ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to enhance the understanding of how ethical response strategies can be incorporated into crisis communication. It demonstrates that embracing ethical responsibilities would result in positive outcomes for organizations. The chapter provides important insights into the strategic adoption of an ethical approach in times of crisis. When the impact of a crisis is high, and its consequences are deemed severe, the crisis-affected publics tend to be more emotional and in greater need of emotional support. Despite the importance of ethics in organizational decision making, businesses often face dilemmas in making ethical decisions that might conflict with market-driven behaviors. In times of crisis, when the viability and sustainability of organizations are highly threatened, ethical decisions are especially crucial because stakeholders' trust is often at its lowest. However, relatively little attention has been paid to providing empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the ethical approaches applied during times of crisis.
