"A company is never better than its latest mistake" : A consumer perspective on crisis communication

Abstract: The existing literature has discussed crisis communication as a tool to minimise reputational damage to a company in the event of a crisis. The Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) provide guidelines for managers in times of crises on how to protect their reputational assets and their corporate image in specific crisis situations with a set of communication strategies. The theory emphasise the importance of stakeholders in a crisis since they could oppose as a threat to companies´ reputation. Despite the realisation of stakeholders’ role in crisis communication, explorative studies aiming at understanding the consumer's perspective and how they prefer to be communicated are limited.   The purpose of this thesis is to understand, from consumers’ perspective, how companies should communicate in a time of crisis. This was done through using the existing Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) as a basis. The purpose was accomplished by conducting focus groups were crisis scenarios and strategies based on the SCCT played a fundamental role in generating results. The findings from the research suggest that there is a cycle explaining preferred crisis communication from consumers’ perspective. The suggested cycle includes three influencers that is: responsibility, communication, and reputation. This cycle suggest how consumers prefer to be communicated, what influences them to making that choice, and how it reflects back on the corporate image. The main finding of the research was the preferred communication in specific situations. The study showed that there is a set of generally applicable strategies, which consumers prefer in all crisis situations whereas additional preferences are added based on attributed responsibility.