How Crisis Communication Strategies Affect Crisis Consequences? The Case of Food Industry

Abstract

Crisis communication strategies are used by companies to prevent or mitigate the negative outcomes of the crisis and to neutralize or control the damage to corporate reputation. Communication during and after the crisis determines the change of public perception, trust, attitudes and intentions towards the company and its brands. The food industry is particularly vulnerable to crises, especially those that refer to product safety. Due to the impact they might have on consumers' health, these crisis generate large public interest and media coverage that could amplify the consequences on brand and corporate reputation. The objective of the empirical research presented in this paper, was to identify and measure the change of attitudes and intentions of consumers in connection to the type of the crisis communication strategy applied by the company. The research was conducted by using the online survey method on a sample of 148 respondents in Serbia. The findings demonstrated certain differences observed by demographic criteria. Male and employed respondents were more likely to consider post-crisis cooperation with a food company in comparison to women and students. On the other hand, female respondents appeared to be more willing to restore trust in company's advertising messages and recommend its products after the crises.