Elsevier

Public Relations Review

Volume 43, Issue 3, September 2017, Pages 487-492
Public Relations Review

Full Length Article
Social media and culture in crisis communication: McDonald’s and KFC crises management in China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.03.006Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The study examined crisis management of two fast-food chains in China: McDonald’s and KFC.

  • Influential social media creators play a critical role in crisis management in China.

  • Culture affects how a crisis is interpreted and responsibilities are attributed.

  • McDonald’s emerged stronger after the crisis because of their effective crisis management.

  • KFC, in contrast, needed over a year to recover.

Abstract

This study analyzed how social media presents both challenges and opportunities to multinational companies (MNCs) in crisis situations. Employing a case study approach, the present study examined how McDonald’s and KFC used social media to manage their 2012 crises in China. Important findings of the study include: 1) crisis response strategies should be based on cultural insiders’ assessment of attribution of blame; 2) perception and use of specific response strategies (e.g., apology) have cross cultural variations; and 3) the role of influential social media users needs to be contextualized by culture.

Section snippets

Social media use in crisis communication

Social media have transformed how crisis information is generated and shared. In the digital age, crisis news are no longer monopolized by dominating mass media outlets; instead they can spread among social networks and reach large audiences almost instantaneously (Stephens & Malone, 2009). In many cases, local eyewitnesses use social media to provide first-hand information in the immediate aftermath of a crisis (Bruns, 2014). Public participation on social media platforms has become the new

Cultural context in crisis communication in China

Culture influences the way stakeholders perceive and respond to a crisis (Falkheimer and Heide, 2006, Lee, 2004). For MNCs an additional challenge is to address the crisis in a way that is culturally sensitive and appropriate to the stakeholders in the local market.

One of the most examined cultural dimensions is individualism/collectivism, which refers to the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups (Hofstede, 1984). China is a collectivistic society that stresses harmony and

Background information

McDonald’s and KFC are two prominent MNCs that gained early entry into the Chinese market. KFC has held an operational edge over McDonald’s in China. KFC opened its first outlet in Beijing in November 1987, whereas McDonald’s opened its first outlet three years later in October 1990. In 2012, KFC had approximately about 4000 stores in China compared with McDonald’s less than 1500 stores. According to a survey conducted between 2011 and 2013 on 60,000 consumers in China, KFC was ranked the most

Analysis and discussion

Both McDonald’s and KFC are multinational fast-food chains with a major presence in China. Both organizations engaged in unethical practices that were exposed by mainstream media in 2012. However, they weathered the crises differently: Whereas McDonald’s emerged stronger after the crisis, KFC needed over a year to recover. Analysts have attributed the success of McDonald’s crisis management to its effective use of social media, noting especially its impressive response speed (e.g., Bjorksten,

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