Future of Crisis

Communication The Cocreational Paradigm

C. Botan

Goals Today

Explain cocreation

Cocreation of meaning = how publics actively integrate own experiences and values with intentional and unintentional (relational) meanings of senders to create new understandings.

Use international PR in next decade as example

Agreement

Congruency

Accuracy

Briefly

Sense Making

Attribution Theory

Trust

This presentation demonstrate the ways how a cocreational approach to international public relations might contribute to a better understanding of the relationships involved, including those that will influence the development of international public relations in the next decades.

, sensemaking, Attribution Theory, and trust issues. The new approach has the potential to help us understand the complexities of interpersonal, organizational, and national relationships in variosu crisis contexts. The cocreationist model suggests a paradigm shift in global public relations and crisis communication by focusing on relationship creation, understand different cultures and practices

Issues and Crises Defined

Cocreational Definition of an Issue

An issue is any matter a public decides is of concern to

them.

Instrumental/organizational Definition of an Issue

A crisis is the effect on an organization of a mature issue

with two added properties; 1) there is insufficient time for

normal decision processes and, 2) the stakes for the

organization are higher than normal, possibly including

organizational survival.

Surprise in Crises

Managing vs. Cocreating Issues

“Managing” = control for benefit of org/sponsor

Publics manage issues, not orgs or practitioners

Cocreating = publics co-determine issues

Org has an issue (problem) when publics say it does.

Using what org communicates

Own backgrounds and history of relation with org

Issue resolved when publics say it is

Exxon Valdez and BP declared issue over too soon

Cocreational Life Cycle of Issue

Publics Determine Stages

Meta (Secondary) Crises

When the concern of publics switches from the content

of the original crisis to how it is handled

Much worse than regular crisis

Original issue may be ignored

Now relationship becomes the issue for publics rather than

the event

Now cannot be “oversight” or “did not know”