3. Discussion
This study gives crisis managers some insight into selecting an effective crisis response. In previous crisis literature, the importance of base response strategies has been relatively neglected compared to reputation repair strategies (Kim & Liu, 2012). Given that disseminating base response messages could mitigate reputational decline, especially during severe, preventable crises, a company’s top priority should be addressing the public’s physical and psychological needs (Coombs, 2007b). The use of base responses is important not only because they satisfy the public’s need for information, but also because they give impressions that the company prioritizes the public’s safety and expresses concern for victims.
