Stakeholder group influence on media reputation in crisis periods
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
ISSN: 1356-3289
Article publication date: 1 August 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of media reputation is a well-documented field in communication research. However, it often remains unclear how the process of reputation formation takes place exactly. The purpose of this paper is to analyze which stakeholder groups are the driving forces in the process of reputation constitution of the Swiss banking industry and how it was affected by the financial crisis in 2008.
Design/methodology/approach
Given that mass media are the main source of information about an organization in crisis for the public, media reputation serves as a valuable concept for analyzing the effects of crises on organizations. This study is therefore based on a content analysis of Swiss newspapers published between 2004 and 2010.
Findings
Data shows that the influence of political stakeholder groups on media reputation of Swiss banks is higher in times of crisis. In addition the focus in media coverage changes from economic topics in pre-crisis period to social topics in crisis period. The increased importance of political stakeholder groups and social topics in crisis lead to a more negative and less controllable media reputation.
Originality/value
This study aims at a better understanding of the impact of stakeholder groups on corporate media reputation in crises. Instead of defining reputation as a single item this approach allows a more differentiated analysis of the process of reputation constitution.
Keywords
Citation
Vogler, D., Schranz, M. and Eisenegger, M. (2016), "Stakeholder group influence on media reputation in crisis periods", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 322-332. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-01-2016-0003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited