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Cited by 17Public Relations and Crisis CommunicationCorporate Identity and ReputationAI in Service Interactions

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 84 of the 87 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 3 are not checked yet.

Generating Credibility in Crisis: Will an AI-Scripted Response Be Accepted?

Ray, Elizabeth C., Merle, Patrick F., Lane, Kaylin·2025·International Journal of Strategic Communication
DOI 10.1080/1553118x.2024.2435494
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Abstract

Increasingly, practitioners are using artificial intelligence (AI) to strategically monitor and respond to crises. However, there is little evidence indicating whether a crisis response, disclosed as AI-scripted, will be accepted by stakeholders and what effects the disclosure may have on message credibility, attribution of responsibility, message acceptance, and organizational reputation. Using Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), this 2 (type of crisis) x 2 (presence or absence of AI label) online experiment explored how the disclosure of AI-generated content affects post-crisis organizational outcomes. Participants (n = 238) were randomly assigned to a vignette featuring a victim (e.g. shooting) or accidental (e.g. data breach) cluster crisis and a detailed response that either disclosed or did not disclose that the content was AI-generated. Results revealed no effect of disclosure on message credibility or attribution of responsibility. However, message acceptance served as a mediator between message credibility and attribution of responsibility on organizational reputation. This study contributes to SCCT and provides contextual evidence for practitioners who are considering AI for crisis responses. Ethical implications and future directions are discussed.

Overview

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Crossref · 10.1080/1553118x.2024.2435494

Cites

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Citations

Cites

Show all 85 references

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Dahlhoff D. (2023 August 2). AI in marketing & communications: Boosting productivity- and creativity too?. The Conference Board. https://www.conference-board.org/research/CMO-CCO-Meter/AI-Marketing-Communications-survey
  2. Davies, N. (2023). 8 ways PR pros can leverage generative AI for crisis communication. Agility PR Solutions. https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/8-ways-pr-pros-can-leverage-generative-ai-for-crisis-communication/
  3. Elasser, J. (2021). Thoughts on the AI Wave for communicators. Public Relations Society of America. https://prsay.prsa.org/2021/05/10/thoughts-on-the-ai-wave-for-communicators/
  4. Myers, C. (2024). To disclose or not to disclose? That is the AI question. Institute for Public Relations. https://instituteforpr.org/to-disclose-or-not-to-disclose-that-is-the-ai-question/
  5. Public Relations Society of America. (2024). PRSA releases guidance on artificial intelligence [Press release]. https://www.prsa.org/news/2023/11/20/prsa-releases-guidance-on-artificial-intelligence
  6. 10.4324/9780429330650 · DOI
  7. 10.48550/arxiv.2111.04230 · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2111.04230

Cited by

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Related

Metadata

Authors
Ray, E. C., Merle, P. F., & Lane, K.
Affiliations
Florida State University (US)
Corresponding author
Ray, Elizabeth C.
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Strategic Communication
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2024-12-17
Volume
19
Issue
2
Pages
158-175
ISSN
  • 1553-118X (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-1198
DOI
10.1080/1553118x.2024.2435494
OpenAlex
W4405493401
Cited by
16
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 5
FWCI
8.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
International Journal of Strategic Communication (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Corporate Identity and Reputation
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › AI in Service Interactions
Keywords
message credibility, attribution of responsibility, message acceptance, organizational reputation, Situational Crisis Communication Theory, crisis response, AI ethics

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Data sources

Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.