Countering Reactance in Crisis Communication: Incorporating Positive Emotions via Social Media

• Published in: International journal of business communication (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 352 - 369
• Main Authors: Xu, Jie, Wu, Yiye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Twitter; psychological reactance theory; emotion; experiment; crisis management
• ISSN: 2329-4884; 2329-4892
• DOI: 10.1177/2329488417702475

Based on the psychological reactance theory, this study examined the effect of incorporating sympathy via social media on countering reactance in crisis communication. The study employed a 2 (expressing sympathy: yes vs. no) × 2 (medium: Twitter vs. news release) between-subject experimental design. Two hundred and fifty-three (N = 253) American consumers recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk participated in this online experiment. Results indicated that using Twitter and expressing sympathy significantly lowered reactance. There was no interaction effect between the two factors, such that their influence on reactance was not contingent on one another. There was a partial yet significant mediation effect of reactance between medium and two outcomes (perceived crisis responsibility and organizational reputation). There was no mediation effect of reactance between sympathy expressed and two outcomes. The theoretical and managerial implications were discussed, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research.