A spillover crisis occurs when ‘events in an external organization create concern, uncertainty, or perceptions of harm for another organization’ (Veil et al., 2016, p.317). A spillover crisis can also occur between individuals such as politicians, athletes and celebrities. Examples of high profile crises that have spread from one organization to another include the Volkswagen emissions crisis spreading to other car manufacturers, United Airlines’ crisis in the USA involving the forceful removal of a passenger due to overbooking spreading to other airlines, and a spinach contamination crisis in the USA involving E-coli that occurred at Natural Selections Foods, LLC which spread to the spinach industry (Laufer & Wang, 2018; Veil & Dillingham 2020).
The spillover effect of crises has become an emerging research topic in the field of crisis communication. This phenomenon is of particular importance in an age of social media increasing the speed by which a crisis can spread from one organisation to another. By gaining a better understanding of the mechanism underlying the process of crisis spillover, scholars can better assess the likelihood of crisis spillover occurring, and also develop more effective corporate responses in managing the spillover effect.
Considering the importance of the topic and the research interest among scholars, this one-day research symposium aims to create a multidisciplinary dialogue among scholars in order to gain a better understanding of the spillover effect of crises and its consequences for organisations and society. The symposium intends to bring together scholars from (but not limited to) the fields of communication, management, and marketing.
Date: 11 November 2022
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Location: Online
Register: through ESHCC
Language: English
