Digital divide, how to control inequality to information access in the process of crisis management: The case study on oil spill crisis in South Korea

Presenter : HyeonJu Jeong

Ph.D Candidate

in Sungkyunkwan University

(South Korea)

IAMCR, Stockholm, SwedenJuly. 25th. 2008

Contents

Introduction1

Literature Review2

Research Questions3

4 Methodology

6 Discussion and Conclusion

5 Results

Introduction Organizations are always facing more crisis situations than ever before. As the Internet emerged as a tool that organizations could use to communicate with media and publics, in

the crisis situation, the Internet is being incorporated into the crisis response.

One of the drawbacks the Internet has is the inequality in the access to the digital media.

Especially, core public, that is, victims and their family in a crisis, falls into the category of the Internet have-nots

Objectives : To explore crisis communication responses by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and whether they work well or not, searching for an alternative way for crisis management on Internet have-nots

Literature Review

II Crisis ManagementCrisis Management

IIII Crisis Management throughCrisis Management throughthe Internetthe Internet

IIIIII Digital DivideDigital Divide

Crisis Management

a five-category model of message strategies. (Coombs, 1995) 1) Nonexistence Strategies : to deny crisis’s existence 2) Distance Strategies : to weaken the link between the crisis and organizations 3) Ingratiation Strategies : to gain public approval 4) Mortification Strategies : to gain forgiveness and acceptance 5) Suffering Strategies : To draw sympathy from the public 6) Silence Strategies 7) Endorsement of an outside expert

Crisis Management through Internet

The usefulness of the Internet for crisis management (Perry, Taylor, & Doerfel,

2003)

1) It can help organizations scan environment to plan response for a crisis. 2) It can help organizations quickly communicate their decisions to main stakeholders.

Digital Divide

Digital Divide : differences between individuals,

households, companies, or regions related to the

access to and usage of ICT (OECD, 2001).

Fundamental Causes of Digital Divide :

Cullen (2001) - historical, socioeconomic, geographic, educational, behavioral, or generation factors, physical incapability of individuals Vehovar et al. (2006)- differences in age, gender, the level of education, religious belief, social status, monthly income of household, and the level of urbanization.

Research Questions

RQ1. What kinds of crisis communication responses did the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. make during a crisis?

RQ2. In a crisis, how did the Internet have-nots access to the information associated to the disaster and make their decision?

RQ3. Did the Internet have-nots properly accept the crisis responses the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. made?

Methodology

Content Analysis : - to analyze online news articles and the website of

the Samsung Heavy Industries Co. From Dec 7th. to Jun. 18th in 2008. - to divide three periods based on conspicuous change

in the company’s position. i) 1st period : From Dec 7th to Jan 21st ii) 2nd period : From Jan 22nd (Apology) to Feb 29th iii) 3rd period : From Mar 1st ( fund for development) to Jun 18th (Judicial Decision) In-depth Interview

- interview with residents in Tae-an province

Results

Online Crisis Responses

1st Period1st Period 2nd Period2nd Period 3rd Period3rd Period

Distance Strategies

&

Silence Strategies

Mortification Strategies,

Distance Strategies,

&

Suffering Strategies

Mortification Strategies

&

Silence Strategies

Results

Internet Have-nots’ decision making process

• Mass Media, • Inter-personal communication with their neighbors, • the county office.

Sources

“We don’t have time to access any kind of media because we have to work just to survive.”

“If a passerby says something, they can know it. There are no other sources from which to get information.

Results

Internet Have-nots’ Awareness of Crisis responses

Don’t Know

Most of them aren’t aware of the crisis responses through online by Samsung

Dissatisfaction

They wish for the company to take

unlimited responsibility to

provide pecuniary compensation

Awareness Attitude