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Cited by 2Public Relations and Crisis CommunicationCorporate Identity and ReputationEmotions and Moral Behavior

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 99 of the 99 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 72 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Distinguishing Moral Outrage and Empathetic Anger: Advancing the Triadic Appraisal Framework of Situational Crisis Communication Theory

Open access
Niu, Rongting, Eng, Nicholas, Jin, Yan·2026·Journal of Public Relations Research

Abstract

This study expands the triadic appraisal framework of situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) with a 3 (crisis type: human-error vs. management misconduct vs. scansis) × 2 (organizational information-giving strategy type: instructing vs. adjusting) between-subjects online experiment among U.S. adults (N = 482). Moral outrage and empathetic anger were found to be distinct forms of third-party anger, driven by different triggers. The adjusting strategy led to significantly lower organizational reputation damage than the instructing strategy in the management misconduct crisis, but not in the human error or scansis crisis. Punishment intentions were found to vary as a function of crisis type and organizational response strategy.

Overview

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TL;DR

This 3×2 online experiment (N = 482 U.S. adults) extends SCCT’s triadic appraisal framework by distinguishing moral outrage from empathetic anger in preventable crises. It finds crisis type drives moral outrage and punitive outcomes, while adjusting information reduces reputation damage only in management misconduct, not human-error or scansis crises.

Key findings

  • Moral outrage increased across preventable crisis types: human error M = 3.43, management misconduct M = 4.12, scansis M = 4.52; all planned comparisons were significant (e.g., scansis vs. human error mean diff = 1.09, p < .001).
  • Empathetic anger was higher for management misconduct (M = 5.16) and scansis (M = 5.39) than human error (M = 4.76), but scansis vs. management misconduct was not significant (mean diff = .23, p = .21).
  • Crisis type significantly affected organizational reputation, NWOM, boycott, and brand cancellation intentions (e.g., reputation F(2, 474) = 120.92, p < .001, η² = .34; boycott F(2, 474) = 61.52, p < .001, η² = .21).
  • Adjusting strategy led to lower reputation damage than instructing only in management misconduct (M = 3.45 vs. 2.75, mean diff = .70, p < .001); no significant differences were found in human error (p = .06) or scansis (p = .42). Moral outrage and empathetic anger mediated crisis type–outcome relationships.

Methods

  • 3 (crisis type: human-error vs. management misconduct vs. scansis) × 2 (information-giving strategy: instructing vs. adjusting) between-subjects online experiment among U.S. adults (N = 482; mean age 38.89, 54.6% male).
  • Stimuli used food contamination and car accident news stories; no significant differences emerged between topics, so data were collapsed. Measures included moral outrage, empathetic anger, organizational reputation, NWOM, boycott, and brand cancellation intentions; covariates were crisis severity and involvement.
  • Analysis used two-way MANCOVA/ANCOVAs with Bonferroni correction and mediation via PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap samples.

Limitations

  • Stated: only two consumer product crises (food contamination and car incidents), only U.S. participants, and emotions were measured rather than manipulated.
  • Evident from the text: outcomes are self-reported intentions rather than observed punishment behavior, and the single-time online experiment cannot establish causal ordering beyond the manipulated crisis and strategy conditions.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/1062726x.2026.2667179

Cites

99 of 99 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Figures

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Image 2
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Image 3
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Figure 1 Conceptual model.
Figure 1 Conceptual model.CC-BY-NC · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 Valid · 11 Not valid · 58 Not checked · 118 Own results and interpretations

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Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • ConsistentF(2, 479) = 7.31reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(2, 479) = 7.31, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(2, 479) = 210.72reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(2, 479) = 210.72,p < .001”

  • Consistentt(448.1) = 7.511reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “t(448.1)= 7.511, p < .001”

  • Consistentt(480) = -5.103reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “t(480) = -5.103,p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(12, 938) = 18.68reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(12, 938) = 18.68, p < .001”

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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 12

  1. Allred, K. G. (1999). Anger and retaliation: Toward an understanding of impassioned conflict in organizations. In R. J. Bies, R. J. Lewicki, & B. H. Sheppard (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 7, pp. 27–58). JAI Press.
  2. Coombs, W. T. (2019). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
  3. Coombs, W. T., Holladay, S. J., & Tachkova, E. R. (2018). When a scandal and a crisis fuse: Exploring the communicative implication of scansis. In A. Haller, M. Hendrik, & M. Kraus (Eds.), Scandalogy: An interdisciplinary field (p. 181). Herbert von Harlem Verlag.
  4. Entman, R. M. (2012). Scandal and silence: Media responses to presidential misconduct. Polity.
  5. Haidt, J. (2003). The moral emotions. In R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 852–870). Oxford University Press.
  6. Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, media, language: Working papers in cultural studies, 1972-79 (pp. 128–138). Hutchinson.
  7. Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford publications.
  8. Jorgensen, B. K. (1996). Components of consumer reaction to company-related mishaps: A structural equation model approach. In K. P. Corfman & J. G. Lynch Jr. (Eds.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 23, pp. 346–351). Association for Consumer Research.
  9. Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.
  10. Richins, M. L. (1984). Word of mouth communication as negative information. In T. C. Kinnear (Ed.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 11, pp. 697–702). Association for Consumer Research.
  11. Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2021). Theorizing crisis communication. John Wiley & Sons.
  12. Stockmyer, J. (1996). Brands in crisis: Consumer help for deserving victims. In K. P. Corfman & J. G. Lynch Jr. (. (Eds.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 23, pp. 429–435). Association for Consumer Research.

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Metadata

Authors
Niu, R., Eng, N., & Jin, Y.
Affiliations
  • University of Georgia (US)
  • University of Waikato (NZ)
Corresponding author
Niu, Rongting
Venue
Journal of Public Relations Research
Published
2026-05-04
Volume
38
Issue
4
Pages
203-225
ISSN
  • 1062-726X (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-754X
OpenAlex
W7160126698
Cited by
2
References
99
Citations by year
2026: 2
FWCI
11.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Journal of Public Relations Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Corporate Identity and Reputation
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Keywords
moral outrage, Situational Crisis Communication Theory, crisis communication

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