You Say Your Best When You Say Anything at All: Crisis Communication Strategies by Muslim Organizations in the Aftermath of Islamist Terrorism

This research, comprising three experiments with a total of 1718 population-representative participants, investigates the strategies Muslim organizations can utilize to sustain trust and positive perceptions in the direct aftermath of terrorist attacks. It evaluates the effectiveness of different crisis communication strategies as outlined by the Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Additionally, it examines the effects of a positive pre-crisis reputation, statement framing and the publishing source on attitudes towards Muslim organizations, Muslims in general and Islam. Three experiments with several reference groups were conducted. Multivariate analyses underscore the critical importance of active crisis communication in cultivating positive attitudes and trust in Muslim organizations. Across experiments, the findings indicate that the act of issuing a statement itself holds more substantial influence than the specific crisis response strategy employed. In addition, the source of publication played a notable role in shaping perceptions; statements released through personal channels resulted in more positive reactions compared to statements released by a public source.