POSCO Ranks Highest for Crisis Communication Among Twitter Users in 2010 Cool Communication Study

2010 THE LAB h® Cool Communication® Study Report
Perception of the Top 10 Korean Companies
Among Twitter Users and Among the General Public in Korea

October, 2010

THE LAB h®

2010 THE LAB h® Cool Communication Study Report Page 1

Table of Contents

Introduction: 2010 Cool Communication® Study

Executive Summary: Key Message of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study 4
Intro & Context: Background of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study 6
Overview & Methods: How was the 2010 Cool Communication® Study conducted? 11

Core Findings: 2010 Cool Communication® -- General Public vs. Twitter Users

Overall Reputation: Comparison of Corporate Reputation Perception
1. Overall Analysis 13
2. Results by Category 18
Cool Crisis Communication: Comparison of Perception for Crisis Response
“News Behavior”: Comparison of News Production and Consumption Channels

Conclusion & Insights: Completing the 2010 Cool Communication® Study 38

Appendix: Reference Materials
Profile: Respondent Demographics 42
Column: “Thinking of Samsung in the Twitter Age” (The Hankyoreh) 43
About: THE LAB h® 45


Introduction: 2010 Cool Communication® Study


Executive Summary: Key Message of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study

1. Overview: From April to May 2010, THE LAB h® conducted the 2010 Cool

Communication® Study through a specialized research firm, Research and Research®,
on 500 general citizens and 305 Twitter users regarding three major topics including
corporate reputation (six categories), communication & response in a crisis situation
(three categories), and news production & consumption (three categories), pertaining to
the top 10 companies in Korea.

2. Key Results:
A. Responses for Corporate Reputation (six categories): The general public group
chose Samsung as the no. 1 company across all six categories, while Twitter users
selected a different company for each category - POSCO (for trust and
responsibility), Samsung (for self-promotion and purchase intention), LG (for
listening to customer opinions), and SK (for communication with consumers).

B. Response for Transparent Management and Communication in a Crisis Situation:
The general public group voted Samsung for all three categories (transparent
disclosure of wrongdoing, genuine apology, and efforts for improvement), whereas
Twitter users selected POSCO for all three categories, reflecting a stark contrast
between the two groups.

C. Measurement of Contrasting Responses by Company between Twitter Users and
the General Public: When measuring the differences between the two groups
(Twitter users vs. the general public), Samsung was ranked much more favorably by
the general public while POSCO was ranked much more favorably by Twitter users.

D. News Consumption and Production Tendency: Six out of ten Twitter users and
five out of ten general citizens subscribed to newspaper home delivery; Twitter
users relied on portal websites (35.1%) and online newspapers (25.9%) while the
general public group relied on TV (61.9%). Nearly seven out of ten (67.2%) Twitter


users and barely two out of ten (15.2%) general citizens posted an online review for
a certain product over the last year.

3. Implications:
A. Formerly, companies have tried to establish a positive public perception by relying
on “image advertisements” and “one-off promotions‟.”

B. Active users of Twitter and other social media do not perceive a company by relying
only on such images and promotions, but instead, they extensively share their
experiences and information over social networks and create opinions through
online conversations.

C. Considering social media users‟ increasing role in terms of forming public and
personal opinions within the Korean society, companies must recognize the
corporate perception gap between the general public and social media users and
modify and/or supplement their strategies to target each group accordingly.

D. For example, Twitter users are more likely to send questions straight to the CEO
through Twitter or understand the situation on their own through conversations via
social networks instead of accepting the refined and obvious company statement.
This implies that in order to communicate, companies must first engage in
conversations rather than just unilaterally release a statement.

E. Corporate communication should no longer just send “beautiful” messages, but
must participate in social networking, listening, and responding to various
stakeholders. Such a shift is requiring companies, or more accurately, people of a
company such as CEOs or certain department employees, to get involved in social
media.


Introduction and Context: Background of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study

July 2007
On July 20th and 27th, there were two interesting articles published within a span of one week. The first was a
Yonhap News1 story on how Chung Yong-jin, CEO and Vice Chairman of Shinsegae2 opened a personal website
where he talked about classical music, his treasure item, the iPod, and stories about his father, mother, younger
sister, and children. The article was entitled “Shinsegae Vice Chairman, Shows Family Love on His Website.” 3
Apparently, this drew a lot of attention, and there was a lot of traffic on his website. Formerly, stories about
Korean conglomerates‟ families were only covered in magazines as gossip or rumors, and rarely was there a case
in which the person himself came out to share his personal stories.

However, just as expected, his website did not last too long. On July 27th, only after a week, the headlines read
“Shinsegae Vice Chairman Eventually Shuts Down Personal Website.”4 According to sources, “The high interest
driven by the opening of the personal website was too overwhelming which is believed to be the reason behind
its closure.”

July 2010
Fast forward to three years later. On July 27th, the Gyeongido Veterinary Service announced that after a round of
investigation on large retailers, Shinsegae E-Mart5 Gwangmyeong branch was caught selling imported beef as
domestic beef. Twitter users asked Chung, for comments regarding the situation via Twitter. On the very next day,
July 28th, Choi Byung-ryul, the CEO of E-Mart apologized on Twitter saying, “We ask for your forgiveness for the
fake Korean beef issue,” and Chung promptly re-tweeted the CEO‟s tweet also “apologizing for the inconvenience
caused by the whole beef scandal.”

One might wonder why the opening and shutting down of a personal website owned by a conglomerate CEO
and him ”tweeting” should cause such a stir. Moreover, it is well known that some are critical about whether these
Twitter-friendly CEOs are actually engaging in real conversations with ordinary people. However, it is not vice
chairman Chung himself but the situational changes over the past three years amidst his move from a personal
website to Twitter that is actually noteworthy. This is not simply a change of an online platform but rather an

1
Korea‟s major wire service
2
Shinsegae is a leader in the Korean retail industry. Shinsegae is the first department store in Korea, opened in
1930.
3
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/07/20/2007072000781.html
4
5
E-Mart is the largest discount store chain in Korea by Shinsegae.


evolution of communication methods and a shift in companies‟ internal and external perspectives. CEO Chung‟s
story is attention-grabbing because it reflects the influence of social media on our society, particularly, corporate
communications.

3 Years and 3 Changes
“Direct” - First, despite closing down his personal website after unfavorable media coverage in 2007, CEO
Chung now has over 60,000 followers to his Twitter site (as of October 9, 2010), and even with intensive attention
from general citizens and media, he has not closed his account. As for a website, one can simply close the
unidirectional communication channel, but in a social network that involves numerous followers, the decision to
shut it down is not an easy choice. Chung is developing his own way of directly communicating with consumers
through social media.

“Personal” – Second, within a typical corporate website, there was almost zero interaction between a company
and consumers, but in the world of Twitter, consumers may directly ask for Chung‟s position regarding a specific
topic or ask for other responses such as an apology. The fact that a CEO is communicating directly with
consumers through a personal media channel, like Twitter and not an official company channel is a huge
transformation in itself.

“Cool” – Third, Chung has been quite “cool” about even personal matters that may have previously been
covered as rumors or gossips in a magazine. In August 2010, as news about him dating a flutist came out, he
wrote on Twitter, “Looks like I‟ll get myself a lot of followers today…. No. 2 keyword search on Naver!!!” Also in
6

July 2010, his Twitter message once again made the headlines as he wrote about how he ran into trouble while
using the Galaxy S made by Samsung – the family-run conglomerate, to which he is blood-related.

What is Cool Communication®?
Obviously, this current report is not about Shinsegae‟s CEO Chung Yong-jin. The purpose of this study is to
illustrate unprecedented cases in our society brought about by Twitter and other social media tools and how this
is resulting in incremental changes in corporate culture and communication. Now, corporate communication is no
longer led by just the PR department and journalists.

Companies engage in various communications with consumers. Topics may be in regards to products and services,
official company activities, the CEO and other figures, as well as both „good‟ and „bad‟ news.

6
http://twitter.com/#!/yjchung68/status/20441810999


In an era of social media such as Twitter, corporate communication is undergoing three major changes:

“Public to Personal” – First of all, the corporate communication channel is no longer limited to an official
route such as the PR department, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, it is expanding into various types
of personal media owned not only by a CEO but also by employees at all levels.

“Speaker to Phone” – Second, corporate communication so far was carried out in the name of '”PR”, and
although it was meant to be a mode of communication, in reality, it was largely a unilateral news announcement
through press releases. Also, dialogues only took place between the company‟s PR department and media
journalists. Nonetheless, nowadays, even the general public can ask questions to the CEO directly and although
not all do, basic communication and dialogues in response to these queries are actually taking place. Perhaps this
can be seen as a shift from an audio speaker that just emits sound to a telephone that enables conversations.

“Control to Conversation” – Third, as communication has expanded from an official corporate channel to
personal channels, and as people are now sending questions straight to company executives and staff, complete
transparency has resulted, regardless of companies desire for such transparency. Also, in such an era, companies
are finding it difficult to control their messages. Therefore, tactics frequently employed by companies in a crisis
situation including no response, denial of mistakes or wrongdoings, and belated apologies are no longer effective.

Despite the need to promptly admit to mistakes or wrongdoings in a “cool” manner as well as the need to
apologize and announce improvement measures, there are still many cases in which companies are stuck in an
old paradigm. As mentioned above, with the rise of Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and other social media channels,
mistakes and wrongdoings of companies are being fully disclosed, which has resulted in a large increase of public
apology requests by the general public or influential groups more than ever before.

While consulting and coaching companies during a bad news situation, I have given keen attention to the recent
changes driven by social media and have studied the trend. Meanwhile, I contemplated how I could describe the
enormous shift in corporate communication led by social media and how we should view this. Moreover, during
the 2008 Business Blog Marketing Seminar held on December 13, 2007, I declared that ”PR in the Web 2.0 era will
be about getting down and dirty,” so we must shift towards a crisis communication in which even negative
opinions are openly accepted.7

At the Business Blog Summit held on June 25, 2008, I made a presentation titled “Social Media and Corporate
Crisis Management: Bad News 2.0” where I used the term “Cool Communication®” for the first time to define

7


corporate communication. Afterwards, during the Online Strategy Conference with Josh Bernoff hosted by
Electronic Times on September 4, 2009, I further developed the concept of “Cool Communication®” with a
presentation on “Cool Communication®: Groundswell Phenomenon and Corporate Bad News Management
Strategy.”

The idea of Cool Communication® is simple. Formerly, company PR was largely „inhuman.‟ Strengths were
excessively peddled while weaknesses were kept silent. However, as contributed by social media, not the company
but the people (or individual) have now emerged as a major player in corporate communications, and as such,
consumers no longer passively absorb news but act as a proactive communicator and news producer. In this era,
the tactic of stressing strengths and hiding weaknesses is no longer effective. The biggest reason for this lies in
the transparent characteristic of social media, in which corporate mistakes and wrongdoings that had not yet
been unveiled in the past are now being revealed. Hence, in a social media-driven transparency age, corporate
communication must be “cool‟” in regards to both strengths and weaknesses. In social media communication, if a
company is not “cool,” it may be pushed to the brink. For example, public apologies are increasingly becoming
more important because an apology is a major form of cool communication.

This three year-long study takes a scientific approach to Cool Communication® as a paradigm of corporate
communication in the social media era with relevant data and is the first attempt to offer guidance to corporate
communication professionals. As a first trial, there inevitably are some shortcomings. For example, the study was
limited to the top 10 companies in Korea, and thus, several companies that are active (but not the top 10) in the
social media landscape have not been included. Nonetheless, this research will not end as a one-off study and
will be supplemented and improved every year.

For the first Cool Communication® research, the gap in corporate perception between the general public and
Twitter users, a recent focus in and out of Korea, has been studied. In order to see the changes led by social
media observing the users‟ changes in perception towards Korean companies and news consumption and related
behaviors is the most important, and we decided to focus on Twitter in this study, which is a leading social
medium.

Around the time this study was being written in August 2010, there were reports that the number of Twitter users
in Korea would soon reach over a million. Not only was there a quantitative growth, but the year 2010 has a
special meaning for social media in Korea. For the past couple of years, blogs were popular among individual
web users as a social media platform, but unlike in the US, this was not the case among Korean opinion leaders
as they were either inactive or skeptical about blogs. In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that Korean opinion
leaders have shunned blogging while in the US, Nobel Prize laureates such as Paul Krugman was active in the
scene.

However, Twitter has completely overturned this situation and as mentioned above, not only CEO Chung, Yong-jin


but other politicians, celebrities, and CEOs have been immensely engaged. Here we need to focus not on the
fact that these big name figures are tweeting but on the fact that they have entered a world in which they can
communicate with the general public through social media. In the meantime, social issues caused by malicious
postings on the web must also be discussed. THE LAB h® will continue its research on Cool Communication® as
a new corporate communication paradigm in the age of social media and share the results in the future.

While preparing and conducting the research, I sought assistance from many different people. Dr. Jaeseung
Jeong of KAIST gave me advice while planning the research. I have been studying for my doctoral degree under
the guidance of Dr. Jeong who has been feeding me with constructive advice and encouragement in taking a
scientific approach to corporate public apologies. Furthermore, Dr. Cha Mi-young of KAIST offered me valuable
advice on what to be wary of in regards to studying Twitter users. Also, I would like to thank Twitter user
@kkoosoo, President of SCOTOSS Hamsu Kang, President of Social Link Juny Lee, and Joohyun Huh (consultant)
for their precious opinions in interpreting the research outcomes as well as Research and Research‟s JC Bae and
SY Kang (researcher) for conducting the survey.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to the Twitter users who have actively taken part in
this study. In addition, I would like to apologize for the delayed results analysis and release. I sincerely hope that
this report helps you develop response measures for the changes taking place in corporate communication.
Furthermore, it would be highly appreciated if you could send me your opinions (email: hoh.kim@thelabh.com /
Twitter: @hoh) on how we can improve this study. Thank you very much.

October 20108
Hoh Kim, Founder and Head Coach of THE LAB h®

8
The original report in Korean language was released in August 2010, and this English version is released in
October, 2010.


Overview & Methods: How was the Cool Communication® Study conducted?

THE LAB h® commissioned the research specialized organization, Research and Research (http://w3.randr.co.kr/),
for the 2010 Cool Communication® study (Project Team: Manager JC Bae and Researcher SY Kang). The overview
of the study is listed in the table below:

Table 1: Study Design and Method
General Public* Study Twitter User Study
Subjects Nationwide men/women 19 years old Korean Twitter users
and above
Subject Size 500 305
Sampling Error +/- 4.38% +/- 5.61%
(95% Confidence Level)
Method CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Online research
Interviewing)
Sample Extraction Quota sampling based on Random participation through Twitter
region/gender/age announcement + Twitter users on the
Research and Research panel
Duration April 1, 2010 10:00 – 21:00 May 1 – 17, 2010

* Some Twitter users among the general public group may have been included. Therefore, this study should be
understood not as a comparison of Twitter users vs. Non-Twitter users but of Twitter users vs. the general public
in Korea.

The following 10 conglomerate companies were given as options in the questionnaire – Kumho Asiana, Lotte,
Samsung, POSCO, Hanjin, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, GS, LG and SK. The order of
these options was rotated in order to minimize respondent bias.


Core Findings: 2010 Cool Communication® Study Key Results


Overall Reputation: Corporate Reputation Perception by the General Public vs. Twitter
Users

1. Overall Analysis
A total of six aspects were selected in order to conduct a study on the overall perception of corporate reputation
and to compare them. These categories were most trustworthy (trust) , most competent in self-promotion (self-
promotion) , most engaged in listening to customers‟ opinion (listening), most responsible (responsibility), most
skilled in communication (communication) , and most desirable to purchase (purchase intention) , among which
respondents were asked to pick one company per category.

Key Finding: The general public group chose Samsung as the no. 1 company across all six
categories while Twitter users selected a different company for each category - POSCO
(for trust and responsibility), Samsung (for self-promotion and purchase intention), LG
(for listening), and SK (for communication).

[Table 2] In order to see an overall trend, the average of the six categories combined was taken, and for the
sake of convenience, it is referred to as the Reputation Quotient (RQ), which is illustrated below in Table 2. It
appears that Samsung ranked no. 1 by both groups. However, in the general public group, Samsung was the top
company by far with a 50.9% response rate, which is a staggering 37.2% greater rate than that of the no. 2
company, LG, whereas among Twitter users, Samsung was chosen by only 28% of respondents, which is merely 7%
greater than the no.2 company, POSCO.

Table 2: Comparison of the Combined Average of 6 Categories (RQ) by the General Public and Twitter Users
Rank General Public Twitter Users
No. 1 Samsung 50.9 Samsung 28.0
No. 2 LG 13.7 POSCO 21.0
No. 4 Hyundai-Kia 9.0 LG 15.9
No. 4 ~ No. 10 POSCO 8.1 SK 14.5
SK 6.2 Hyundai-Kia 6.1
Lotte 3.7 GS 4.7
Hyundai Heavy Industries 3.6 Kumho Asiana 4.5
Kumho Asiana 1.8 Lotte 2.3
GS 1.7 Hyundai Heavy Industries 1.9
Hanjin 1.2 Hanjin 1.3


Within the general public group, the top 3 companies accounted for 73.6% of the responses, and the
gap between the no. 1 and no. 3 companies was 41.9% (50.9% - 9.0%); however, among Twitter users,
the figure was 64.9%, and the difference between the no. 1 and no. 3 company was 12.1% (28.0% -
15.9%), reflecting an even distribution. The top 5 companies were Samsung, LG, Hyundai Kia Automotive
Group, POSCO, and SK among both groups, only in a different order. Coincidently, Hanjin ranked no. 10
by both groups, which can either mean that Hanjin has low awareness or that the percentage or ranking
may differ if surveying with the name Korean Air, which is Hanjin‟s most well-known brand.

[Table 3] Among the six categories, four have more significance in this social media era. These categories are
trust, listening, responsibility, and communication. While surveying the general public, Samsung was ranked as
undeniably no. 1 among Korean general public (in the six categories, the differences between the no. 1 Samsung
and the no. 2 companies ranged from as small as 29.4% to as great as 45.1%). Meanwhile, interestingly enough,
among Korean Twitter users, companies other than Samsung were selected as no. 1 in each of the four categories
that have become increasingly important in the age of social media. POSCO was chosen for trust, LG for listening
to customers, POSCO for responsibility, and SK for communication.

Table 3: Comparison of the No. 1 Company by Category and the Difference with the No. 2 Company
General Public Twitter Users
“Most trustworthy” Samsung (54.0%) POSCO (41.3%)
Difference with No. 2 POSCO (12.2%): 40.8% Difference with No. 2 Samsung (27.2%): 14.1%
“Most competent in Samsung (57.1%) Samsung (61.6%)
self-promotion”
Difference with No. 2 Hyundai/Kia (12.0%): Difference with No. 2 SK (17.4%): 44.2%
45.1%
“Most engaged in listening Samsung (46.0%) LG (23.3%)
to customers‟ opinions”
Difference with No. 2 LG (16.6%): 29.4% Difference with no. 2 Samsung (17.4%): 5.9%
“Most responsible” Samsung (52.7%) POSCO (40.3%)
Difference with No. 2 POSCO: 37.9% Difference with no. 2 Samsung (21.6%): 18.7%
“Most skilled in Samsung (41.3%) SK (31.5%)
communication”
Difference with No. 2 LG (13.6%): 27.7% Difference with No. 2 LG (23.3%): 8.2%
“Most desirable to Samsung (54.6%) Samsung (26.9%)
purchase”
Difference with No. 2 LG (25.1%): 29.5% Difference with No. 2 LG (23.3%): 3.6%

 However, the “most competent in self-promotion” category can be seen as either positive or negative
depending on the respondent. This category, which had an interesting result, was added while taking
into account how in our daily lives, we use the expression “do PR” as synonymous with “boasting” and
how this attribute contrasts with listening to customers. With regard to the Samsung numbers in Table 3,


except for ranking no. 3 in the communications category with 13.4%, Samsung was ranked within the top
2 across all other categories with both the general public and Twitter users.

 Here, regardless of Samsung’s ranking as no. 1 or 2 (or 3) by Twitter users, the difference in
selection between the general public group and Twitter users was significant, resulting in a much
lower score for the company by the latter group. The only exception is with the “most competent
in self-promotion”. Among the general public group, 57.1% voted for Samsung in the “self-
promotion” category, while the figure was 61.6% – a higher vote – among Twitter users. On the
contrary, 46.0% of the general public respondents selected Samsung for in the “most engaged in
listening to customers’ opinions” category, while only 17.4% of Twitter users – less than half –
made the same choice.

[Table 4] We looked at how extremely different corporate perception was between the general public and
Twitter users. First, we compared the average of Twitter users and the general public for the six categories and
then added up the absolute value of the differences and took another average of this. This number can be used
to indicate how extreme the difference of view is between the general public and Twitter users.

 Two big trends can be found in Table 4. First, in general, companies that were better perceived by the
general public were Samsung, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Lotte, and
Hanjin.9 On the other hand, Twitter users chose POSCO, SK, LG, GS, and Kumho Asiana. Second,
when looking at how great the difference was between the general public and Twitter users,
Samsung and POSCO showed the most severe gap as Samsung was best perceived by the general
public, while POSCO was best perceived by Twitter users. Also, SK received a relatively high score by
Twitter users, and the rating for Hyundai Kia Automotive Group and LG were quite evenly distributed.
When comparing the averages of the absolute value for the remaining five companies, the two groups
gave them similar ratings; however, the average values within each group was insignificant; hence, it is
not meaningful to be discussed.

9
As for Hanjin, the difference is insignificant, standing at 0.1


Table 4: Results of the Level of Difference for Overall Corporate Reputation by the General Public and
Twitter Users
Company Evaluation Category Twitter General Difference by Groups Average of
Users Public (Absolute Value) Difference by
Group
Samsung . “Most trustworthy” 27.2% 54.0% 26.8
. “Most competent in self-promotion” 61.6% 57.1% 4.5
. “Most engaged in listening” 17.4% 46.0% 28.6
24.43
. “Most responsible” 21.6% 52.7% 31.1
. “Most skilled in communications” 13.4% 41.3% 27.9
. “Most desirable to purchase” 26.9% 54.6% 27.7
POSCO . “Most trustworthy” 41.3% 13.2% 28.1
12.9
SK . “Most trustworthy” 6.2% 5.9% 0.3
8.22
Hyundai Kia . “Most trustworthy” 2.6% 6.1% 3.5
4.18
. Most desirable to purchase” 12.8% 9.1% 3.7
LG . “Most trustworthy” 11.1% 10.5% 0.6
3.55
GS . “Most trustworthy” 3.6% 0.7% 2.9
2.98


Company Evaluation Category Twitter General Difference by Groups Average of
Users Public (Absolute Value) Difference by
Group
Kumho . “Most trustworthy” 2.6% 1.9% 0.7
Asiana . “Most competent in self-promotion” 1.3% 1.5% 0.2
2.77
Hyundai . “Most trustworthy” 2.3% 5.0% 2.7
Heavy . “Most competent in self-promotion” 0.7% 5.0% 4.3
Industries
2.05
Lotte . “Most trustworthy” 2.3% 1.9% 0.4
1.67
Hanjin . “Most trustworthy” 0.7% 0.8% 0.1
0.42


2. Results by Category

[Chart 1 - Trust] As for a “trustworthy” company, the general public and Twitter users both chose
Samsung, POSCO, and LG; however, the general public ranked Samsung and Twitter users ranked POSCO as no.
1. In the survey, 54.0% (general public) ranked Samsung as no. 1, and 41.3% (Twitter users) ranked POSCO as no.
1. The difference between the no. 1 Samsung and no. 2 POSCO within the general public group was a staggering
40.8%, while the gap between the no. 1 POSCO and no. 2 Samsung among Twitter users was 14.1%. Although it
is unclear in this study why POSCO was ranked as the no. 1 company in terms of trust, it is still noteworthy that
POSCO was well perceived by Twitter users across various categories in the study.

Chart 1: “Most Trustworthy” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter Users

Samsung 54%
27.20%

POSCO 13.20%
41.30%

LG 10.50%
11.10%

Hyundai Kia Automotive 6.10%
2.60%

SK 5.90%
6.20%
General
Hyundai Heavy Industries 5% public
2.30%

Lotte 1.90%
2.30%

Kumho Asiana 1.90%
2.60%

Hanjin 0.80%
0.70%

GS 0.70%
3.60%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


[Chart 2 – Self-Promotion] As mentioned before, among the six categories regarding overall reputation,
Samsung was given an extremely low score for five of them by Twitter users, but the company received a
relatively high rating for the “self-promotion” category.

Chart 2: “Most Competent in Self-Promoting” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter
Users

Samsung 57.10%
61.60%

Hyundai Kia Automotive 12%
3.90%

SK 7.80%
17.40%

LG 6.50%
4.90%

Hyundai Heavy Industries 5.00%
0.70%
General public
Lotte 4.50%
2% Twitter users

POSCO 4.00%
6.20%

Kumho Asiana 1.50%
1.30%

GS 1.00%
1.60%

Hanjin 0.60%
0.30%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%


[Chart 3 – Listening (to customers)] In a social media age, the ability to listen has become
increasingly important for corporate communications. While the general public gave Samsung the highest score
as the no. 1 company, Twitter users selected LG as the no. 1 company in this category. It is interesting when
taking into account that among the top 30 companies, LG Electronics not only has been very active in the
corporate blogging scene but also the first for a top 30 company to share customers’ comments on its blog
without screening.

Chart 3: “Most Engaged in Listening to Customers’ Opinions” Category Comparison between the General
Public and Twitter Users

46.0%
Samsung
17.4%

16.6%
LG
23.3%

9.3%
Hyundai Kia Automotive
4.9%

7.1%
SK
17.0%

6.9%
POSCO
12.1%
General public
3.9% Twitter users
Lotte
3.0%

3.6%
Kumho Asiana
9.5%

2.9%
GS
9.8%

1.8%
Hyundai Heavy Industries
0.7%

1.8%
Hanjin
2.3%

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%


[Chart 4- Responsibility] In terms of responsibility, Samsung, POSCO, and LG were the top 3 companies
ranked, and the general public group and Twitter users chose Samsung and POSCO, respectively, as the no. 1
company in this aspect. POSCO was ranked as the best company for two out of the six categories – trust and
responsibility – by Twitter users.

Chart 4: “Most Responsible” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter Users

52.70%
Samsung
21.60%

14.80%
POSCO
40.30%

10.10%
LG
9.20%

7.60%
Hyundai Kia Automotive
7.20%

5.40%
Hyundai Heavy Industries
5.60%
General public
3.90% Twitter users
SK
7.20%

1.80%
Hanjin
1.60%

1.60%
Lotte
0.70%

1.30%
Kumho Asiana
3.90%

0.80%
GS
2.60%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


[Chart 5 - Communication] As for communication, Samsung, LG, and SK were ranked as the top 3
companies by both respondent groups. The general public ranked Samsung, and Twitter users ranked SK, as the
no. 1 company in this category. Among Twitter users, out of the six categories, SK ranked no. 1 for
communication only, which may either be a result of having SK Telecom, Korea’s leading mobile operator -
or because SK Telecom was the first company among the top 30 Korean companies to open a corporate
blog and directly communicate with consumers.

Chart 5: “Most Skilled in Communications” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter
Users

Samsung 41.30%
13.40%

LG 13.60%
23.30%

SK 10.60%
31.50%

4.90%

Lotte 7.00%
2.30%
General public
POSCO 6.40%
11.10% Twitter users

1.00%

GS 3.20%
4.60%

Hanjin 2.00%
1.30%

Kumho Asiana 1.70%
6.60%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%


[Chart 6 - Purchase] The only category in which both the general public and Twitter users chose
Samsung as the no. 1 company was the sales category. This reflects a shared perception of Samsung product
excellence and brand power. In fact, in this category, there are a couple of top 10 companies that did not have
much to do with customer purchases. For example, POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries are “B2B (Business to
Business)”, not directly related to ordinary consumers. Despite this fact, POSCO ranked no. 3 in the “most
desirable to purchase” category by Twitter users and ranked ahead of the no. 4 Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.
As POSCO was consistently perceived as favorable and trustworthy across various parts of the study among
Twitter users, a follow-up research should be conducted to find the reasons while POSCO was ranked no. 3 in this
category..

Chart 6: “Most Desirable to Purchase” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter Users

Samsung 54.60%
26.90%

LG 25.10%
23.30%

12.80%

POSCO 3.10%
14.80%

Lotte 3.00%
3.60%
General public
SK 2.20%
7.50% Twitter users

GS 1.60%
5.90%

Kumho Asiana 0.70%
3.00%

Hanjin 0.60%
1.30%

1.00%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


Cool Crisis Communication: Comparison of Perception for Crisis Response by the Top 10
Companies

1. Overall Analysis
We defined communication during a crisis situation in a “cool” manner without employing strategies of cover up,
underplay, or delay as “Cool Crisis Communication,” and we studied three areas as Cool Crisis Communication‟s
key categories: after making a mistake or wrongdoing a “company that officially discloses to consumers or the
general public most transparently and candidly”; a “company that most genuinely apologizes for their
wrongdoing”; and a “company that makes the most effort to make up for their mistakes and not stop with a
simple apology.”

Key Finding: “In terms of transparent communication and response in a crisis
situation, the general public ranked Samsung and Twitter users ranked
POSCO as the best company.”

[Table 5] As we quantified the average of the six category rankings for overall reputation, when doing the
same for the three categories for cool crisis communication (C3Q), the general public voted for Samsung
and Twitter users voted for POSCO as the no. 1 company. The following is worth noting. First, Samsung did
not make it in the top 3 by Twitter users in terms of cool crisis communication (Similarly, POSCO was ranked no.
1 by Twitter users but no. 4 by the general public). Second, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group which stood at no. 3
in the general public‟s ranking was voted as the no. 7 company by Twitter users. This illustrates that the Hyundai
Kia Automotive Group is not perceived as a relatively transparent company by Twitter users. Third, LG was voted
as the no. 2 company by both groups, reflecting a shared perception.

Table 5: Cool Crisis Communication Three Category Average (C3Q) Comparison between the General Public
and Twitter Users
Ranking General Public Twitter Users
No. 1 Samsung 35.9 POSCO 30.7
No. 2 LG 14.8 LG 21.0
No. 3 Hyundai/Kia 13.9 SK 10.5
No. 4 ~ No. 10 POSCO 13.1 Samsung 10.3
SK 7.2 GS 7.8
Lotte 4.5 Kumho Asiana 7.6
Kumho Asiana 3.4 Hyundai/Kia 5.8
GS 3.0 Lotte 2.9
Hyundai Heavy Industries 2.7 Hanjin 2.0
Hanjin 1.4 Hyundai Heavy Industries 1.4


[Table 6] The intriguing fact here is that in terms of the three categories related to crisis communication, the
general public group and Twitter users show a sharp contrast. As the general public chose Samsung as the no.
1 company for all six categories under overall reputation, the general public also selected Samsung for all of
the three cool crisis communication related categories. On the contrary, Twitter users picked POSCO as the
no. 1 company for all three categories of cool crisis communication related categories. LG ranked no. 2 in
two categories by the general public group and in all three categories by Twitter users, showing similar
perceptions across respondent groups.

 The results imply that Samsung is well-reputed among the general public, not only in terms of overall
perception but also with various measures in dealing with a crisis.

 Meanwhile, Twitter users ranked POSCO as the no. 1 company for three categories pertaining to trust,
responsibility, and transparency in a crisis situation; hence, in total, Twitter users ranked POSCO as the no.
1 company for five out of nine categories (six overall reputation categories + three crisis communication
categories). In regards to this result, Twitter user @kkoosoo remarked that “POSCO‟s morality may have
been highly respected because there are relatively less known corruption scandals of the company.” The
reason behind POSCO‟s coherent positive appraisal requires follow-up research.

Table 6: Cool Crisis Communication Comparison of the No. 1 Company by Category and the Difference with
the No. 2 Company
General Public Twitter Users
“Company to officially Samsung (32.0%) POSCO (32.8%)
disclose its wrongdoing” Difference with No. 2 Hyundai/Kia (14.7%): Difference with No. 2 LG (19.7%):
17.3% 13.1%
“Company to genuinely Samsung (33.7%) POSCO (32.5%)
apologize” Difference with No. 2 LG (16.2%): 17.5% Difference with No. 2 LG (22.6%): 9.9%
“Company to make efforts for Samsung (42.1%) POSCO (26.9%)
improvement” Difference with No. 2 LG (14.3%): 27.8% Difference with No. 2 LG (20.7%): 6.2%

[Table 7] How much do the views of the general public and Twitter users differ in terms of transparent
communication and response measures in a crisis situation? As done previously, we looked at how much the
views differ by comparing the average of the absolute value of the two respondent group scores for the three
categories under crisis communication by company. Companies that showed the largest gap between the
general public and Twitter users were Samsung (difference of 25.63) and POSCO (17.63) in order of variance.


Samsung and POSCO were each better reputed by the general public and Twitter users, respectively. As with
the overall reputation survey, Samsung and POSCO were the two companies that varied the most in terms of
respondent views regarding crisis communication.

Table 7: Results of the Variance between the General Public and Twitter Users for Transparent Crisis
Communication and Response Measures by Company
Difference by Average of
Twitter General
Category Groups Difference
Users Public
(Absolute Value) by Groups
Samsung . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 6.9% 32.0% 25.1
. “Genuine Apology” 8.9% 33.7% 24.8 25.63
. “Improvement Efforts” 15.1% 42.1% 27
POSCO . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 32.8% 14.2% 18.6
. “Genuine Apology” 32.5% 14.4% 18.1 17.63
. “Improvement Efforts” 26.9% 10.7% 16.2
Hyundai . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 5.2% 14.7% 9.5
Kia . “Genuine Apology” 5.2% 12.8% 7.6 8.1
LG . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 19.7% 13.9% 5.8
. “Genuine Apology” 22.6% 16.2% 6.4 6.2
GS . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 7.9% 3.1% 4.8
. “Genuine Apology” 7.5% 3.0% 4.5 4.8
Kumho . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 9.5% 4.4% 5.1
Asiana . “Genuine Apology” 7.5% 2.3% 5.2 3.83
SK . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 11.5% 9.7% 1.8
. “Genuine Apology” 9.5% 7.4% 2.1 3.3
. “Improvement Efforts” 10.5 4.5% 6
Lotte . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 3.9% 4.0% 0.1
. “Genuine Apology” 1.6% 5.0% 3.4 1.6
Hyundai . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 0.7% 2.7% 2.0
Heavy . “Genuine Apology” 1.6% 3.3% 1.7 1.33
Industries . “Improvement Efforts” 2.0% 2.3% 0.3
Hanjin . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” 2.0% 1.3% 0.7
. “Genuine Apology” 3.0% 2.0% 1.0 0.6


2. Results by Category

[Chart 7 – Disclosure of Wrongdoing] Going public with a mistake or wrongdoing in a transparent
manner during a crisis situation is an integral first step for Cool Crisis Communication. In this case, the general
public ranked Samsung, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, and POSCO as the top 3, and Twitter users ranked
POSCO, LG, and SK as the top 3, listed in order of ranking. POSCO is the only company that was ranked within
the top 3 by both groups.

Chart 7: “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” Category Comparison between the General Public
and Twitter Users

Samsung 32.00%
6.90%

5.20%

POSCO 14.20%
32.80%

LG 13.90%
19.70%

SK 9.70%
11.50%
General public
Kumho Asiana 4.40%
9.50% Twitter users

Lotte 4.00%
3.90%

GS 3.10%
7.90%

0.70%

Hanjin 1.30%
2.00%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00%


[Chart 8 – Genuine Apology] The second step in Cool Crisis Communication is a genuine apology
based on the acknowledgement of making a mistake. In this case, the general public ranked Samsung, LG, and
POSCO as the top 3, and Twitter users ranked POSCO, LG, and SK as the top 3, listed in order of ranking. POSCO
and LG are the only companies that were ranked within the top 3 by both groups.

Chart 8: “Genuine Apology for Wrongdoing” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter
Users

Samsung 33.70%
8.90%

LG 16.20%
22.60%

POSCO 14.40%
32.50%

5.20%

SK 7.40%
9.50%
General public
Lotte 5.00%
1.60% Twitter users

1.60%

GS 3.00%
7.50%

Kumho Asiana 2.30%
7.50%

Hanjin 2.00%
3.00%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00%


[Chart 9 – Improvement Efforts] It is not “cool” for apologies to end only in rhetoric. An apology is
only complete when there is supporting compensation or recovery actions. Regarding the question for the
company that would do best in making efforts to make up for their wrongdoing and not just stop with an
apology, the general public voted for Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Kia Automotive Group as the top 3, whereas
Twitter users voted for POSCO, LG, and Samsung as the top 3, listed in order of ranking. Samsung and LG were
the only companies ranked within the top 3 by both groups.

Chart 9: “Make Improvements and Go Beyond a Rhetorical Apology” Category Comparison between the
General Public and Twitter Users

Samsung 42.10%
15.10%

LG 14.30%
20.70%

6.90%

POSCO 10.70%
26.90%

Lotte 4.60%
3.30%
General public
SK 4.50%

Kumho Asiana 3.50%
5.90%

GS 2.80%
7.90%

2.00%

Hanjin 0.90%
1.00%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 45.00%


“News Behavior”: Comparison of News Production and Consumption Channels

Lastly, we looked into the news consumption characteristics and production of news through social media by the
general public and Twitter users.

Key Finding: “6 Twitter users and 5 general public members out of 10
subscribe to newspaper home delivery”

1. Overall Analysis

 When looking at the newspaper home delivery rate, compared to the general public‟s subscription rate
(51.5%), Twitter users‟ rate (60.3%) was approximately 10% higher. Current college students or graduates
make up 50.1% of the general public group, whereas they make up 96.7% of Twitter users. Also, white
collar workers make up 16.4% of the general public group and 60.3% of Twitter users. These numbers
may be the contributing factors to the newspaper home delivery rates in Korea.

 However, although newspaper subscription was higher among Twitter users, it was the general public
group who perceived newspapers as a more important news channel. In regards to the question about
which news channel respondents use the most, the general public group chose TV (61.9%), online
newspaper (25.9%) and print newspaper (10.2%), while Twitter users chose portal websites (35.1%), online
newspaper (25.9%), and TV (17.7%). As for Twitter users, newspapers ranked only no. 5 after mobile
(13.1%).

 What does a newspaper mean to Twitter users if a significant number of them subscribe to it, yet it is
not their key source of information? Regarding this, the President of SCOTOSS Consulting, Kang Hamsoo,
makes the following case: “It must be interpreted as people who use Twitter having a strong desire
and demand for news and information usage, therefore, not relying on a single information source
(channel) to obtain information or knowledge. Although Twitter users’ subscription of an influential
newspaper may be higher than the general public’s, the former group tends not to trust
information solely from the newspaper they subscribe to, so they obtain and absorb news stories
through another information sources. In this light, regardless of the rating of newspapers, it can
be extrapolated that the usage of Internet news and portal websites is higher due to its speed
among Twitter users compared to among the general public.”

 When asked if the respondent has ever posted a product-related review on the web during the past year,
not even 2 out of 10 (15.9%) of the general public group chose “yes,” while almost 7 out of 10 Twitter


users (67.2%) said they had posted a review before. Looking at the age distribution, the general public
group respondents who chose “yes” had 30% of respondents in their 20s, about 21.4% in their 30s, 14.1%
in their 40s, and 3.5% in their 50s, while in the Twitter users group, over 60% of respondents in their 20s
as well as their 30s, 40s, and above had posted an online review before.

2. Result by Category

[Chart 10 – Newspaper Subscription] For the question, “Do you subscribe to one or more
newspaper home delivery”, 5 out of 10 from the general public group and 6 out of 10 from the Twitter users
group replied “yes.”

Chart 10: Newspaper Home Delivery Subscription

51.10%
Subcribing newspaper General public
60.30%
Twitter users

46.00% 48.00% 50.00% 52.00% 54.00% 56.00% 58.00% 60.00% 62.00%


[Chart 11 – Age Group Analysis] Looking at the age distribution, over half of the respondents in their
40s and 50s from the general public group subscribed to newspapers, while less than half of the respondents in
their 20s and 30s from the same group did. In the Twitter users group, not only with respondents in their 40s (the
questionnaire for Twitter users did not include an option of “50s and above” and only had “40s and above”) but
over half of the respondents in their 20s and 30s subscribed to newspapers, and interestingly, the subscription
rate was higher among the 20s group than among the 30s group. The reason may be that in Korean society,
there are a significant number of people in their 20s residing with their parents, and compared to the general
public, the parents of the Twitter users are more likely to have white collar jobs who would have higher
newspaper subscription rate in Korea.

Chart 11: Newspaper Home Delivery by Age

56.7%
50s' and above

59.5%
40s' (and above for Twitter users)
70.5%
General public
38.4% Twitter users
30s'
55.6%

44.9%
19-29 years old
61.9%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0%


Key Finding: “The main channel of the news for the general public is TV,
while the main channel of the news for Twitter users is portal websites.”

[Chart 12 – The Main Channel of the News] The general public group ranked the channel
through which they get the news the most in the following order: TV, online newspaper, and print newspaper. On
the other hand, Twitter users ranked the channel through which they get the news in this order: portal websites,
online newspaper, and TV. Although 6 out of 10 Twitter users subscribed to newspaper home delivery, not even 1
out of 10 Twitter users responded that print newspapers were their main source of obtaining the news.

Chart 12: The Most Used Channel for Obtaining the News

TV 61.9%
17.7%

online newspaper 15.8%
25.9%

newspaper 10.2%
5.9%

portal sites 9.1%
35.1%
General public
radio 1.1%
0.0% Twitter users

mobile 0.5%
13.1%

others 0.7%
2.3%

don't know/no response 0.7%
0.0%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%


Key Finding: “As for posting a product review online, 7 out of 10 Twitter
users had experience, while barely 2 out of 10 from the general public had
experience over the past year”

[Chart 13 – Online Review Posting Experience] When asked whether they had posted a product
review on the web over the past year, 15.9% of the general public group responded “yes.”

 With the online review posting experienced group, the proportion was higher with the younger (32.1% of
the 20s group) and more educated (23.6% of current college students and graduates) respondents as
well as those with a monthly income of 4 million won and above (21.8%).

 As for Twitter users, when looking at the number of tweets excluding re-tweets over the past month, 76.2%
of those who tweeted 30 times or more and 64.1% of those who tweeted 10~29 times had posted
reviews online, whereas only 34.8% of those who tweeted less than 5 times over the past month had
posted a product review on the web over the past year.

Chart 13: “Experience of Posting an Online Review over the Past Year”

15.90%
online review over the past year General public

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00%


[Chart 14 – Review Content] We asked those who had posted a review in the past whether they left a
positive or a negative feedback. In the general public group, 41.8% responded that their comment was mostly
negative, while in the Twitter users group, only 19.5% said their comment was mostly negative. In addition, 55.1%
of Twitter users and 37% of the general public group replied that the review contained both positive and negative
comments. Furthermore, while the reviews posted by members of the general public were mainly negative (41.8%
vs. 19.5%, see chart 14), in contrast, Twitter users showed a more balanced response in terms of positive and
negative content (37% vs. 55.1%, see chart 14).

Chart 14: Review Contents for Respondents with Online Review Posting Experience

19.70%
positive
25.40%

41.80%
negative General public
19.50%
Twitter users

37.00%
positive/negative
55.10%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


Key Finding: “Among Koreans, barely 2 out of 10 people have their own blog
and produce 1 or more contents per month, while 3 out of 10 people only
visit a particular blog.”

Lastly, there was a question subject for the general public group only. We asked about blog subscription and
ownership as well as contents production.

[Chart 15 – Blog Contents Consumption] In regards to how often they visit other people‟s blogs,
over half of the respondents did not have a blog they regularly visited or read and some did not even know what
a blog was (this finding includes non-responses). However, 1 out of 4 people (25.4%) had a blog they visited and
read at least once a week.

Chart 15: Blog Subscription Frequency

I have blogs to visit at least once a week 25.40%

I have blogs to visit at least once a month 5.80%

계열 1
do not regularly visit blogs 51.40%

don't know what a blog is/no response 17.40%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


[Chart 16 – Blog Contents Production] Although 35% of the general public had their own blogs (5%
+ 9.4% + 20.6%), over 20% responded that they almost never post any contents. Merely 15% responded that they
post at least one content per month. A total of 65% responded that they did not own a blog or did not know
what a blog was (49.9% + 15%).

 In short, 1 to 2 out of 10 from the general public group make 1 or more monthly postings on their blogs,
and 3 out of 10 have a blog they visit and read at least once a month.

Chart 16: Blog Ownership and Contents Posting

have a blog, and post one or more content(s) every
5%
week

have a blog, and post one or more content(s) every
9.40%
month

have a blog, but do not post almost anything 20.60%

don't have a blog 49.90%

don't know what a blog is/no response 15.00%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


Conclusion & Insights: Completing the 2010 Cool Communication® Study


Conclusion & Insights: Completing the 2010 Cool Communication®

A. The interest for social media among opinion leaders from business and political circles in
Korea has increased alongside the popularity of Twitter and smart phones that enable easy
access to social media. Companies must focus on how social media is shaping the way their
employees, consumers, and experts are producing and consuming news, ultimately,
transforming the paradigm of opinion formation.

B. Formerly, a cultural anthropologist, Edward T. Hall (1959) remarked that “communication is
culture and culture is communication.” Therefore, companies taking advantage of the recent
shift that has been driven by social media in how we communicate should be approached
for managing corporate culture changes. For instance, it will be difficult for
executives/employees to actively use Twitter and directly engage with consumers without an
open culture that supports it.

C. Furthermore, unless CEOs and other influential leaders in the company are at the forefront in
using social media, employees will inevitably be discouraged to participate, especially in Korean
culture. For example, without the CEO of Shinsegae E-Mart, Chung Yong-jin, taking the lead by
opening a Twitter account, it would not have been possible for each branch to have and be
active members on Twitter. Therefore, a CEO who seems indifferent about social media but
still orders employees to “make good use of it (social media)” is misunderstanding the
essence of social media.

D. Unlike people who are familiar with the existing traditional media channels, there may be
differences in terms of corporate perception for the social media-savvy; hence, companies
must pay attention to how they are perceived by social media users. Furthermore, they
must find the area that has the biggest gap, find the reasons behind the gap, and take
necessary measures to close the gap.


E. In a social media era, communication is shifting from corporate to individuals, indirect to direct,
and control to dialogue. At THE LAB h®, we define the new paradigm of corporate
communication in a social media era as “Cool Communication®.” The biggest reason we need
a “cooler” paradigm is because we are now entering a society in which communication through
a paradigm of “highlighting strengths underplaying weaknesses” is no longer feasible because,
company mistakes and wrongdoings are increasingly unveiled to the public through social
media.

F. Social media users no longer perceive a company based on a unilateral “image
advertisement,” “press release or newspaper article” or “one-off promotion” but are
rather influenced by conversations coming from social networks.

G. The first criteria for establishing a positive relationship with social media users is enabling real
people from the company to participate in social media and talking about their strengths
and weaknesses in a “cool” manner.

H. In such Cool Communication®, everyday trust, responsibility, listening, and communication
are key elements, while in crisis situations, the disclosure of wrongdoing, genuine apology,
and actual efforts for improvement are crucial.


Appendix: Reference Materials


Profile: Respondent Demographics

Category Sub-categories General Public Twitter Users
By Region Seoul 106 (21.2%) 183 (60.0%)
Incheon/Kyonggi 140 (28.0%) 67 (22.0%)
Daejon/Chungchong 50 (10.0%) 13 (4.3%)
Gwangju/Jeolla 52 (10.4%) 8 (2.6%)
Daegu/Gyeongbuk 52 (10.4%) 8 (2.6%)
Busan/Ulsan/Gyeongnam 79 (15.8%) 25 (8.2%)
Gangwon/Jeju 21 (4.2%) 1 (0.3%)
By Gender Male 248 (49.6%) 200 (65.6%)
Female 252 (50.4%) 105 (34.4%)
By Age 19-29 97 (19.4%) 126 (41.3%)
30s 107 (21.4%) 135 (44.3%)
40s (Twitter users until here) 114 (22.8%) 44 (14.4%)
50s and above 182 (36.4%)
By Education Level Below middle school graduate 71 (14.3%) 0 (0%)
High school graduate 175 (35.6%) 10 (3.3%)
Current college student & graduate 247 (50.1%) 295 (96.7%)

By Income Below 2mil Korean Won 126 (29.9%) 25 (8.2%)
2mil.-2.99mil. Korean Won 85 (20.1%) 47 (15.4%)
3mil.-3.99mil. Korean Won 93 (22.1%) 62 (20.3%)
Over 4mil. Korewan Won 118 (27.9%) 171 (56.1%)
By Occupation Self-employed 72 (14.6%) 0
Blue collar 63 (12.8%) 40 (13.1%)
White collar 81 (16.4%) 184 (60.3%)
Housewife 139 (28.0%) 0
Student 59 (11.9%) 55 (18.0%)
Unemployed/Others 80 (16.2%) 26 (8.5%)
Total 500 (100%) 305 (100%)


Column: Related article of 2010 Cool Communication® Study10

Thinking of Samsung in the Twitter Age
By HOH KIM
August 19, 2010, The Hankyoreh

Samsung is undoubtedly Korea‟s leading global company. According to the results of a professional research firm
survey on 500 people conducted by my company, in all of the six different categories representing corporate
reputation, Samsung ranked as the no. 1 company, outpacing the no. 2 company by 27% to 45%.

However, in a separate survey on 305 Twitter users, the results were completely different. Here are three
interesting results: First, although when all of the reputation-related scores were summed up, Samsung still
remained the no.1 company, it ranked no. 1 in only two of the six categories. Second, the two categories in which
it ranked as being the best were purchasing intention and self-promotion, while the categories in which it lost the
no. 1 spot were trust, listening to customer opinions, responsibility, and communication, which are becoming
increasingly important in this Twitter Age. Third, Twitter users gave Samsung a higher score than the general
public only in the self-promotion category; in the rest of the categories, Samsung was rated much lower.

In an additional study, three categories – disclosure of wrongdoing, genuine apology and improvement efforts –
regarding a company‟s transparent response during a difficult situation caused by its mistake or wrongdoing were
surveyed. Again, the general public group ranked Samsung as the no. 1 company by over twice the score of the
runner up company. Nonetheless, amongst Twitter users, Samsung overall ranked no. 4, with only 1/3 of the score
earned by POSCO, which was ranked as the no. 1 company for these three categories. The only category in which
Samsung ranked within the top 3 by this group was the improvement efforts category.

Who exactly are these Twitter users taking part in the study? Compared to the general public, three times more
Twitter users resided in Seoul, and the proportion of those in their 20s to 30s were two times greater. While 50%
of people from the general public group participating in the study were currently college students or above, the
figure was nearly 97% with the Twitter users group. Also, there were twice as many Twitter users earning 4 million
won and above, per month, and the percentage of those holding white collar jobs was four times greater. If we
had to put this statistics into words, compared to the general public, the Twitter users were “people who had a
little more” and “received higher level education.” Moreover, when looking at it from a social media perspective,
Twitter users had easy access to advanced information and were not only actively consuming but also producing

10
THE LAB h®‟s Cool Communication Study was featured in major media in Korea, including The Hankyoreh, The
Dong-A Ilbo, and DBR (Dong-A Business Review), etc.


information.

Samsung Electronics projects 150 trillion won in revenues for this year. Therefore, inevitably, Samsung is always
under the spotlight for investors. Nevertheless, the world is changing. Last year, a Harvard Business Review
column by two leadership experts, James O‟Toole and Warren Bennis, said that the metric used to evaluate
corporate leaders is moving from the extent to which they created wealth for investors into the extent to which
they create organizations that are not only economically but also ethically and socially sustainable. Also, in their
recently published book, O‟Toole and Bennis stress that the keyword for corporate leadership is shifting to
“transparency.” Among the top 10 Korean companies included in this study, Samsung was evaluated the most
differently between the general public and Twitter users. While the company was highly evaluated in the general
public‟s eyes, this did not hold true among the Twitter users, who are more critical of “obvious rhetoric” by
companies and “most likely to know better about” what‟s going on behind the walls.

I am writing this column on the latest computer made by Samsung. My parents stick to Samsung-made and top-
of-the-class customer service. Although, recently, the company had its share of hardships due to the introduction
and popularity of the iPhone, I believe that it will become a stronger global brand with even better products than
now. For the same reason, Twitter users also chose Samsung as the no. 1 company in terms of purchasing
intention.

Furthermore, I am currently traveling in the US for business. I can proudly talk about Samsung products to
anyone I meet here. For consumers and investors, Samsung is the best company for its strong financial and
product performance. Nevertheless, I still cannot boast about how Samsung is a globally transparent and ethical
company to my foreign colleagues. It has been three years since Samsung‟s former lawyer, Kim Yong-chul, blew
the whistle on the company‟s slush funds. Moving forward, social responsibility and transparency will become of
utmost importance for global brand power. It is not just myself who hopes that Samsung will change from being
known as “controlling” to being known as “transparent.” Thinking about Samsung in an era of transparency
represented by Twitter….


About: THE LAB h®

• THE LAB h® (Official Company Name: Kim Hoh, The Laboratory Corporation; Founder & Head Coach Hoh
Kim; thelabh.com) is a specialized consulting/coaching firm, researching appropriate corporate responses
to bad news and producing contents based on the understanding of bad news production and
consumption. THE LAB h® offers one-on-one coaching and designs and facilitates workshops for
corporate executives.

• Major Services:
• 1:1 coaching sessions for corporate executives: The Art of Q&A; Business Storytelling for Results
• Corporate executive-focused workshops: Bad News Management Workshop (Crisis Leadership
Workshop)
• As the only official Korean partner of the US based INFLUENCE AT WORK®, Hoh Kim of THE LAB
h® has introduced and has been conducting the POP_Principles of Persuasion Workshop (two full
days).

• Hoh Kim (Founder & Head Coach)
• THE LAB h®
• The first Korean “Principles of Persuasion” certified trainer (CMCT=Cialdini Method Certified Trainer; Dr.
Robert Cialdini, INFLUENCE AT WORK® Certification)
• Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Graduate School of Culture Technology,
Doctoral program (Currently studying “Apology as Cool Communication® in a Crisis Situation for
Companies and Leaders” under the guidance of Dr. Jaeseung Jeong)
• Game Design Certificate for completion of a business game design workshop (NASAGA: North
America Simulation and Gaming Association)
• Managing Director at Edelman Korea, the world‟s largest independent PR consulting firm (2004-2007),
recorded three consecutive years of highest revenue while serving as Deputy Managing Director
(2002-2004), established healthcare and issue/crisis management practice
• MSD Korea Communications Manager (2001-2002)
• Sogang University Graduate School of Media Adjunct Professor (2005-2006), lectures at Ewha Womans
University (2008) and at KAIST (2008-2010)
• Dong-a Business Review, JoongAng Economist, 1/n, Hankyoreh Columnist
• M.A. at Marquette University (PR); B.A. at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (French/Philosophy)
• “Sorry Works” (Joint Translation; 2009; The Korean Doctors‟ Weekly)
• Contact: hoh.kim@thelabh.com / @hoh (twitter) / hohkim.com (blog)


POSCO Ranks Highest for Crisis Communication Among Twitter Users in 2010 Cool Communication Study

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