Using situational crisis communication theory to understand Orlando hotels’ Twitter response to three crises in the summer of 2016

Danielle Barbe · Lori A. Pennington-Gray

77 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Public Relations and Crisis Communication Digital Marketing and Social Media Disaster Management and Resilience

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the crisis communication strategies implemented by hotel and lodging organizations via social media. Specifically, this study analyzed Twitter content by hotels in Orlando, Florida during the summer of 2016 when several crises occurred that made global media coverage, including the alligator snatching on Disney property, the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub and growing concerns of Zika virus. Design/methodology/approach To understand crisis communication in the hotel industry, this study was guided by the technology-environment-organization framework and situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). Twitter content between June 1 and August 31, 2016 from Orlando hotels was collected and content analyzed to determine: was the message related to the crisis event, the SCCT strategy used and the influence of hotel organizational factors (ownership, size, classification) on the use of social media for crisis communication. Findings Results indicate that most hotels are not currently using Twitter as a form of crisis communication. Only the shooting at Pulse Nightclub was communicated and the SCCT bolster strategy was used throughout each of the crisis-related message, reminding stakeholders that they too are a victim. Originality/value This study provides insight into the ways hotels are using social media for crisis communication. Each crisis explored was different, and while the hotels were not responsible for creating the crises, they are responsible for the safety of guests. These results inform hoteliers that there is a responsibility to communicate during a crisis, particularly for informative purposes.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 77 citations exist upstream.

References

1977The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data 2019Diffusion of Innovations 1 2007Protecting Organization Reputations During a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory 2009Effects of Word-of-Mouth versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site 1999Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding 2012The Risk Perception Paradox—Implications for Governance and Communication of Natural Hazards 1990processes of technological innovation 2011Literature Review of Information Technology Adoption Models at Firm Level

Cited by

2020Comparing crisis management practices in the hotel industry between initial and pandemic stages of COVID-19 2020Social media crisis communication in racially charged crises: Exploring the effects of social media and image restoration strategies 2020Evaluating Crisis Communication. A 30-item Checklist for Assessing Performance during COVID-19 and Other Pandemics 2019The effect of different crisis communication channels 2022

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.