Making the Most Effective Strategy More Effective: Examining the Situational and Interaction Effects of Accommodative CCSs in Corporate Crises

Abstract

This study introduces the organization justice theory as a framework to conceptualize accommodative crisis communication strategies (CCSs). In this regard, it is proposed that three sub-strategies of accommodative CCSs—apology, showing regard, compensation, and corrective action—can enable organizations transform the negative responses of publics by restoring procedural, interactional, and distributive justice. Using an online experiment (N = 800), this study investigates the effectiveness of each substrategy in different conditions of cause attribution and examines how combinations of accommodative CCSs affect postcrisis public responses. The results indicate that substantive accommodative CCSs (compensation and corrective action) are more effective than symbolic ones (apology and showing regard) in restoring the perceptions and behavioral intentions of publics regarding the organization. Specifically, substantive accommodative CCSs perform better at restoring reputation and purchase intentions when the cause of a crisis is externally attributed. Furthermore, employing a single symbolic accommodative CCS is found to result in greater account acceptance than using a combination.