Built by Us, Questioned by Us

Black Consumer Identity and the Honey Pot Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID21637316
AuthorsMia Moody (Baylor University, corresponding author), Suman Mishra (0000-0001-9310-1086, Southern Illinois University)
Year2026
Pages1-22
Publication date2026-07-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHoward Journal of Communications (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1064-6175 • E-ISSN: 1096-4649
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10646175.2026.2697834
OpenAlexW7167845676
LanguageEN
References cited19

When Beatrice Dixon’s Black-owned feminine care brand, The Honey Pot Company, faced a 2022 controversy, the incident highlighted a gap in crisis communication scholarship concerning how race, gender, and technology shape consumer trust online. Drawing on Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) and intersectionality, this study examines consumer discourse and the company’s response on X (formerly Twitter). Findings show that Honey Pot shifted from a playful, meme-driven tone to communication that was more professional, explanatory, and reassuring. Findings underscore the value of culturally grounded crisis communication strategies that account for the intersections of race, gender, and technology. For practitioners, effective image-repair efforts should be transparent, identity-conscious, and responsive to the experiences and expectations of key stakeholder communities

Crisis communication · Critical discourse analysis · Grounded theory · Identity crisis · Scholarship · Stakeholder · Media Studies and Communication · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Rhetoric and Communication Studies

Tools

Open DOI