DOES BEING REAL PAY OFF? EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED AUTHENTICITY IN CRISIS COMMUNICATION A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School At the University of Missouri In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By MIKKEL SOELBERG CHRISTENSEN Dr. Glen T. Cameron, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2019 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled DOES BEING REAL PAY OFF? EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED AUTHENTICITY IN CRISIS COMMUNICATION presented by Mikkel Soelberg Christensen, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Dr. Glen Cameron Dr. Fritz Cropp Dr. Margaret Duffy Dr. J. Brian Houston Dr. Ben Warner DEDICATION To Niels Christensen (1945 – 2018). My best friend, hero, and dad. Without your love and support, this dissertation would not have been possible. You are dearly missed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The journey to a Ph.D. has been long and challenging, and I would not have made it this far without the backing of these tremendous people in my life. First and foremost, I need to thank my fiancée Katie. You have been my rock through every challenge, and I’m so incredibly grateful that you are by my side. A special thank you should also go to my family. Your love and support mean the world to me, and I appreciate you helping me whole-hearted through every step of this endeavor. Of course, none of this would have been possible without my outstanding advisor, Dr. Glen Cameron. You have not only been my academic mentor but also gave me invaluable support and advice when life was most challenging. For that, I will always be grateful, and you are indeed an inspiration! I also want to thank my fantastic committee members Dr. Margaret Duffy, Dr. Fritz Cropp, Dr. Brian Houston, and Dr. Ben Warner for your guidance, for pushing me, for introducing me to new perspectives, and for simply being inspirational mentors I can look up to. I hold special gratitude to my friends and colleagues in the Ph. D. program who helped make this experience such an enjoyable journey, despite the tests we had to go through. I also owe a big thank you to Richard Møller Nielsen for showing me that anything is possible with the right attitude and a bit of luck. To my students and colleagues at Stephens College for inspiring me. And last, but not least, to Dr. Joy Jenkins and Rev. Hank Jenkins for being the best friends anyone could ask for. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 5 Crisis Communication ................................................................................................. 5 Contingency Theory of Accommodation ..................................................................... 8 Situational Crisis Communication Theory.................................................................. 12 Conversational Human Voice .................................................................................... 14 Authenticity ............................................................................................................... 16 Defining Authenticity ................................................................................................ 17 The Anti-commercial Aspect of Authenticity ............................................................. 22 Benefits of Authenticity ............................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 3 – HYPOTHESES AND RESEACH QUESTIONS ................................... 27 CHAPTER 4 - METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 33 Study Design ............................................................................................................. 34 Participants ................................................................................................................ 34 iii Stimuli Development and Manipulation ..................................................................... 36 Independent Variables ............................................................................................... 38 Dependent Variables.................................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER 5 - RESULTS ............................................................................................. 43 Manipulation Check Results ...................................................................................... 43 Tests of Hypotheses and Research Questions ............................................................. 45 CHAPTER 6 - DISCUSSION........................................................................................ 56 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................ 57 Theoretical Implications ............................................................................................ 59 Authenticity and the Contingency Theory of Accommodation ................................... 63 Practical Implications ................................................................................................ 69 Limitations and Future Research ................................................................................ 70 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 74 APPENDIX A – EXPERIMENTAL STIMULI ............................................................. 82 APPENDIX B – SCALES ............................................................................................. 89 APPENDIX C - MAIN STUDY INSTRUMENT .......................................................... 91 VITA ............................................................................................................................. 95 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 3. 1. Summary of Theory, Hypotheses, and Research Purposes ........................... 32 Table 5. 1. Means of Authenticity Scores by Message Type .......................................... 44 Table 5. 2. Mean of Accommodation Scores by Response Type .................................... 45 Table 5. 3. Means of Crisis Responsibility Attribution by Message and Response Type 47 Table 5.4. Means of Organizational Reputation by Message and Response Type ........... 49 Table 5. 5. Means of Anger by Message and Response Type ......................................... 52 Table 5. 6. Means of WOM-Intention by Message and Response Type .......................... 55 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 5. 1. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on Crisis Responsibility Attribution in the Red Cross Scenario ..................................................... 46 Figure 5.2. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on Crisis Responsibility Attribution in the Red Cross Scenario ..................................................... 47 Figure 5.3. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on Organizational Reputation in the Red Cross Scenario ............................................................................ 48 Figure 5.4. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on Organizational Reputation in the United Airlines Scenario .................................................................... 49 Figure 5.5 An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on Anger in the Red Cross Scenario ............................................................................................................... 51 Figure 5.6. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on Anger in the United Airlines Scenario................................................................................................ 52 Figure 5.7. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on WOM-intention in the Red Cross Scenario .............................................................................................. 54 Figure 5.8. An Interaction Effect Between Authenticity and Accommodation on WOM-Intention in the United Airlines Scenario ...................................................................................... 55 vi DOES BEING REAL PAY OFF? EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED AUTHENTICITY IN CRISIS COMMUNICATION Mikkel Soelberg Christensen Dr. Glen T. Cameron, Dissertation Supervisor ABSTRACT This study examines whether communicating with authenticity in a crisis situation can help produce more successful post-crisis results and if the type of crisis apology impacts the relationship between authenticity and post-crisis success. The theoretical framework is centered around the contingency theory of accommodation,