Crisis management Emotion part 1

CRISIS MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN CRISIS
RESPONSES
Introduction
Webb (2004) argues that the need for crisis management is becoming incredibly important
especially in the new millennium because of the growth in frequency, magnitude and
complexity of disasters over the past several decades. The survival of the organization
depends heavily on what the organization says and does after these disaster hits (Benoit
1997). This brings in PR practitioners, whose job does not only include coordinating who is
saying what, to whom and with what intended effect (Galloway and Kwansah-Aidoo 2005),
but also to be prepared emotionally for it. This annotated biography is divided into two parts:
the study of issues and crisis management in general and the underlying role of emotions in
crisis responses in specific.
An overview to crisis management
First of all, what is crisis?
Crisis, as defined by Norman R. Augustine (2008), are events that are usually painful and
would threaten the existence of an organization. Different people, different writers have
different ways to group crisis scenarios. Harvard Business Essentials (2004), for example,
tries to group crises in types (accidents and natural, health and environmental, etc.) while
Fearn-Banks (2002) groups crises in cases (internal, external, personal, etc.). These attempts
to conceptualized crises is certainly helpful to determined the cause, however understanding
of crisis types is only as useful as knowing the sickness of a patient but unable to prescribed
suitable treatment. Which lead us to the next question which is what crisis management is?

There seems to be a misconception that when talking about crisis management, people think
of the activities that take place after the crisis hit when in fact, crisis management started
even before the crisis come into existence: it is a process comprises of three phrases:
Preparing, Resolving and Learning. Written by Norman R. Augustine, a well accomplished
US businessman in the aerospace industry who served as Under Secretary for the U.S. Army
during the Vietnam War, Pocket Mentor: Managing Crises is a good starter book to
understand crisis management in general as it is short, easy to read, and easy to understand.
The book divides crisis management into a six-stage process: preventing crises (stage 1),
preparing to manage the crises (stage 2), recognizing the crises (stage 3), containing the cries
(stage 4), resolving the crises (stage 5) and learning from crises (stage 6). Though the book
does not specialize in Public Relation, it is good guide as to how to plan forward to minimize
the impact of potential disaster. The limitation of the book lies in the absent of critical
assessment on real case studies which is quite essential for crisis and issue management as
different cases required different approaches and different strategies. Crisis Management in
the New Strategy Landscape in the other hand has a shorter approach and divides crisis
management into a four-stage framework: (i) Landscape survey (anticipating crisis events),
(ii) strategic planning, (iii) crisis management, and finally (iii) applying lessons from crisis to
prevent future reoccurrence (Crandall et al 2010). The book also provides diverse case
studies for each and every chapter which give readers a look at real-world crises and how to
respond to it.
Harvard Business Essentials: Crisis Management by Luecke is another good book which
provides detailed, step-by-step approach an organization can use to prepare and resolve
corporate crises. Its analysis is insightful, well organized, clearly written and well supported
with good case studies from the US. However, it focuses too much on planning for specific
scenarios; it fails to provide insight on more abstract scenarios and unforeseeable

contingencies. Galloway and his coworker Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo at Monash University,
Australia, along with various other contributors studied different case studies in Australia
and published Public Relations Issues and Crisis Management in 2005 which is about
recognizing the potential for crises to occur and the handling of such events in Australia
context. In this book, the outcome of best practice and when best practice is not followed are
compared and contrasted, via which the key principles for each case studies is highlighted for
future application. There is a limitation studying from case studies in these two books
however: the cultural context, the ‘norm’, the practice is different and vary from country to
country, one does not simply use the same strategy taken from a case in the US or Australia
and apply it blindly to another country, especially an Asian country. Despite that, there are
lessons to be learned from this book because modern crises are becoming increasingly global
(Webb 2004).
Crisis communication and the underlying role of emotions
Crisis communication, defined by Fearn-Banks in his book Crisis Communications: A
casebook Approach in 2002, is the ‘ongoing dialogue between the organization and its
publics’ before, during and after the crisis to regain and repair the image and reputation of
the organization (Jin et al 2010). Various studies argued that there are limited strategies for
crisis communication, and using which strategy to apply depends on the situation. Cowden &
Sellnow in his study named Issues advertising as crisis communication: northwest airlines’
use of image restoration strategies during the 1998 pilots’ strike in 2002 argued that
strategies would either (i) denial – deny the crisis; (ii) stall – provide ‘partial, inaccurate, or
delayed information’; or (iii) maintain an open communication channels with the public.
The study An Analytic framework for crisis situations: better responses from a better
understanding of the situation by Coombs in 1998 recommended organization should use a
suitable approach depending on the situation: If they have strong control over the crisis, full

apology is recommended, if they don’t, denial is more suitable. However, Jin, Pang and
Cameron (2010) suggest that denial is rarely used because they would raise suspicion of
wrongdoing or signal acceptance of wrongdoing and organizations don’t usually accept
responsibility in the first place.
Using different approach, Ian I. Mitroff, who is often called the father of modern crisis
management, doesn’t talk about resolving crises or analyzing case studies; he tackles the
fundamental foundation in crisis management – the ‘right attitude’. The book Why some
companies emerge stronger and better from a crisis presents seven essential challenges and
lessons that are key to success in crisis management. The lessons concerns: having the right
heart (emotional IQ - emotional readiness); the right thinking (creative IQ - creative
thinking); the right soul (spiritual IQ - spiritual strength); the right political and social skills
(social and political IQ); the right technical skills (Technical IQ); the right integration
(integrative IQ); and the right transfer (Aesthetic IQ) (Mitroff 2005). Among those 7 lessons
to be learned, I find the first criteria, emotional readiness, especially interesting and I wish to
have a better understanding about it. In his book, emotional readiness is refers to as having
the ‘Right Heart’ (Emotional IQ). It means ‘knowing how to get a better handle on emotions
and how to deal with defense mechanisms that expectedly appear when crises occur’ (Mitroff
2005).
But how do PR practitioners manage their own emotions during disasters? Once the crisis
hit, despite your carefully rehearsed responses as a spokesperson, your face may become red,
pale, or you become extremely sweaty and aggressive. It is not that the plan is badly
prepared, but it is not fully planned for human nature and psychology. In a crisis, ‘anxiety’
tends to be the ‘default’ emotion that everyone experience (Jin 2009; Jin et al. 2007, 2008) so
rather than avoid your emotions, Managing emotions: The missing steps in crisis
communications planning by Lynette M. Loomis place exceptional importance on managing

emotions and use them for a more productive outcome. She provides three steps to manage
emotions: (i) identify and direct your thought, what message is playing in your head? Are
they destructive or constructive? Steer your thought in a positive direction to calm your
physiological reaction; (ii) listen to your body, are they trembling? Do you have nausea or
dry mouth or sweaty palm? Find a way to manage these physical symptom; and finally (iii)
manage your behaviors (Loomis 2008).
Manage your own emotion is just the first step, in crisis communication; PR practitioners
need to aware of what can influence emotions of the public and what emotions can influence.
The study on emotions of the public has taken place for a long time. Agenda setting theory
suggests that the media have strong influence over what the audience thinks about (i.e. what
issue is important) but not our attitude (McCombs & Shaw 1972) while findings from
various framing theory researches suggest that emotional reaction is closely related on how
the message is framed in mass media and it can heavily influence the publics’ emotions
(Entman 1993; Nabi 2003) thus their attitude (Lerner & Tiedens 2006, Tiedens & Linton
2001, Bodenhausen et al 1994). It is also important to understand the public’s emotions when
crises hit in order to know how to respond to it and come up with correspondent strategies,
although the topic of emotions in crisis communication of PR practitioners and publics is
new and was only examined in recent years (Jin & Cameron 2007; Jin et al. 2007, 2008).
Using 259 stories in US newspaper covering five different crisis cases, The role of emotions
in crisis responses: Inaugural test of integrated crisis mapping (ICM) model by Jin, Pang
and Cameron is one research paper among many written on this topic that attempt to gain a
better understanding of the role of emotions in crisis and develop a suitable strategy to
respond. Findings from the above study suggest that emotions are one of the anchors in the
publics’ interpretation of crisis situations and people often experience different combination
of anxiety – anger – sadness – frightened depends on the crises (if it is controllable or

uncontrollable, and if it is predictable or unpredictable) (Jin et al. 2010). Jin (2009) in The
effects of public’s cognitive appraisal of emotions in crises on crisis coping and strategy
assessment suggests excuses strategies can be used against angry publics when the situation
is predictable and controllable, for sad public (predictable yet uncontrollable) it is
recommended that the organization needs to show sincerity and apologize and compensate.
Conclusion
Communication strategies would be ineffective if it fails to touch the hearts and minds of the
public. Emotion play an important role in crisis communication because (i) it gives PR
practitioners hints on how to develop suitable strategies to response to the public and (ii) it
affects the outcomes of crisis communication. PR practitioners, not only do they have to be
prepared emotionally, they also need to be able to assert the common emotion of the public
during crisis and know how to influence the public emotion. Sadly, study on this topic is
scarce, and none provide insight on how to deal with crises in Vietnam context, that is why
my 2nd
paper (Reflection report) will try to provide more insight in the importance of
emotion, the role of emotions in developing strategy and how to manage emotion in crisis
responses in Vietnam.

LIST OF REFERENCE
Augustine, N. 2008, ‘Pocket Mentor: Managing crises’, Harvard Business Press, USA
Benoit, W.L. 1997, ‘Image repair discourse and crisis communication’, Public Relations
Reviews, 23(2), p177-186
Bodenhausen, Sheppard & Kramer, G.V., L.A. & G.P. 1994, ‘Negative affect and social
judgment: The differential impact of anger and sadness’, European Journal of Social
Psychology, Special Issue: Affect in Social Judgments and Cognition, 24(1), p45-62
Choi & Lin, Y. & Y. 2009, ‘Consumer Responses to Mattel Product Recalls posted on
Online Bulletin Boards: Exploring Two Types of Emotion’, Journal of Public Relations
Research, 21(2), p198-207
Coombs, W.T. 1998, ‘An analytic framework for crisis situations: better responses from a
better understanding of the situation’, Journal of Public Relations Research, 10(3), p177-191
Coombs & Holladay, W.T. & S.J. 2002, ‘Helping crisis managers protect reputational assets:
Initial tests of the situational crisis communication theory’, Management Communication
Quarterly, 16, p165-186
Coombs & Holladay, W.T. & S.J. 2004, ‘Reasoned action in crisis communication: An
attribution theory-based approach to crisis management’, Responding to Crisis: A rhetorical
approach to crisis communication, p95-115
Coombs & Holladay, W.T. & S.J. 2005, ‘Exploratory study of stakeholder emotions: Affect
and Crisis’, Research on emotion in organizations: Volume 1: The effect of affect in
organizational settings, p271-288

Crandall, Parnell & Spillan, W. J. & J. 2010, ‘Crisis Management in the New Strategy
Landscape’, SAGE, USA
Entman, R.M. 1993, ‘Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm’, Journal of
Communication, 43(4), p51-58
Fearn-Banks, K. 2002, ‘Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach’, Lawrence
Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
Galloway and Kwansah-Aidoo, C. & K. 2005, ‘Public Relations Issues and Crisis
Management’, Thomson Learning, Australia
Jin, Y. 2009, ‘The effects of public’s cognitive appraisal of emotions in crises on crisis
coping strategy assessment’, Public Relations Review, 35, p310-313
Jin & Cameron, Y. & G.T. 2007, ‘The effect of threat type and duration on public relations
practitioner’s cognitive, affective, and conative responses in crisis situations’, Journal of
Public Relations Research, 19(3), 255-281
Jin, Pang & Cameron, Y., A. & G.T. 2010, ‘Toward a public-driven, emotion-based
approach in crisis communication: testing the integrated crisis mapping (ICM) model’,
Public Relations Journal, 4(1).
Jin, Pang & Cameron, Y., A. & G.T. 2010, ‘The role of emotions in crisis responses:
Inaugural test of the integrated crisis mapping (ICM) model’, Corporate Communications:
An International Journal, 15(1), p428-452
Lerner & Tiedens, J.S. & L.Z. 2006, ‘Portrait of the angry decision maker: How appraisal
tendencies shape anger’s influence on cognition’, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making,
19, p115-137

Luecke, R. 2004, ‘Harvard Business Essential: Crisis Management Master the Skills to
Prevent Disasters’, Harvard Business School Press, USA
Loomis, LM 2008, 'Managing emotions: The missing steps in crisis communications
planning', Public Relations Tactics, 15, 3, p. 13
McCombs & Shaw, M. & D.L. 1972, ‘The agenda-setting function of the mass media’,
Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, p176-185
Mittroff, I. 2005, ‘Why some companies emerge stronger and better from a crisis’,
AMACOM, USA
Nabi, R.L. 2003, ‘Exploring the framing effects of emotion: Do discrete emotions
differentially influence information accessibility, information seeking, and policy
preference?’, Communication Research, 30, p224-247
Tiedens & Linton, L.Z. & S. 2001, ‘Judgment under emotional certainty and uncertainty:
The effects of specific emotions on information processing’, Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology, 81, p973-988
Webb, G.R. 2004, ‘Some issues to consider’, Paper presented at the Future Crises, Future
agendas: An Assessment of International Crisis Research International Workshop, Nice,
France, November 24-26

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