Crisis situations can cause internal and external stakeholders to question the legit
imacy of organizations. When faced with a crisis, organizations are compelled to
communicate strategically with stakeholders to manage legitimacy. This study syn
thesizes literature on organizational legitimacy, crisis management, and niche-width
theory to provide an investigation of the effects of crisis-response strategies on per
ceptions of organizational legitimacy. Using a quasi-experimental, 2 X 2 X 4
design, the study tests the hypotheses that (a) organizations that produce consis
tent crisis responses across stakeholders will enhance their legitimacy, while organ
izations that produce inconsistent crisis responses will reduce theirs; (b) generalist
organizations are perceived as being more legitimate than specialist organizations;
and (c) when combined, niche-width and crisis-response consistency will produce
differing effects on organizational legitimacy. Conclusions drawn from the investi
gation support these hypotheses.
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