Role of effective crisis communication by the government in managing the first wave Covid‐19 pandemic – A study of Kerala government's success

Bibliographic Data

ID12705317
AuthorsM A Sanjeev (0000-0002-6309-0758, Associate Professor ‐ Marketing Jaipuria Institute of Management Lucknow India, corresponding author), Neerja Pande (0000-0002-4940-5960, Professor ‐ Business Communication Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow India), P K Santhosh Kumar (0000-0002-2832-4635, Cochin University of Science and Technology), Santhosh Kumar P K (Assistant Professor ‐ School of Management Studies (SMS) Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) Cochin India)
Year2021
Volume21
Issue4
Pagese2721-e2721
Publication date2021-07-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1472-3891 • E-ISSN: 1479-1854
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pa.2721
PMID34512184
OpenAlexW3184434457
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited25

Effective crisis communication is critical for successful crisis management. The current study is an attempt to unravel the public communication efforts of the Kerala government in its successful Covid-19 crisis management efforts during the first wave of the pandemic. The findings of the study indicate that the government has successfully used pre-crisis communication to inoculate the stakeholders, 'steal thunder', and bolster their crisis management capabilities. Effective crisis communication, by the government, has ensured proper information management, media management, right supportive action, and direct communication with stakeholders. Effective communication has also helped the government in garnering favourable constituent attribution, positive framing, positive affect in stakeholder, and enlist active stakeholder participation in crisis management; resulting in, effective crisis management and enhanced reputation for the government. The study unravels the best practices of the Kerala government, in public crisis communication, during the pre-crisis and crisis stages of the first wave of the pandemic and proposes a Kerala model of crisis communication. The model can be used as a reference for future government communication efforts during a crisis across geographies

Attribution · Business · Communications management · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Crisis communication · Crisis management · Framing (construction · Government (linguistics · Pandemic · Political science · Public relations · Stakeholder · Disaster Management and Resilience · Engineering · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Psychology · Marketing

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