International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science

International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science
5(3), 2016: 111-120
Page111
Research in Business &
Social Science
IJRBS Vol 5 No 3, April Issue ISSN: 2147-4478
Contents available at www.ssbfnet.com/ojs
Doi: 10.20525/ijrbs.v5i3.279
The Role of Social Media in Crisis
Communication and Crisis Management
Mustafa Emre Civelek
Lecturer, Istanbul Commerce University, Istanbul, Turkey
Murat Çemberci
Lecturer, Istanbul Commerce University, Istanbul, Turkey
Necati Erdem Eralp
Graduate Student, Istanbul Commerce University, Istanbul, Turkey
Abstract
Social media and social media tools have improved rapidly and started to influence society
especially in recent years. This influence has forced businesses to revolutionize their
communication with the external environment. The fact that Web 2.0 has an influence on
consumer behavior, and that it makes the consumers stronger; requires faster, more flexible and
more sensitive communication processes in businesses. Especially during a time of crisis, a
business’ communication with the external environment is quite critical. For this reason, the way
how the crisis communication is managed through social media is vital for businesses. In this
article, the perceptions of how to manage businesses during a time of crisis so that they make
minimum loss, is shared.
Key words: Crisis Management, Crisis Communication, Social Media, Social Networks,
Disinformation
JEL classification: M12, M14
Introduction
The fact that information is reachable everywhere all the time and it can be broadcasted thank to the
improvements of communication technologies and systems, creates new communication platforms which

Civelek et al. / International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science,
Vol 5 No 3, 2016 ISSN: 2147-4486
Peer-reviewed Academic Journal published by SSBFNET with respect to copyright holders.
Page112
causes economic, political, social and cultural transformations in many ways. Along with Web 2.0
technologies getting widespread on the Internet, especially in recent years, social networks have gained
extreme importance (Kulakli & Mahony, 2014). Social media platforms and new media tools like mobile
applications which were formed in these networks, has changed mass broadcasting initiative which was
based on traditional media establishments like newspaper, radio and television; into individuals and public
and private enterprises which are not focused on broadcasting; and this direct broadcasting resulted in
individual, social, economic, cultural, political and legal consequences (Scaglione, Giovannetti, &
Hamoudia, 2015).
These progresses of social media also influence businesses. Today, consumers who are Internet users are
more demanding and stronger. Social media shares of the costumers include threads as well as
opportunities for the businesses. Especially at times of crisis, applying right communication strategies on
social media is crucial for businesses (Li, de Zubielqui, & O'Connor, 2015).
Conceptual Framework
The basis of the conceptual framework of this study consists of crisis, crisis communication, crisis
management, social media and disinformation.
Crisis Concept
Today, organizations operate in a very dynamic environment. Achievement of their goals and their survivals
mostly depend on their adaptation to the environment. Organizational environment is in a constant change,
leaving the organizations facing many threats. The survival chance of organizations which cannot find
appropriate solutions to these threats on time, has been decreasing (Simon-Elorz, Castillo-Valero, &
Garcia-Cortijo, 2015).
When we examine the threats which threaten the continuity of organizations; it is seen that these dangers
have a very ambiguous structure; the conventional and usual methods are insufficient to eliminate them.
These are the problems which cannot be unforeseen and hard to understand, that make organizations face
situations of crisis. In recent years, the number of crises have been vastly increasing, and crises have been
becoming an important part of the organizational life; because of both negative environmental conditions
occurring out of their control and failure of their own management policies (Tüz, Haşit, İpçioğlu, & Suher,
2013; Villa & Rajwani, 2013).
Organizational crises are situations resulting from people, organizational structure, economy or new
technologies; influencing the society. Crises may influence financial structure and fame of organizations
negatively. In crisis periods, the increase in the organizational stress affects the organizational climate
negatively. The most important reason of the organization stress which occurs in crises is that
organizations are obligated to change their goals which have been structured in accordance with their long
term strategies. Moreover, depending on the magnitude of the crises, organizational strategies may need to
be reviewed completely (Parnell, 2015;Hermann, 1972).
Whereas in some of the resources in the literature, the concept of crisis is approached as a threat; in some
of the resources it is evaluated in the aspect of the opportunities arising from it for the organization.
Organizations must be prepared for the crises to reduce the possible harms which may occur in crises to
minimum, and also maximize the opportunities (Karake-Shalhoub, 1999). The crises in an organization can
be defined as situations which can result in important organizational loss where there is a time pressure to
make a decision (Mikusova, 2014).
Crises can also be defined as unexpected entities with a potential to create negative results. Because of
their unexpected nature, being ready for crises is hard for organizations; and crises which occur
unexpectedly may result in deterioration of organizational structure, along with negative outcomes in
employees, products, services, financial state and organizational fame. Being ready for crises requires
being alert for a crisis all the time, rather than estimating when and how it will occur (Rosenthal & Kouzmin,
1993).

Civelek et al. / International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science,
Vol 5 No 3, 2016 ISSN: 2147-4486
Peer-reviewed Academic Journal published by SSBFNET with respect to copyright holders.
Page113
In the definitions which pay attention to the opportunity aspect of crises, the concept of crisis is stated as an
entity which has the potential of benefiting the organization in case it is managed in the right way. Because
during a crisis, the radius of the internal problems will hit the top; covered problems existing before the
crisis will emerge. This is why the prerequisite of being ready for a crisis, is having a healthy organizational
structure and a strong organizational culture (Sturges, 1994).
A crisis goes through four different phases. These phases are named using medical terms (Kash &
Darling,1998;Darling, Seristo , & Gabrielsson, 2005):
Prodromal crisis stage
Acute crisis stage
Chronic crisis stage
Crisis resolution stage
The first stage of a crisis is “occurrence of the crisis” or “prodromal period”. In this period, important clues
about a potential crisis start to arise. These warning messages, when noticed, present repetitive messages
to the organization, helping to eliminate crisis or to reduce the potential effects of the crisis along with
continuous clues. Organizations which stay alert to the inclinations and progresses in their environment are
able to be luckier in detecting and preventing the occurrence of a crisis (Paraskevas & Altinay,
2013;Coombs W. T., 2015).
Crisis Management
Crisis management, in case of a possible crisis situation, is a process consisting of activities of evaluation
of crisis signs, taking and applying necessary precautions in order to recover from the crisis with minimum
loss (Simola, 2014). Crisis management is a process including a set of activities like estimation and
prevention of crises, getting prepared for them, determining their characteristics, planning recovery and
learning mechanisms, reschedule and application(Tüz, Haşit, İpçioğlu, & Suher, 2013). According to
another definition, crisis management is a set of interconnected evaluations and audits which an
organization executes in order to prevent crises which are capable of creating serious threats for main
product, service, production process, staff, environment and society (Janis, 1989).
Today, administrators must consider where, when, how and in what way a crisis can occur, who and how
many people may get influenced; rather than thinking about whether the crisis will influence the business or
not. Business administrators must allocate more time to crisis management practice for preventing a crisis
which can occur anytime and recovering from it with minimum loss. In summary, businesses must start
crisis management practices before a crisis actually occurs (Huang & Su, 2009).
Crisis management is a decision-making process. Being a special kind of management, it has similar
characteristics to strategic management principles. Crisis management aims to make sure organizations
are ready for crises while taking necessary precautions to recover from them with minimum cost and
maximum profit (Cesta, Cortellessa, & Benedictis, 2014).
Crisis Communication
Every institution may face a crisis either resulting from internal or external factors. Being ready for a crisis
beforehand is quite important for eliminating its negative effects because crises requires immediate
intervention, and time pressure is quite strong. For this reason, today all institutions and organizations must
get ready for crises. Crises may occur in many different dimensions and forms, but all of them potentially
threaten the feeling of trust shared between the institution and its audience. Determining the reasons
resulting in crises beforehand is quite important for developing strategies and planning towards them.
Crises may result from weaknesses in the institutional structure along with internal or external
environmental threads. Based on the differences of organizations, it can be said that the reasons and the
types of crises may vary, but the main reason of crises is failure of integration between institution and its
external environment (Nijkrake, Gosselt, & Gutteling, 2015).