IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v35y2024i2p590-608.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Computational Framework for Understanding Firm Communication During Disasters

Author

Listed:
  • Bei Yan

    (Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030)

  • Feng Mai

    (Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030)

  • Chaojiang Wu

    (Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242)

  • Rui Chen

    (Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011)

  • Xiaolin Li

    (Towson University, Towson, Maryland 21252)

Abstract

Large firms are leaders in disaster response and communication. We study how firms communicate on social media during various disasters and the relationship between their communication and public engagement using a computationally intensive theory construction framework. The framework incorporates a novel natural language processing (NLP) approach, Semantic Projection with Active Retrieval (SPAR), as a key component of the method lexicon. Drawing on the two dimensions ( internal versus external and stable versus flexible ) of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) as our theoretical lexicon, we examine Facebook posts of Russell 3000 firms on multiple disasters between 2009 and 2022. We find that social media messages that are internal- and stable-oriented, or emphasize operational continuity, are more likely to elicit engagement from the public during biological disasters. By contrast, messages that are external- and flexible-oriented, or stress the innovations to adapt to the disaster, induce more engagement in weather-related disasters. The study offers theoretical implications and methodological support for the research and design of social media messages in disasters and other contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Bei Yan & Feng Mai & Chaojiang Wu & Rui Chen & Xiaolin Li, 2024. "A Computational Framework for Understanding Firm Communication During Disasters," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 590-608, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:35:y:2024:i:2:p:590-608
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2022.0128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0128
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.2022.0128?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hakkyun Kim & Akshay R. Rao & Angela Y. Lee, 2009. "It's Time to Vote: The Effect of Matching Message Orientation and Temporal Frame on Political Persuasion," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(6), pages 877-889, April.
    2. Yang Gao & Wenjing Duan & Huaxia Rui, 2022. "Does Social Media Accelerate Product Recalls? Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 954-977, September.
    3. Yifan Dou & Marius F. Niculescu & D. J. Wu, 2013. "Engineering Optimal Network Effects via Social Media Features and Seeding in Markets for Digital Goods and Services," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 164-185, March.
    4. Jifeng Mu & Jonathan Zhang & Abhishek Borah & Jiayin Qi, 2022. "Creative Appeals in Firm-Generated Content and Product Performance," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 18-42, March.
    5. Ritu Agarwal & Vasant Dhar, 2014. "Editorial —Big Data, Data Science, and Analytics: The Opportunity and Challenge for IS Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 443-448, September.
    6. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    7. Dokyun Lee & Kartik Hosanagar & Harikesh S. Nair, 2018. "Advertising Content and Consumer Engagement on Social Media: Evidence from Facebook," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5105-5131, November.
    8. Susan Athey & Kristen Grabarz & Michael Luca & Nils Wernerfelt, 2023. "Digital public health interventions at scale: The impact of social media advertising on beliefs and outcomes related to COVID vaccines," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 120(5), pages 2208110120-, January.
    9. Andrew D. Brown & Ken Starkey, 1994. "The Effect Of Organizational Culture On Communication And Information," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 807-828, November.
    10. Nina S N Lam & Helbert Arenas & Kelley Pace & James LeSage & Richard Campanella, 2012. "Predictors of Business Return in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(10), pages 1-8, October.
    11. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips, 2016. "Text-Based Network Industries and Endogenous Product Differentiation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(5), pages 1423-1465.
    12. Wei Guo & Albert A. Cannella, 2021. "No Need to Know It All: Implications of COVID‐19 for Corporate Communication Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 1421-1425, July.
    13. Victoria Buenger & Richard L. Daft & Edward J. Conlon & Jeffrey Austin, 1996. "Competing Values in Organizations: Contextual Influences and Structural Consequences," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 557-576, October.
    14. Gabriel Grand & Idan Asher Blank & Francisco Pereira & Evelina Fedorenko, 2022. "Semantic projection recovers rich human knowledge of multiple object features from word embeddings," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(7), pages 975-987, July.
    15. Xue Bai & James R. Marsden & William T. Ross & Gang Wang, 2020. "A Note on the Impact of Daily Deals on Local Retailers’ Online Reputation: Mediation Effects of the Consumer Experience," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 1132-1143, December.
    16. Naveen Kumar & Liangfei Qiu & Subodha Kumar, 2022. "A Hashtag Is Worth a Thousand Words: An Empirical Investigation of Social Media Strategies in Trademarking Hashtags," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 1403-1427, December.
    17. Maytal Saar-Tsechansky & Foster Provost, 2007. "Decision-Centric Active Learning of Binary-Outcome Models," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 4-22, March.
    18. Peiqiu Guan & Jun Zhuang, 2015. "Modeling Public–Private Partnerships in Disaster Management via Centralized and Decentralized Models," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 173-189, December.
    19. Robert E. Quinn & John Rohrbaugh, 1983. "A Spatial Model of Effectiveness Criteria: Towards a Competing Values Approach to Organizational Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 363-377, March.
    20. Mochen Yang & Yuqing Ren & Gediminas Adomavicius, 2019. "Understanding User-Generated Content and Customer Engagement on Facebook Business Pages," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 839-855, September.
    21. Kai Li & Feng Mai & Rui Shen & Xinyan Yan, 2021. "Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning," NBER Chapters, in: Big Data: Long-Term Implications for Financial Markets and Firms, pages 3265-3315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Xueming Luo & Jie Zhang & Wenjing Duan, 2013. "Social Media and Firm Equity Value," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 146-163, March.
    23. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    24. Amalia R. Miller & Catherine Tucker, 2013. "Active Social Media Management: The Case of Health Care," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 52-70, March.
    25. Chu, Shu-Chuan & Chen, Hsuan-Ting & Gan, Chen, 2020. "Consumers’ engagement with corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in social media: Evidence from China and the United States," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 260-271.
    26. Kai Li & Feng Mai & Rui Shen & Xinyan Yan, 2021. "Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning [Machine learning methods that economists should know about]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(7), pages 3265-3315.
    27. repec:inm:ordeca:v:14:y:2015:i:4:p:173-189 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Yili Hong & Jing Peng & Gordon Burtch & Ni Huang, 2021. "Just DM Me (Politely): Direct Messaging, Politeness, and Hiring Outcomes in Online Labor Markets," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 786-800, September.
    29. Shu He & Huaxia Rui & Andrew B. Whinston, 2018. "Social Media Strategies in Product-Harm Crises," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 362-380, June.
    30. Ran Zhang & Zabihollah Rezaee & Jigao Zhu, 2010. "Corporate Philanthropic Disaster Response and Ownership Type: Evidence from Chinese Firms’ Response to the Sichuan Earthquake," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 51-63, January.
    31. Gregory D. Saxton & Lina Gomez & Zed Ngoh & Yi-Pin Lin & Sarah Dietrich, 2019. "Do CSR Messages Resonate? Examining Public Reactions to Firms’ CSR Efforts on Social Media," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 359-377, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahmed Abbasi & Robin Dillon & H. Raghav Rao & Olivia R. Liu Sheng, 2024. "Preparedness and Response in the Century of Disasters: Overview of Information Systems Research Frontiers," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 460-468, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Changseung Yoo & Eunae Yoo & Lu (Lucy) Yan & Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, 2024. "Speak with One Voice? Examining Content Coordination and Social Media Engagement During Disasters," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 551-569, June.
    2. Ramah Al Balawi & Yuheng Hu & Liangfei Qiu, 2023. "Brand Crisis and Customer Relationship Management on Social Media: Evidence from a Natural Experiment from the Airline Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 442-462, June.
    3. Bertschek, Irene & Kesler, Reinhold, 2022. "Let the user speak: Is feedback on Facebook a source of firms’ innovation?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    4. Jifeng Mu & Jonathan Zhang & Abhishek Borah & Jiayin Qi, 2022. "Creative Appeals in Firm-Generated Content and Product Performance," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 18-42, March.
    5. Sunghun Chung & Animesh Animesh & Kunsoo Han & Alain Pinsonneault, 2020. "Financial Returns to Firms’ Communication Actions on Firm-Initiated Social Media: Evidence from Facebook Business Pages," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 258-285, March.
    6. Michalski, Lachlan & Low, Rand Kwong Yew, 2024. "Determinants of corporate credit ratings: Does ESG matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Kunpeng Zhang & Wendy Moe, 2021. "Measuring Brand Favorability Using Large-Scale Social Media Data," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(4), pages 1128-1139, December.
    8. Tingting Song & Jinghua Huang & Yong Tan & Yifan Yu, 2019. "Using User- and Marketer-Generated Content for Box Office Revenue Prediction: Differences Between Microblogging and Third-Party Platforms," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 191-203, March.
    9. Wang, Sumingyue & Wang, Xinlu & Xu, Liang, 2023. "Debt maturity structure and the quality of risk disclosures," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    10. Myoung-Jin Chae, 2021. "Driving Consumer Engagement through Diverse Calls to Action in Corporate Social Responsibility Messages on Social Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, March.
    11. Yang Gao & Wenjing Duan & Huaxia Rui, 2022. "Does Social Media Accelerate Product Recalls? Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 954-977, September.
    12. Cumming, Douglas & Köchling, Gerrit & Neukirchen, Daniel & Posch, Peter, 2022. "Does Corporate Culture Influence IPO Pricing?," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264105, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Ajaya Kumar Swain & Ray Qing Cao, 2019. "Using sentiment analysis to improve supply chain intelligence," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 469-484, April.
    14. Fang, Yiwei & Fiordelisi, Franco & Hasan, Iftekhar & Leung, Woon Sau & Wong, Gabriel, 2023. "Corporate culture and firm value: Evidence from crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    15. Xitong Li, 2018. "Impact of Average Rating on Social Media Endorsement: The Moderating Role of Rating Dispersion and Discount Threshold," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 739-754, September.
    16. Ding, Guolei & Lei, Jin & Liu, Yunxiao & Wang, Zhen, 2024. "Supplier–customer cultural similarity and supplier performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    17. Liu, Tingting & Lu, Zhongjin (Gene) & Shu, Tao & Wei, Fengrong, 2022. "Unique bidder-target relatedness and synergies creation in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Hasan, Tahseen & John, Kose & Teng, Haimeng & Wu, Qiang, 2024. "Creative corporate culture and corporate tax avoidance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    19. Sinan Aral & Chrysanthos Dellarocas & David Godes, 2013. "Introduction to the Special Issue ---Social Media and Business Transformation: A Framework for Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 3-13, March.
    20. Leila Meratian Esfahani & Lester W. Johnson, 2018. "Stakeholders’ Engagement and Strategic Management of Social Media," Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 3(6), pages 47-56, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:35:y:2024:i:2:p:590-608. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.