ABSTRACT
Although the crisis response research is vibrant and growing, it remains in an early stage of theoretical development with the literature being largely descriptive. The extant prescriptive research is based almost exclusively on case studies or accepted wisdom. As crisis management increases in importance as an organizational function, the research should rise to a higher level of rigor to provide a sturdy foundation for that function. This chapter offers a review and synthesis of lessons learned from the crisis response research. The crisis response research can be can be divided into two categories that reflect different emphases: form and content. Form indicates what should be done. For instance, crisis managers are told to respond quickly. Content addresses what is actually said in the messages. For example, crisis managers are urged to express sympathy for crisis victims. The chapter begins with the distinction between the form and content lines of research. Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), a prescriptive system for matching crisis responses to the crisis situation, is used to organize the discussion of the content research and as a foundation for the explication of future research and theory development. The chapter concludes with the implications of the form and content research for both researchers and practitioners.
