Anger as a Predictor of Active Public Protest： Extended Application of the Situational Theory of Publics to a Health Crisis

This study applies the situational theory of publics （STP） to a health crisis by exploring the effect of anger on public behavior. The results of a survey administered on the case of the candlelight rallies on the U.S. beef imports in South Korea in 2008 demonstrated that involvement, problem recognition, and constraint recognition predicted communication behaviors as well as various issue-related online and offline behaviors. In addition, anger was found to be a significant driving force for publics to perform the behaviors. The segmented publics showed significantly different levels of anger, information processing and seeking, online behaviors, and participation in the candlelight rallies

On the Context Vein of“Competence”and Its Generating Mecha­nism-based on the Perspective of Situational Learning Theory

“Key competence”has become a hot vocabulary in educational reform in recent years.However,the essential connotation and specific generation mechanism of“competence”as its basic concept are still far from clear,and often controversial due to vague expressions.The rise of the concept of“key competence”undoubtedly originated in the West,but in the context of Chinese,its meaning has changed significantly.By analyzing the origin and evolution of the concept of“competence”in the Western social context and the concept from“quality”to“competence”in the Chinese social context,we can deeply understand the essence of the concept of“competence”and further clarify the specific generation mechanism of“competence”and its relationship with education.Analyzing the formation of competence based on situational learning theory emphasizes the occurrence of competence through participation in situational activities,the development of learning courses and identity consultation,which can provide some inspiration for the formation of competence.

Matching Consequences and Causes in Crisis Public Relations

This exploratory study examines the phenomenon of consequence cause matching,which is based on the representativeness heuristic,from cognitive psychology,upon crisis management and public relations.A 2(Large Scale Crisis vs.Small Scale Crisis)×2(Large Scale Cause vs.Small Scale Cause)mixed factorial design experiment was conducted based upon a hypothetical crisis scenario.This study found initial evidence that consequence cause matching is a phenomenon that can impact the process of attribution for a crisis.It highlights a potential new area of theoretical growth for the situational crisis communication theory.

Ready or Not: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Her Crisis Response Strategy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using Situational Crisis Communication Theory(SCCT)by Coombs(2007),this study analyses the case of Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte’s CoViD-19 Crisis and her crisis response strategy to address the situation.The study looks at the crisis communication of Quezon City on issues stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.The SCCT provides a framework for the organization facing a different complex case of crisis to protect the reputational organization’s assets.The organization’s ability to select the most appropriate and beneficial response helps them deal with an emergency and crisis(Coombs,2007).Simultaneously,in this paper,SCCT was used to examine the stakeholder’s perceptions about the organization’s action and response by Mayor Belmonte on the crisis.This paper concludes Mayor Belmonte did not follow the recommendations of SCCT by combining Deny,such as Attacks the Accuser,Deny and Scapegoat tactics,and Diminish strategies such as Excuse and Justice tactics,to respond to the wide variety of stakeholder’s groups.Mayor Belmonte’s crisis response strategies and tactics do not align with the SCCT.The theory recommends corrective action and response such as Rebuild as well as Bolstering strategies are“considered as the most effective communication of crisis response strategy when an organization perceived a strong attribution of crisis responsibility and results in a severe reputational threat”(Coombs,2007).By reviewing the situation that Mayor Belmonte faced,this paper concludes that she was under severe threat.Mayor Belmonte’s CoViD-19 crisis is the preventable cluster based on the overall stakeholder’s perception of the crisis.The preventable cluster considered her primary,secondary,and additional stakeholders.It depicted an organizational misdeed with and without injuries,and the appropriate responses to adapt to re-establish the organization’s reputation is a Rebuild strategy because interventions such as Compensation and Apology should work to improve the organization’s reputation.Conversely,Mayor Belmonte chose to frequently employ Deny strategy(Attacks the Accuser and Scapegoat)and Diminish strategy(Excuse and Justice)to respond to various stakeholders.

Reducing Social Media Attention Inequality in Disasters:The Role of Official Media During Rainstorm Disasters in China

Unequal social media attention can lead to potentially uneven distribution of disaster-relief funds,resulting in long-term inequality among regions after disasters.This study aimed to measure inequalities in social media attention to regions during disasters and explore the role of official media in reducing such inequality.This is performed by employing social media,official media,and official aggregated statistics regarding China's rainstorm disasters.Through a set of panel-data regressions and robustness tests,three main conclusions were drawn:(1)There were inequalities among regions regarding social media attention they received during rainstorm disasters.For disasters of the same magnitude,regions with low economic outcome per capita received less attention on social media.(2)Official media can reduce inequality in social media attention during disasters.Official media statements can encourage netizens to pay attention to disaster-stricken areas,and especially the overlooked underdeveloped areas.(3)Of all the measures taken by official media,timely,accurate,and open disclosure of disaster occurrences proved to be the most potent means of leveling the playing field in terms of social media attention;contrarily,promotional or booster-type messages proved futile in this regard.These findings revealed the vulnerabilities within social media landscapes that aff ect disaster relief response,shedding light on the role of official guidance in mitigating inequalities in social media attention during such crises.Our study advises social media stakeholders and policymakers on formulating more equitable crisis communication strategies to bridge the gap in social media attention and foster a more balanced and just relief process.

Appetite for Natech Risk Information in Japan:Understanding Citizens'Communicative Behavior Towards Risk Information Disclosure Around Osaka Bay

Effective risk communication is essential for disaster risk management.Apart from empowering communities to make informed risk choices,risk information disclosure can also drastically enhance their disaster preparedness,especially concerning conjoint scenarios of technological and natural hazards(Natech).A fundamental precondition is the actual demand for such information.This study ventures to assess whether residents around Osaka Bay have this demand,or"appetite,"for risk information disclosure,as well as to understand their communicative behavior and perceived challenges in the Japanese context through the prism of the Situational Theory of Problem Solving.To test this framework under realistic conditions,data were collected through a household questionnaire survey from two urban areas near industrial complexes in Osaka Bay.The results show that identifying Natech risk information deficiency as a problem was not a statistically significant predictor for individuals'motivation to communicate.However,their motivation increased as their perceived personal involvement with the situation rose,while the perceived obstacles in doing something about it exerted a negative influence on their motivation.Individuals'motivation intensified their communicative actions to solve this problem.Public segmentation underscored the elevated public perceptions concerning the issue of risk information deficiency in nearly nine out of ten respondents.These findings indicate a strong community appetite for chemical and Natech risk information,which subsequently led to high situational motivation to engage in communicative action,particularly information acquisition.Risk management policy is suggested to focus on introducing chemical risk information disclosure regulatory initiatives to encourage citizen engagement.

Is Being Funny a Useful Policy?How Local Governments' Humorous Crisis Response Strategies and Crisis Responsibilities Influence Trust,Emotions,and Behavioral Intentions

This study is the first to investigate how a local government’s humorously framed response strategy on social media to a low-severity crisis influences people ’s trust in the local government and their crisis-related behavioral intentions,specific ally when considering the government’s responsibility for the crisis.Based on the situational crisis communication theory,we examined the mediating role of experienced positive or negative affect on people’ s responses to a local government’s crisis communication strategy.Further,we exploratorily examined the predictive power and moderating role of demographics,sense of humor,disposition to trust,and the respective crisis scenarios.A total of517 people participated in an online experiment in which they were confronted with three randomly presented fictive crisis scenarios where the local government’s crisis responsibility(high versus low) and the framing of their crisis response strategy(in form of humorous versus rational Twitter posts) were systematically varied between subjects.First,the results mostly corroborate earlier findings about the degree of crisis responsibility(that is,when a government’s crisis responsibility is high,people have less trust and behavioral intentions) and about the mediating role of experienced affect.Second,we found that humorously framed strategies negatively influence trust and positive affect(but not behavioral intentions).In contrast to earlier findings,the crisis responsibility × framing interaction was not significant.Altogether,the results advise against using humor in crisis communications on social media,even in lowseverity crisis.Exploratory analyses indicate that further investigations should focus on specific crisis characteristics and potential moderators.