Revisiting a Social Constructionist Approach to Crisis Communication: Investigating Contemporary Crises in China

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    Abstract

    The current study provides a social constructionist approach to crisis communication in the Chinese context. Crisis communication is viewed as a form of strategic communication, involving multiple stakeholders in situations that are dependent on context, space and time. This approach provides a much-needed path for investigating and understanding crisis communication practices in contemporary China. The distinct Chinese context for crisis communication, with both an authoritarian government structure and a digital transformation of society, challenges theories originally developed in the Western countries. To address this issue, this study proposes a three-theme analytical framework to examine crisis communication practices in the Chinese context: (1) an audience (or stakeholder) orientation—focusing sense-making, (2) a proactive and interactive approach—focusing communication, and (3) a community—focused approach—focusing a long-range precrisis perspective.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)364-378
    JournalInternational Journal of Strategic Communication
    Volume11
    Issue number5
    Early online date2017 Sept 19
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017 Oct 20

    Subject classification (UKÄ)

    • Media and Communications

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