The Use of New Media Technologies in Crisis Communication of U.S. and U.S.-Affiliated Corporations: A New Paradigm Distinguishing Crisis-Prepared Organizations from Their Crisis-Prone Counterparts

The purpose of this research is to examine communication made possible by the advent of new media technologies and its effect on crisis communication in U.S. and U.S.-affiliated corporations. The crisis management literature identifies communication as a necessary component in crisis management planning, but communication only appears at certain points in various crisis management conceptual frameworks presented by many scholars. The advent of new media technologies has resulted in a growing array of communication tools now available to individuals and to organizations. Missing in the literature is examination of how communication made possible by the use of new media technologies affects crisis communication in U.S. and U.S.-affiliated corporations. Because organizational crises involve multiple perspectives including crisis management, communication, business continuity, decision making, organizational culture, psychology, and organizational learning, the study of crises has come to involve a systems approach. This research focuses on human-caused crises because these particular crises possess the potential to pose the gravest threat to the business continuity of corporations by virtue of the adverse impact that they have on the relationship between corporations and their myriad stakeholders. Regarding the role of communication in crisis management, the advent of new media technologies including the Internet and myriad other forms of electronic-based communication such as e-mail, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, instant messaging, and social media, has caused a paradigm shift in how corporations must now manage crises. The research found that effective use of crisis communication made possible by the advent of new media technologies represents an important factor distinguishing crisis-prepared organizations from crisis-prone organizations. However, the use of new media technologies can both aid and hinder organizational crisis communication efforts because the same technologies are not the sole province of the corporation embroiled in a crisis. The research adds to the literature by addressing new media technologies as an emerging force in crisis communication that can aid and also thwart the efforts of organizations attempting to recover from crises, and that can assist organizations in developing management practices to improve their crisis preparedness. The research enhances understanding of how crisis communication, particularly new media technologies-enabled communication, can assist as well as complicate management in corporate crisis situations.