2010 - Public Relations Society of America
2010 - Public Relations Society of America
2010 - Public Relations Society of America
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especially if an efficacious response is not readily present. These ideas are echoed by Rogers et.<br />
al. (2007), who notes that the public may doubt the credibility <strong>of</strong> governmental response<br />
organizations, especially if they have been critical <strong>of</strong> past failures, and Heath, Lee, and Ni (2009)<br />
who note that credibility may be questioned if stakeholders appear dissimilar to or less sensitive<br />
to diverse populations.<br />
Additionally, as noted above a consistent theme across all studies and disciplines is the<br />
need for more research into specific empirically tested communication strategies that can be<br />
effective in the face <strong>of</strong> a large-scale persistent crisis. All in all public relations as a discipline is<br />
well suited to scientifically pursue the study <strong>of</strong> fear and the way that individuals seek to<br />
minimize it, examine communicative mechanisms to help the public and/or stakeholders control<br />
fear, prevent panic and to maximize the probability <strong>of</strong> a positive adaptive response.<br />
Conclusion<br />
This paper has forwarded a call for a shift in the focus <strong>of</strong> public relations research from<br />
organizational crisis response that protects and repairs organizational image to a focus on<br />
protecting the public by managing fear, preventing panic, and better communicating effective<br />
adaptive response mechanisms in the face <strong>of</strong> persistent crises. To be clear this manuscript in no<br />
way suggests that public relations scholars should abandon the lines <strong>of</strong> research that have<br />
evolved from Benoit’s and Coomb’s models. Rather, given the recent governmental warnings<br />
regarding threats such as a terrorist incident using a CBRN, or perhaps a deadly pandemic, this<br />
paper suggests that public relations scholarship needs to diversify and to better balance research<br />
efforts on protecting the image and reputation <strong>of</strong> organizations as well as on the needs <strong>of</strong> public<br />
safety. Finally, this paper also forwarded a theoretical model which has received a large amount<br />
<strong>of</strong> empirical support (Witte’s EPPM) that can first assist in better communicating more effective<br />
adaptive responses in the face <strong>of</strong> crises, and second helps to control fear and prevent panic.<br />
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