The effects of humour as a crisis communication strategy and response subjects on organizational reputation in different crisis situations: an empirical study in the Chinese cultural context

This study explores the effects of humour as a crisis response strategy on social media on organizational reputation, secondary crisis communication and secondary crisis reaction in a Chinese cultural context. Furthermore, the role of the sender (personal versus organizational) is being investigated as well as the effect of crisis responsibility. A 2 (message type: humorous versus non-humorous crisis response message) × 2 (response subject: personal identity versus organizational identity) x 2 (responsible versus non-responsible crisis situation) between subjects experimental study was conducted with 245 participants in which the effects were studied on organizational reputation, secondary crisis communication and secondary crisis reaction.