Volkswagen Emission Crisis – Managing Stakeholder Relations on the Web

Abstract

Organizations establish their own profiles at social media sites to publish pertinent information to customers and other stakeholders. During a long and severe crisis, multiple issues may emerge in media interaction. Positive responses and prompt interaction from the official account of e.g. a car manufacturer creates clarity and reduces anxiety among stakeholders. This research targets the Volkswagen 2015 emission scandal that became public on Sept. 18, 2015. We report its main phases over time based on public web information. To better understand the online interaction and reactions of the company, we scrutinized what information was published on VW’s official web sites, Facebook, and Twitter profiles and how the image of the company developed over time among various stakeholders. To investigate this, Twitter and Facebook data sets were collected, cleaned, and analysed. We also compared this crisis in several respects with the Toyota recall crisis in 2010-2011 that was caused by sticking accelerator pedals and floor mats, as well as the GM crisis in 2014 that was caused by faulty ignition switches. Further we compare our findings with the Malaysian airline crisis that was caused by the disappeared flight MH370 and downed MH14.

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