Adapting Crisis Communication Theory to a Global Environment

As I mentioned in my post the other day, I’m not able to attend the World Communication Association (WCA) conference this year in Bishkek. However, thanks to my friends who are attending and a bit of multimedia technology, I’m still able to present my research.

This piece is a collaboration with another of my Master’s students, Fiona Nazari focusing on the implications of culture and religion on crisis communication theory development.

If you are interested in the research, please feel free to get in touch with me or comment on here.

Cultural and religious identifications and their influence on the crisis management process are often overlooked by scholars. Understanding the effects of these factors on a crisis situation is crucial for public relations practitioners or crisis managers especially those who are working in a diverse cultural or religious environment.

This study aims to begin to bridge the aforementioned gaps by understanding the assessments of individuals with different cultural and religious identifications on crisis situations, particularly their perception on crisis severity and on the organization facing crisis as well as their crisis response preferences. The study blends elements of situational crisis communication theory with the cultural concepts of uncertainty avoidance and individualism and collectivism to better understand the intersection of crisis, culture, and religion. Findings suggest that cultural and religious identifications significantly affect stakeholder assessments of crises.