An Initial Extension of Situational Crisis Communication Theory to Government Sector: How do Public Think of Chinese Government in Water Pollution Crisis

Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) is an important theory in crisis communication. Through a series of experiments, it identifies key factors of crisis that shape the reputational threat. Therefore, SCCT provides an evidence-based framework for understanding stakeholders’ perception of crisis and the involved organization. This study is an initial extension of SCCT from corporation sector to government sector. It tests key propositions of SCCT in water pollution crisis, which usually involves government and frequently hits China. In the experiment, this study avoids the potential bias that might exist in previous studies by adopting water pollution crisis as the only scenario across different crisis types. Moreover, it makes an adjustment to the framework of the theory by proposing severity of damage as one of the determinants of crisis responsibility. Results of the experiment support key propositions of SCCT, which implies the theory’s potential in government sector.