Corporate crisis advertising: A framework examining the use and effects of corporate advertising before and after crises

• Main Authors: HO, Benjamin, SHIN, Wonsun, PANG, Augustine
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Corporate advertising; Crisis; Inoculation; Reactance; Situational crisis communication theory; Image repair theory; Business and Corporate Communications; Organizational Behavior and Theory; Public Relations and Advertising
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5940; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/6939/viewcontent/Corporate_crisis_advertising__av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

While corporate advertising has been widely studied as a promotional tool, few studies have examined how it can be used in a corporate crisis situation. In 2013, Kim proposed a conceptual framework for examining stakeholders’ evaluation of pre-crisis corporate advertising, using the inoculation and reactance theory. The framework, published in Journal of Marketing Communications, suggested that pre-crisis advertising can increase audience resistance towards negative news of an organization and decrease audience resistance towards future corporate advertisements from the organization. The present study expands on Kim’s work to develop the corporate crisis advertising (CCA) framework. In addition to the inoculation and reactance effects discussed in Kim’s model, CCA aims to discuss the effects of corporate advertising on improving organization’s prior reputation based on halo effect, and how post-crisis advertising messages can be evaluated based on crisis theories. Our proposed framework provides a comprehensive view of the use of corporate advertising both before and after a crisis and is useful for organizations to understand the impact of corporate advertising on stakeholders’ evaluation of the organization in a crisis situation. Potential applications of CCA are discussed and directions for future research suggested.