Predicting Publics' Communication Behavior and Information Channel Selection during Airline Crises
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2015-05
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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This thesis work examines the antecedent variables and potential mediating factors influencing individuals’ and publics’ communication behavior during airline crises along the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS; Kim & Grunig, 2011). It also assesses publics’ desired types of information as well as the types of information and communication channels they use. It was found that individuals who are generally more interested in aviation and airline topics perceive a closer connection to airline crises and fewer constraints to solve the problem situation. Highly involved individuals see airline crises as problematic issues and also have a greater motivation to solve the problem. A greater interest in aviation and airline issues, however, does not lead individuals to invoke information gathered from previous experiences with similar situations. The results provide a foundation framework for airline organizations to predict individuals’ communication behavior during airline crises based on empirical data. The Internet was found to be publics’ most important information and communication channel during airline crises, followed by TV. Interestingly, social media was found to be the least important channel. Further, the results show that information about what steps to take during airline crises is perceived as the most important information during airline crises, followed by information about accountability, the crisis cause, and the airline’s reputation. Demographic information and air travel habits were also tested to determine their influence on channel selection during airline crises. This present thesis contributes to crisis communication research and practice with a specific application to crises in the airline and aviation industry, helping organizations to leverage and optimize their communication resources with the aim of protecting and minimizing damage to the organizational reputation.
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Communication in crisis management, Problem solving, Aircraft accidents, Flight delays
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Theses for the degree of Master of Arts (University of Hawaii at Manoa). School of Communications
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