Unmasked: How message transparency and two-sidedness in a crisis response influence reputational outcomes in a preventable crisis

In the present study, it is investigated what the influence of message transparency, message sidedness and the combination of both in crisis responses is. This is researched in the context of a preventable crisis. Concretely, the impact on trust, crisis forgiveness, purchase consideration and crisis blame has been measured by employing a 2 (high transparency/low transparency) x 2 (one-sided/two-sided) online experiment. The sample consisted of participants that were fluent in Dutch, generally highly educated and mostly female. In total, 100 responses have been used for inference. Linear regression has been performed, investigating the main effects of transparency and two-sidedness, as well as the interaction effect of these variables. No significant causal relationships between the message features and outcome variables have been found. Based on this research, it is concluded that transparent communication cannot decrease the negative reputational outcomes of a preventable crisis. Nevertheless, the present study still stimulates crisis communication professionals to invest in transparency and two-sidedness, as it is believed that this way of communicating is more ethically approved and thereby essential for stakeholder relation management. All in all, the current research aims to contribute to the literature, as well as provide advice for communication professionals.