Visualizing corporate crisis response: effects of exemplars in food recall and chemical spill messaging

Abstract

Purpose Visuals hold persuasive power to shape people’s perceptions of crises. However, little experimental research has tested visuals used in corporate crisis response messaging. Drawing on exemplification theory, situational crisis communication theory and models of ethical visual persuasion, the purpose of this study was to test visual messages in two crisis scenarios to evaluate their effects on organizational perceptions and stakeholder behavior. Design/methodology/approach We conducted an online experiment varying the visual strategy (CEO exemplar, group employee exemplar, infographic and no visual) used in crisis social media posts. The posts varied across two crisis types (food recall and chemical spill) and were attributed to one of two companies for more generalizability. Findings We found no main effects of the four visual strategies on emotions, attributions of responsibility, perceptions of transparency, reputation and behavioral intentions. This may suggest that a company’s choice of some visuals may not affect stakeholders’ crisis perceptions, perhaps because associated explanatory text plays a more important role. However, the ethical implications of visuals remain. We found support for existing crisis theories showing that different emotions, attributions of responsibility and aspects of message transparency predicted reputation, negative word-of-mouth intentions (NWOM) and behavioral intentions. Originality/value We emphasize the need for ethical visual selection in crisis messaging and point to opportunities for future research examining visual framing in crisis contexts.