness of wrongful actions, such as
bolstering, minimizing the negative feelings (diminishing),
differentiating the crisis from other similar crises, transcendence,
attacking the accusers, and the compensation [2].
2.2.2 Stakeholders
Stakeholders are vital elements in crisis communication because
they are the ones who are affected by the crisis and who form
attitudes towards the organization. Specifically, the previous
reputation among stakeholders and the needs of the stakeholders
are two important elements which the organization ought to pay
attention to.
Research shows that a negative reputation can lead to additional
damage during crises [21]. The SCCT takes the previous
reputation as an important factor that affects the choice of crisis
communication strategies [5]. Hence, instead of suffering the
negative impact which results from a ruined reputation, an
organization is better to build a sound relationship with the
stakeholders before the crisis.
Besides managing the organization’s reputation, to meet the needs
of stakeholders is the first and foremost task during crises [5].
Different stakeholders have different concerns and expectations.
The paper only discusses some general needs in the crisis event
stage and post-crisis stage respectively.
The first need is to reduce uncertainties. A crisis usually breeds
uncertainties [28]. On one hand, people need information to
reduce uncertainties and thereby to make the right decision in
order to minimize the damage [26]. On the other hand, people
need information to diminish the pressure brought by uncertainties
[5, 36].
Secondly, in the post-crisis stage, stakeholders need compensation
and emotional reparations. The corporate apologia theory stresses
that an appropriate apologetic message should acknowledge all
the stakeholders and express empathy to the injured individuals in
the crisis [17]. The image restoration theory recommends the
organization to compensate for the losses of the victims. If the
compensation is accepted by the stakeholders, the image of the
organization might be improved [2].
Finally, it is worth noting that sometimes the organization does
meet the expectations of its stakeholders. However, the action is
not very well expressed. Hence, it is crucial to fill the gap between
the expression and the action [9].
2.2.3 Values
Failing to meet social values, such as being dishonest, will hurt
the organization’s reputation [11]. During the crisis, an
organization faces different interest groups that have a variety of
values. An effective solution is to stress some core values of the
society [32]. Honesty, addressing responsibility, openness, and
humanism are important values identified as by the literature [18,
40].
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Being honest means to be truthful and sincere [18]. Accepting
responsibilities is considered ethical [40]. Openness requires the
organization to make the information accessible to the public in
order to reduce uncertainties and increase transparency [40, 43].
Humanistic care is about offering help to the public physically,
psychologically, and financially [40].
2.2.4 The future
That an organization should seek opportunities in a crisis and help
the public to see the future is the core argument of the
organizational renewal theory [39]. To correct wrongdoings and
to learn from the crisis are two important aspects discussed by the
four theories.
Correcting the wrongdoing is regarded by the SCCT and image
restoration theory as part of the diminishment strategy [2, 5]. The
corporate apologia theory also values making statements to
correct wrongdoings as a part of an effective apologetic strategy
[16]. Moreover, the SCCT considers the history of similar crises
to be a factor that can negatively affect crisis communication [5].
To correct the wrongdoing is also a necessary action to renew the
organization’s reputation and to prepare for a future crisis.
Learning from a past crisis plays an important role in rebuilding
an organization. An organization can learn from the crisis by
evaluating its crisis response strategy as well as investigating the
reason for the crisis. To improve the crisis response mechanism,
to correct the reason for the crisis, and to rebuild the organization
are some of the aims.
3. FRAMEWORK
3.1 Microblog
In this section, the author discusses two important activities on the
microblog and some techniques that can help an organization
organize the information on a microblog.
The microblog as a new meda is attracting more and more public
attention [25]. Research shows that people react less negatively to
crisis communication strategies on the microblog (twitter), and the
public tries to seek and share information on the microblog in
times of crisis [31]. Although there is research that has focused on
using social media in crises in general, there is little research that
specifically investigates the usage of the microblog in crises [31].
In order to understand how the microblog can help with crisis
communication, there is a need to first understand its major
activities and how to handle the information on it.
Two major activities on the microblog are collecting and
disseminating information, which are supported by the
information processing capability of the microblog. First, the large
user group provides the organization with a resource for collecting
information about stakeholders’ attitudes and expectations [35].
Secondly, the large number of users also enables the organization
to broadcast information to the relevant audiences. Third,
information spreads quickly on the microblog. Due to mobile
devices, such as smart phones, people can share information
whenever they use their mobile devices. Moreover, the microblog
is interactive. By using functions, such as “@”, comments, and
private chats, the organization could both give feedback to and
receive timely feedback from the public. Finally, people might
argue that the blog is also interactive. However, since it is easy to
create and share information on the microblog, the microblog is