Your reputation is at risk when negative posts start to appear
A new study is backing up a precept that crisis management professionals have been talking about for years – negative online comments have a measurable effect on an organization’s reputation.
PR Daily recently interviewed the study’s organizer, doctoral student Bo Kyung Kim, who explained his test like this:
Kim conducted the study by first measuring participants’ baseline perceptions of four auto companies. Then they read a news story about a crisis each company was enduring and answered the same questions about their perceptions of the companies.
Next, participants read negative online comments—from victims of each crisis and from the unaffected public—on Facebook, Twitter, and other online message boards in response to each crisis situation. They then answered questions about their perceptions about the company.
All negative comments affected the participants’ views of the organizations, but comments from victims had the greatest effect. As a result, Kim suggested companies pay closer attention to comments made by perceived victims than those from anonymous sources.
“We found that negative messages created by victims significantly increased the negative reputation of an organization, and were more likely to result in boycotts against the organization than when it was sourced to unaffected individuals,” she said.
The fact that the public does give significant credence to these messages means that organizations should, in the vast majority of cases, make an effort to reply.
Especially when broadcast via social media channels, a complaint actually presents an opportunity for organizations to show publicly that they do care, and are willing to rectify mistakes or correct problems in order to keep stakeholders safe and happy.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/