Crisis Communication at the Intersection of Responsibility and Consumer Engagement Opportunity: A Case Study of Ryanair Tweets During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Communication in Uncertain Times
ISBN: 978-1-83549-593-3, eISBN: 978-1-83549-592-6
Publication date: 31 May 2024
Abstract
This chapter studies communication during a longitudinal crisis by exploring the Irish airline Ryanair’s use of Twitter (now X) in early 2022 when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had already been affecting the airline industry for almost 2 years. It studies the airline’s approach to interacting with its passengers online and their reaction to its posts, at times, rather provocative posts. A corpus linguistic methodology is used to study tweets posted by and addressed to Ryanair between January and March 2022, a period that saw unprecedented peaks in COVID-19 infection numbers and the simultaneous lifting of travel restrictions. The analysis is based on the Ryanair 2022 Corpus which includes 27,089 tweets and more than half a million words. The findings of this case study show that Ryanair reappropriates instructing and adapting information on crisis-related topics as promotion and takes a political stance in its tweets to encourage consumer engagement. While the corporate tweets are successful in generating reactions online, the airline’s followers do not always perceive them in a positive manner. This case study makes an important contribution to crisis communication research as it shows how established communicative strategies, such as instructing and adapting information, may be reappropriated during a longitudinal crisis. At the same time, it demonstrates how these communicative strategies may – as a consequence – no longer be aligned with the core values of a legitimate organisation that is expected to act responsibly and ethically.
Keywords
Citation
Lutzky, U. (2024), "Crisis Communication at the Intersection of Responsibility and Consumer Engagement Opportunity: A Case Study of Ryanair Tweets During the COVID-19 Pandemic", Einwiller, S., Seiffert-Brockmann, J., Romenti, S. and Valentini, C. (Ed.) Communication in Uncertain Times (Advances in Public Relations and Communication Management, Vol. 7), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 37-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-391420240000007004
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024 Ursula Lutzky. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited