Date Approved
10-10-2012
Embargo Period
3-3-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. Public Relations
Department
Public Relations/Advertising
College
Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts
Advisor
FitzGerald, Suzanne
Subject(s)
Social media; Product recall
Disciplines
Public Relations and Advertising
Abstract
Crisis managers are constantly striving to find the best media outlets to reach the public in the event of a crisis or emergency and still maintain good public reputation. This researcher uses the food industry to examine the impact social media is having on the way the public is gathering news. This researcher will also study generational divides and how news gathering preferences differ among generational groups. This study also investigates the impact social media use has on organizational reputation in a crisis. A focus group and content analysis will serve as this study's qualitative measures and a surveymonkey.com survey will function as the primary quantitative measure. These instruments will measure reputation, opinions regarding social media, and news gathering preferences overall and generationally. Social media is a tool currently being widely used and explored by communications professionals. Harnessing its power for potentially life threatening situations such as food product recalls could save lives and spare businesses severe monetary repercussions and reputation damage.
Recommended Citation
Demary, Salita, "Alerting the public during food product recalls: social media's impact on organizational reputation" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 242.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/242
