Download - Presenter : HyeonJu Jeong Ph.D Candidate
Digital divide, how to control inequality to information access in the process of crisis management: The case study on oil spill crisis in South Korea
Presenter : HyeonJu Jeong
Ph.D Candidate
in Sungkyunkwan University
(South Korea)
IAMCR, Stockholm, SwedenJuly. 25th. 2008
Contents
Introduction1
Literature Review2
Research Questions3
4 Methodology
6 Discussion and Conclusion
5 Results
Introduction Organizations are always facing more crisis situations than ever before. As the Internet emerged as a tool that organizations could use to communicate with media and publics, in
the crisis situation, the Internet is being incorporated into the crisis response.
One of the drawbacks the Internet has is the inequality in the access to the digital media.
Especially, core public, that is, victims and their family in a crisis, falls into the category of the Internet have-nots
Objectives : To explore crisis communication responses by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and whether they work well or not, searching for an alternative way for crisis management on Internet have-nots
Literature Review
II Crisis ManagementCrisis Management
IIII Crisis Management throughCrisis Management throughthe Internetthe Internet
IIIIII Digital DivideDigital Divide
Crisis Management
a five-category model of message strategies. (Coombs, 1995) 1) Nonexistence Strategies : to deny crisis’s existence 2) Distance Strategies : to weaken the link between the crisis and organizations 3) Ingratiation Strategies : to gain public approval 4) Mortification Strategies : to gain forgiveness and acceptance 5) Suffering Strategies : To draw sympathy from the public 6) Silence Strategies 7) Endorsement of an outside expert
Crisis Management through Internet
The usefulness of the Internet for crisis management (Perry, Taylor, & Doerfel,
2003)
1) It can help organizations scan environment to plan response for a crisis. 2) It can help organizations quickly communicate their decisions to main stakeholders.
Digital Divide
Digital Divide : differences between individuals,
households, companies, or regions related to the
access to and usage of ICT (OECD, 2001).
Fundamental Causes of Digital Divide :
Cullen (2001) - historical, socioeconomic, geographic, educational, behavioral, or generation factors, physical incapability of individuals Vehovar et al. (2006)- differences in age, gender, the level of education, religious belief, social status, monthly income of household, and the level of urbanization.
Research Questions
RQ1. What kinds of crisis communication responses did the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. make during a crisis?
RQ2. In a crisis, how did the Internet have-nots access to the information associated to the disaster and make their decision?
RQ3. Did the Internet have-nots properly accept the crisis responses the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. made?
Methodology
Content Analysis : - to analyze online news articles and the website of
the Samsung Heavy Industries Co. From Dec 7th. to Jun. 18th in 2008. - to divide three periods based on conspicuous change
in the company’s position. i) 1st period : From Dec 7th to Jan 21st ii) 2nd period : From Jan 22nd (Apology) to Feb 29th iii) 3rd period : From Mar 1st ( fund for development) to Jun 18th (Judicial Decision) In-depth Interview
- interview with residents in Tae-an province
Results
Online Crisis Responses
1st Period1st Period 2nd Period2nd Period 3rd Period3rd Period
Distance Strategies
&
Silence Strategies
Mortification Strategies,
Distance Strategies,
&
Suffering Strategies
Mortification Strategies
&
Silence Strategies
Results
Internet Have-nots’ decision making process
• Mass Media, • Inter-personal communication with their neighbors, • the county office.
Sources
“We don’t have time to access any kind of media because we have to work just to survive.”
“If a passerby says something, they can know it. There are no other sources from which to get information.
Results
Internet Have-nots’ Awareness of Crisis responses
Don’t Know
Most of them aren’t aware of the crisis responses through online by Samsung
Dissatisfaction
They wish for the company to take
unlimited responsibility to
provide pecuniary compensation
Awareness Attitude