ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide an overview of corporate social responsibility (CSR)-involved crisis communication. The discussion begins with conceptualizing CSR-involved crisis as a form of paracrisis; a paracrisis poses no immediate “operational” threat to the company but places the company at risk for an actual crisis when ethics- or responsibility-related claims widely spread among stakeholders. The chapter also briefly introduces the relevant social psychological mechanisms, such as hierarchically restrictive schemas approach, to reason that individuals differently perceive CSR-involved crises versus other operational crises. Then, the chapter moves toward more practical aspects of CSR communication in the context of crisis by discussing research findings on the role of CSR during and after a crisis as well as recommendations for CSR-involved crisis response. Finally, the chapter addresses the increasing importance of social media as a venue to effectively manage current and potential CSR challenges as well as CSR-involved crises. Research on CSR and crisis, particularly regarding the mediating and moderating factors in the relationship between CSR and crisis outcomes, is still an emerging area of research, and therefore calls for more extensive examinations in various contexts.
