2010 - Public Relations Society of America
2010 - Public Relations Society of America
2010 - Public Relations Society of America
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2009). In BMCC context, in addition to the blogger’s information credibility and authority, the<br />
blog’s influence on blog followers also lies in the issue fit between the content provided by the<br />
influential blogs and the blog followers’ interest and attitude (_____ & _____, in press).<br />
Blog users rate blogs to be their most credible source <strong>of</strong> information (Johnson & Kaye,<br />
2004), but <strong>America</strong>ns as a whole rate blog credibility much lower (Banning & Trammell, 2006;<br />
Bern<strong>of</strong>f, 2008). However, during a crisis publics equally rate the credibility <strong>of</strong> third-person blogs<br />
and blogs sponsored by organizations experiencing crises (Bates & Callison, 2008).<br />
Additionally, increased blog reading and use enhances perceptions <strong>of</strong> blog credibility (Johnson<br />
& Kaye, <strong>2010</strong>; Sweetser, Porter, Chung, & Kim, 2008; Sweester & Metzgar, 2007).<br />
Blog Mediated Crisis Communication Model<br />
The BMCC model (___ & ___, in press—see Figure1) helps crisis managers decide if<br />
and when to respond to influential bloggers through monitoring the blogosphere. The first part <strong>of</strong><br />
the model explains how information is transmitted on and <strong>of</strong>fline among key players: influential<br />
bloggers and their followers, mass media, and organizations’ online and <strong>of</strong>fline communication.<br />
The first seven propositions predict how these various publics interact (propositions 1.1 to 3.2,<br />
see Table 1), while the second part <strong>of</strong> the model provides suggestions on how a given<br />
organization should proactively manage blog-mediated crises from crisis monitoring to strategic<br />
responses (propositions 4.1 and 4.2, see Table 1).<br />
---------------------------------<br />
Insert Figure 1 about here<br />
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Through interviews with 40 <strong>America</strong>n Red Cross chapters, researchers tested how an<br />
organization in a given blog-mediated crisis should monitor and respond (propositions 4.1 and<br />
4.2) and expanded the BMCC model to include micro-blogs such as Twitter and content-sharing<br />
sites such as YouTube and Facebook (____ et al., 2009). This previous research also expanded<br />
the model to include organizations’ internal social media platforms, as opposed to solely external<br />
influential bloggers, due to emerging evidence suggesting that other platforms are increasingly<br />
being used by public relations pr<strong>of</strong>essionals (___ et al., 2009).<br />
---------------------------------<br />
Insert Table 1 about here<br />
---------------------------------<br />
In this study, we provide the first empirical evaluation <strong>of</strong> three key components the<br />
BMCC model posited: (a) Influential blogs affect blog followers by providing issue-fit opinion<br />
leadership to address the followers’ motivation for informational and emotional needs <strong>of</strong> the<br />
crisis issue (proposition 2.1, see Table 1); (b) Influential blogs exert influence indirectly on key<br />
publics’ issue awareness by providing the media with newsworthy content that is later edited and<br />
disseminated to general news audiences (proposition 3.1, see Table 1); and (c) Influential blogs<br />
exert influence indirectly on key publics’ issue awareness though <strong>of</strong>fline word-<strong>of</strong>-mouth<br />
communication <strong>of</strong> issues among bloggers, blog followers, and other publics (proposition 3.2, see<br />
Table 1). Research questions one and two follow up on propositions 2.1 and 3.1 by asking:<br />
RQ1: Why, if at all, do publics seek out social or older media for crisis information?<br />
RQ2: What factors affect whether publics seek social or older media for crisis information?<br />
Research questions three and four follow up on proposition 3.2 by asking:<br />
RQ3: How, if at all, do publics communicate about crises on and <strong>of</strong>fline?<br />
RQ4: What factors affect whether publics communicate about crises?<br />
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