Corporate Social Responsibility as a Basis for Successful Organizational Crisis Communications

Contemporary organizations are no longer exclusively valued for their products and services, but rather being judged for the impact they have on the society and their level of social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an organization’s moral obligation towards communities and ecology which are not related to the organization’s direct financial interest (Klement, 2008). Previous research has proven that CSR, seen as insincere and aimed at gaining publicity exclusively, is negatively perceived by the customers and could threaten an organization’s reputation (Yoon, Gürhan‐Canli & Schwarz, 2006). Many scholars now show interest in the way CSR may be used as a crisis communications tool. However, there is still not enough research on the interconnection between CSR and crisis communications (communications aimed at softening the adverse consequences of a crisis situation). The main purpose of this paper is to identify the way CSR and its perceived sincerity determine the success or failure of crisis communications. The research will employ mixed research methods to collect data with the means of a case-study (qualitative approach) and related artificial case with a survey (quantitative approach). The case study analysis will be based on the following communication theories: SPEAKING grid (Hymes, 1974), Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) (Coombs & Holladay, 2007), and Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC) (Reynolds & Seeger, 2005). As a result of the research, we expect to identify the way CSR could become a basis for crisis communications success or failure.