This study seeks to foster a greater understanding of effective crisis communication from the internal context of organizations. The present research conducted an online experimental study of 640 full-time employees in the United States. Results through OLS multiple regression and path analysis indicated 1) employee-organization relationships (EOR) and timing strategy of selfdisclosure (stealing thunder) were positively associated with the positive internal reputation and employees’ supportive behavioral intentions, 2) the positive effects of EOR on the employees’ supportive behaviors appeared differently according to whether or not stealing-thunder was used, and 3) the effects of EOR and message strategy (accommodative response) on the positive internal reputation were varied when the negative emotions (anger and anxiety) intervened.

Introduction

Crisis communication involves dialogues, in various forms and formats between an organization and its publics, regarding a crisis (Fearn-Banks, 2017). Organizations in a crisis situation are expected to implement crisis communication by collecting, processing, and disseminating crisis information in order to reduce publics’ uncertainty and minimize reputational damage to the organization (Coombs, 2012; Ulmer, Sellnow, & Seeger, 2015). In this regard, over the past two decades, scholars have paid substantial attention to finding out what message strategies would be most effective for crisis communication (Claeys & Opgenhaffen, 2016). The current crisis communication scholarship, which focuses on such crisis-response message strategies, has resonated with crisis managers. These managers are tasked with post-crisis reputation management to repair an organization’s image and/or garner favorable behavioral outcomes from external publics (Heide & Simonsson, 2014; Kim, Avery, & Lariscy, 2011). However, scholars recently have voiced concern over an almost exclusive emphasis on “external dimensions” of the current crisis communication scholarship, and corresponding neglect of one of the most strategically important publics for any organization: employees (Heide & Simonsson, 2014, p. 131; Mazzei, Kim, & Dell’Oro, 2012; Strandberg & Vigsø, ۲۰۱۶). Indeed, scholarly focus on crisis communication for internal publics has so far remained limited (Frandsen & Johansen, 2011; Frandsen & Johansen, 2016; Johansen, Aggerholm, & Frandsen, 2012; Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2011, 2015).