New types of media and its influence on corporate communication

Ing. Katsiaryna Asipenka

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Nowadays social media is a subject of great interest for various disciplines, including marketing and communication studies. While most authors examine the benefits of new platforms for businesses, this diploma thesis intends to show the challenges that new technologies pose to organizations. The main goal is to prove that social media can create a real threat to corporate reputation and requires a completely new approach to crisis communication of a company. The author of this diploma thesis analyzes six case studies of international companies which faced different types of social media crisis. The objective is to find out how social media contributed to the development of crises and reveal the constant patterns of crisis communication both in cases of success and failure. Findings provide an insight of social media crisis nature and systematize the principles of successful crisis communication in social media, which will be helpful for practitioners in this field.

Keywords

Social media, corporate communication, social media crisis, new media, crisis communication, stakeholders, image, identity, corporate reputation, communication channels, social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blog, misuse of social media, customer complains, social media challenge, case study analysis, La Redoute, American Apparel, Dell, United Airlines, Greenpeace, Nestlé, H&, M, users’ reactions, case study method, qualitative content analysis, cross-case analysis, social media campaign, crisis communication strategies, crisis response, transparency, social media engagement.

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 16. 4. 2015

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 17. 6. 2015
• Supervisor: Ing. Jiří Šnajdar
• Reader: PhDr. Karel Eliáš, CSc.

University of Finance and Administration

Master programme / field:
Economics and Management / Marketing Communication