Journal of Public Relations Research

Sha, Bey-Ling

2017 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2017.1365544

Veil, Shari R.; Anthony, Kathryn E.

2017 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2017.1355805

This study examined the distinct exigency of a compounding crisis, a crisis that occurs in close succession to another (potentially unrelated) crisis before an organization has had the opportunity to rebuild legitimacy. Specifically, we identified the public relations challenges faced by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency during the formaldehyde travel trailer crisis and examined how the Hurricane Katrina crisis encumbered the agency’s response efforts. We offer a theoretical frame for understanding the public relations challenges inherent in compounding crises and propose that, in a compounding crisis, organizational legitimacy and social capital decrease while stakeholder risk perceptions and attribution of crisis responsibility increase. A new phenomenon termed the pariah effect is offered to explain when an organization experiencing a compounding crisis is ostracized by other organizations that could assist with the crisis response to avoid negative spillover effects that could result from associating with the offending organization. This study also demonstrates how attribution of responsibility in a compounding crisis can create an exigency in which an organization must take actions beyond the scope and original mission of the organization.

Li, Zongchao Cathy; Stacks, Don

2017 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2017.1356310

This article investigated the consumer response mechanism in a service failure context. A service failure response model was introduced that incorporated emotive antecedents, a mediation process, and 4 behavioral outcomes. Data were collected via an online survey (N = 371) and further analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach. The results confirmed the service failure response model: Anger and dissatisfaction were emotive antecedents that lead to consumers’ exit, voice, and revenge responses. This process was mediated by desire for avoidance and desire for revenge.

Krishna, Arunima

2017 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2017.1363047

As fake news continues to abound on the Internet, the need for theorizing on the impact of misinformation on individuals’ perceptions of various social issues is dire. Using the issue of vaccine negativity in the United States, this study proposes the idea of lacuna individuals as issue-specific active publics holding negative attitudes and having deficient issue-specific knowledge. Results reveal that knowledge-deficient, vaccine-negative individuals display higher levels of perceptions, motivations, and active communication behaviors about vaccines. Results, therefore, support the conceptualization of lacuna individuals, and publics, as knowledge-deficient activists holding high levels of negative attitudes.