Should the CEO be the “face” of crisis response? Examining types of visuals on social media in corporate crisis communication

This study aims to suggest visual strategies for social media response in corporate crisis communication. Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Associative Network Theory of Memory (ANT) are applied to investigate the types of visuals (photos) that companies may utilize in Facebook messages. A 3 (message: excuse vs. attack accuser vs. apology) × 4 (photo: no-image vs. product vs. stereotypical CEO vs. CEO reflecting corporate character) between-subject design online experiment was conducted in the United States (N = 296). The results confirmed the effect of message strategies on crisis communication outcomes such as perceived responsibility, anger, and reputation. Preliminary interaction effects showed that the stereotypical CEO image (e.g., wearing a suit at a podium in a conference setting) was effective on reputation in two message strategies: an excuse in an accidental cluster crisis and an apology in a preventable cluster crisis. Based on these findings, the current study offers theoretical and practical implications for corporate crisis communication. Details are discussed in the study.