Storytelling in Crisis Communication

Tugce Ertem Eray 1
More Detail
1 University of Oregon, USA
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 131-144. https://doi.org/10.12973/ojcmt/2358
OPEN ACCESS   3153 Views   4256 Downloads   Published online: 24 Apr 2018
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Stories are effective communcation tools because there are no one who doesn’t like them. When a story is heard or listened, it can be a powerful communication tool to awake people’s emotions. Therefore organizations should use storytelling as an effective communication tool. Stories and storytelling are central parts of organizational life, shaping corporate culture and influencing corporate behavior. They help facilitate knowledge sharing, and solve problems and make decisions. They can have an effect on public’s opinion about the organizations. Stories have so many functions in organizations as a communication mechanism and one of them is to deal with crises. There are seven types of storytelling which are used in organizations. This study considers the one which is about how organizations deal with obstacles and aims to prove that storytelling can be used as a communication tool during a crisis. For this, examples are given to understand the current usage of storytelling in crisis communications.
Keywords: Stories, Storytelling, Crisis, Crisis Communication

CITATION

Ertem Eray, T. (2018). Storytelling in Crisis Communication. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 8(2), 131-144. https://doi.org/10.12973/ojcmt/2358

REFERENCES

  • Agnes, M. (2014). “The Cpower of Story Telling in Crisis Communications with Greg Power”, 27 July 2014, retrieved 09.07.2016, from http://melissaagnes.com/tcip-008- the-power-of-story-telling-in-crisis-communications-with-greg-power/.
  • Brown, J. S., Denning, S., Groh, K. & Prusak, L. (2004). Storytelling in Organizations: Why Storytelling Is Transforming 21st Century Organizations and Management, Taylor and Francis, UK.
  • Browning, L. D. (1992). “Lists and Stories as Organizational Communication”. Communication Theory, 2, 281-302.
  • Campaign Türkiye, (2016). TBWA/İstanbul’dan duygusal Akbank reklamı, 11 April 2016, retrieved 06.07.2016, from http://www.campaigntr.com/2016/04/11/133381/tbwaistanbuldan-duygusal-akbankreklami/.
  • Capital, (2016). Unutulmaz kriz yönetimi. Retrieved 18.04.2016, from http://www.capital.com.tr/yonetim/basari-oykuleri/unutulmaz-kriz-yonetimihaberdetay-22056?sayfa=3.
  • Delgadillo, Y. & Escalas, J. E. (2004). "Narrative Word-Of-Mouth Communication: Exploring Memory and Attitude Effects of Consumer Storytelling", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 31, eds. Barbara E. Kahn and Mary Frances Luce, Valdosta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, 186-192.
  • DeMers, J. (2014). “How to Maximize Your Marketing Campaign Through Storytelling”, 30 June 2014, retrieved 07.07.2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/06/30/how-to-maximize-yourmarketing-campaign-through-storytelling/#2d0222651d30.
  • Denning, S. (2011). The Leaders’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
  • Diageo, (2016). Mey Icki Fact Sheet, retrieved 18.04.2016, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja& uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiesNH90pjMAhUovIMKHTd2CXgQFggcMAA&url=http%3 A%2F%2Fwww.diageo.com%2FLists%2FResources%2FAttachments%2F736%2FFI NAL%2520mey%2520factsheet.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFaVhr97pA936EGWJvVXgHVH iPxgw&sig2=bCQAAOkPLTzZWFapaiMdSQ&bvm=bv.119745492,d.amc.
  • Fog, K., Budtz, C., Munch, P. & Blanchette, S. (2010). Storytelling Branding in Practice, Springer, Denmark.
  • James, C. H. & Minnis, W. C. (2004). “Organizational storytelling: It makes sense”. Business Horizons, 47/4, 23-32.
  • Kaufman, B. (2003). “Stories that Sell, Stories that Tell”, Business Strategy, March/April, 1- 4.
  • Kopp, D. M., Nikolovska, I., Desiderio, K. P. & Guterman, J. T. (2011). “Relaaax, I Remember the Recession in the Early 1980s…”: Organizational Storytelling as a Crisis Management Tool. Human Resource Development Quaterly, 22(3), 373-385.
  • Langer, R., Thorup, S. (2006) “Building trust in times of crisis Storytelling and change communication in airline company”. Corporate Communication: An International Journal, 11(4), 371-391.
  • Leslie, J., Shandwick, W. (2015). “The power of innovative storytelling in solving global crises”. December 18, 2015, retrieved 16.04.2016, from http://www.prweek.com/article/1377535/power-innovative-storytelling-solvingglobal-crises#rpBXM0SSRJGqev4H.99.
  • Lilijander, V., Gummerus, J. & Lundqvist, A. (2011). “Tell me a story and I will like your brand more”. 10th International Marketing Trends Conference, 20-22nd January 2011, Paris, France.
  • Marketing Türkiye, (2012). Varyap reklamında müşteriler oynuyor, June 6, 2012, retrieved 04.07.2016, from http://www.marketingturkiye.com.tr/kampanya/varyap-reklamindamusteriler-oynuyor.
  • Martin, J., Feldman, M. S. & Hatch, M. J. & Sitkin, S. B. (1983). “The Uniqueness Paradox in Organizational Stories”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 438-453.
  • Mckee, R. & Fryer, B. (2003). “Storytelling That Moves People”, retrieved 07.07.2016, from https://hbr.org/2003/06/storytelling-that-moves-people.
  • O’Neill, J. W. (2002). “The Role of Storytelling in Affecting Organizational Reality in the Strategic Management Process”. The Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 4(1), 4-19.
  • Özgül, R. (2010). İtibar Yönetimi Çerçevesinde Öyküleme, Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
  • Postman, N. (1994). "Learning by Story," Dialogues and Conversations: A Reader for English 115, ed. Grant Boswell and Gary Hatch, Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, p. 184.
  • Pulizzi, J. (2012). “The Rise of Storytelling as the New Marketing”. Publishing Research Quarterly, 28, 116-123.
  • Vatan Gazetesi, (2005). Halk sağlığı için 25 trilyon liralık zararı göze aldı, 07.03.2005, retrieved 15.04.2016, from http://www.gazetevatan.com/halk-sagligi-icin-25-trilyonliralik-zarari-goze-aldi-48628-ekonomi/.