Refining the Dynamics of Racial Crisis Communications in Organizational Contexts Through Two Experimental Studies

Abstract

Using SCCT as a framework, we conducted two experiments on racial crises, targeting Asian (Study 1) and Black students (Study 2), to examine how crisis responses affect organizational reputation. A 2 (crisis responses: defensive vs. accommodative) × 2 (crisis history: absence vs. presence) × 2 (stakeholder race: majority vs. minority) between-subjects design reveals that accommodative responses more effectively restore reputation. These responses also mitigate stakeholder anger among minorities when a crisis history exists. While interactions do not directly affect reputation recovery, anger reduction mediates the effect. Findings are consistent across studies. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.