Online faith-holder communities in crisis: proposing and testing a dual-challenge model
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
ISSN: 1356-3289
Article publication date: 4 July 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Though current literature has started to recognize the significant role that online faith-holders play in the context of brand reputation crises, extant research lacks a theoretical framework to explain the process in which online faith-holders endure the harm in brand reputation while collectively rebuilding the reputation. We propose and test a dual-challenge model for a more systematic understanding of faith-holder communities in brand reputation crises.
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on collective-level communication activities, we quantitatively compared the volume, valence and variance of a faith-holder community’s communication (441,611 posts by 3,228 fans over 14 days) before and after a brand reputation crisis.
Findings
Our longitudinal data demonstrated that the crisis was a significant threat to group sentiment and cohesion. Nevertheless, the community was highly resilient and adaptive. Their emotions quickly recovered, and they promptly restored group cohesion and coordinated crisis response efforts after the crisis.
Originality/value
This study challenges the traditional assumption that online users are independent, static and reactive during brand crises. Instead, it conceptualizes online faith-holder community as a connected, proactive and dynamically adaptive group in crisis situations. This dual-challenge model highlights the importance of internally fostering collective resilience while externally coordinating crisis responses in a faith-holder community.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
RR received funding from Pujiang Talent Program [#21PJ079] and Humanities and Social Science Youth Foundation, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China [#21YJC860018].
Citation
Ren, R. and Yan, B. (2024), "Online faith-holder communities in crisis: proposing and testing a dual-challenge model", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-05-2023-0069
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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