Assessing an organizational crisis at the construal level: how psychological distance impacts publics' crisis responses

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to elaborate on the notion of crisis distance and to investigate its influence on publics' crisis responses (i.e. crisis severity, crisis emotions, organizational reputation and supportive behavioral intentions). In addition, this study aims to unearth the underlying mechanisms behind the effects of crisis distance. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted an online survey by recruiting a representative US sample to examine the proposed research questions. Findings This paper offers empirical evidence that each dimension of crisis distance (i.e. temporal, social and hypothetical crisis distance) is associated with publics' crisis responses. Furthermore, by investigating distance-crisis-organizational sequence models, the ways in which crisis distance ultimately motivates publics' supportive behavioral intentions was revealed. Originality/value As an explorative study to propose a crisis distance model, the current research provides a springboard for expanding the existing scholarly literature on the nature of crisis.

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