Theorizing Crisis Communication

TIMOTHY L. SELLNOW is a professor of strategic communication at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Sellnow's research focuses on risk and crisis communication. In addition to serving frequently as a corporate consultant, he has conducted funded research for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the World Health Organization (WHO). MATTHEW W. SEEGER is Dean of the College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts and a Professor of Communication at Wayne State University, Michigan. His work on crisis, risk, and communication appears in over 200 journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Dr. Seeger is the author or co-author of eight books on crisis and risk communication. He has advised both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on crisis communication. His work has been cited by the New York Times, The Washington Post, and Rolling Stone.

Acknowledgments ix Foreword xi 1 Introduction to Crisis Communication 1 Defining Crisis 4 Defining Communication 12 Plan for This Book 19 Conclusion 20 2 Theorizing about Crisis and Crisis Communication 21 Critiquing Theory 31 Conclusion 32 3 Theories of Communication and Warning 33 Detection of Risks 34 Warnings 36 Hear-Confirm-Understand-Decide-Respond Model 44 Applications of the Hear-Confirm-Understand-Decide-Response Model 46 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Hear-Confirm-Understand-Decide-Response Model 47 Protective Action Decision Model 48 Applications of the PADM 52 Strengths and Weaknesses of the PADM 54 Integrated Model of Food Recall 55 Applications of the Integrated Model of Food Recall 58 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Integrated Model of Food Recall 58 Emerging Warning Systems 59 Conclusion 61 4 Theories of Communication and Crisis Development 63 Assumptions of Stage Models 66 Three-Stage Model 69 Applications of the Three-Stage Model 71 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Three-Stage Model 72 Fink's Four-Stage Cycle 72 Applications of Fink's Four-Stage Cycle 74 Strengths and Weaknesses of Fink's Four-Stage Cycle 75 Turner's Six-Stage Sequence of Failure in Foresight 76 Applications of Turner's Six-Stage Sequence of Failure in Foresight 78 Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication 79 Applications of CERC 80 Strengths and Weaknesses of CERC 84 Conclusion 85 5 Theories of Communication and Crisis Outcomes 87 Organizational Learning 88 Sensemaking 94 Organizational Legitimacy 98 Balance Theory 102 Stealing Thunder 105 Situational Crisis Communication Theory 108 Discourse of Renewal 113 Conclusion 117 6 Theories of Communication and Emergency Coping and Response 119 Assumptions of Communication and Emergency Response 121 Chaos Theory and Emergent Self-Organization 122 Theories of Communication and Crisis Coordination 128 Communication and Community Resilience 137 Four-Channel Model of Communication 148 Integrated Crisis Mapping Model 153 Conclusion 155 7 Theories of Crisis Communication and Legacy Media 157 The Legacy Mass Media 159 News Framing Theory 160 Focusing Events and Agenda Setting 163 Exemplification Theory 168 Uses and Gratifications Theory 171 Cultivation Theory 175 Media System Dependency Theory 178 Crisis News Diffusion 182 Diffusion of Innovations 185 Conclusion 189 8 Theories about Social Media and Crisis Communication 192 Social Information Processing Theory 196 Warranting Theory 198 The MAIN Model 201 Dialogic Theory of Public Relations 204 Social-Mediated Crisis Communication Model 208 Emerging Theories of Social Media in Crisis Communication 211 Conclusion 212 9 Theories of Influence and Crisis Communication 213 Apologia 215 Image Repair 218 Kategoria 223 Dramatism 227 Narrative Theory 231 Message Convergence Framework 234 Conclusion 237 10 Theories of Communication and Risk Management 239 Social Amplification of Risk Framework 242 Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model 245 Mindfulness 248 High Reliability Organizations 252 The Precautionary Principle 258 Cultural Theory 262 The IDEA Model 266 Conclusion 270 11 Theories of Crisis Communication and Ethics 271 Ethics 272 Crisis Communication as an Ethical Domain 275 Responsible Communication 278 Significant Choice 280 The Ethic of Care 282 Virtue Ethics 284 Justice 286 Applications of Moral Theory to Crisis 287 Conclusion 292 12 Applying Theories of Crisis Communication 293 Choosing a Theory 294 The Rationale for Asking Question 295 Questions Focusing of Ontology 295 Questions Focusing on Axiology 297 Questions Focusing on Epistemology 298 Selecting a Data Set and Method 300 Selecting Literature for Review 302 Forming Conclusions and Implications of Research 303 The Practicality of Theory in Understanding Crisis Communication 304 Persistent Challenges 305 Invisible Success 305 Global Causation 306 Insufficient Instruction for Self-Protection 306 Persistent Opportunities 307 New Perspectives for Study 308 A Final Word 310 References 311 Index 348