Survey: Perceptions of Corporate Crisis Communication on social media

A. Screening & Background

1.Age (Required)
2.How often do you use social media (Facebook or Twitter/X)? (Required)
3.Which platforms do you actively use? (Select all)
4.Country/Region
5.Have you seen corporate crisis messaging on social media in the past 12 months?

B. Instructions & Stimuli (Show before each case block)

You will see two brief crisis summaries and then answer questions about each brand’s social media response (Facebook and Twitter/X). The order of the two cases will be randomized.

You Stimulus text for Case A (McDonald’s E.coli Outbreak, 2024)

?Scenario summary shown to respondents: - “McDonald’s faced reports of E.coli infections linked by public health authorities to certain menu ingredients. On Facebook and Twitter/X, the company posted: (a) acknowledgments of the situation, (b) regular updates with affected locations and steps to cooperate with authorities, and (c) corrective actions (supplier audits, ingredient withdrawals, enhanced checks). Posts included infographics and a leadership update video. Comment replies were limited; most messaging was informational.”

You will seStimulus text for Case B (Starbucks COVID-19 Employee Safety Criticism, 2020)

?Scenario summary shown to respondents: - “In early COVID-19, Starbucks faced employee and public criticism on Facebook and Twitter/X regarding paid sick leave and in-store safety. Starbucks posted: (a) acknowledgments and ‘we hear you’ messages, (b) policy updates (catastrophe pay, store safety protocols), and (c) videos/FAQs featuring leadership and employees. Starbucks frequently replied to comments and questions.”

C. Case Block 1 (Randomized): McDonald’s (E.coli 2024)

CScale note: Unless stated, use 5-point Likert:

C1 Perceived Transparency & Clarity

C2 Empathy & Tone

C3 Corrective Action & Accountability

C4 Dialogic Engagement

C5 Trust & Behavioral Intentions

C6 Platform Experience (Multiple choice / grid)

16. Where would you prefer to see updates from this company? (Select all)

C7 Open-ended (optional)
In your own words, what worked well in this company’s social media response?
What did not work or should be improved?

D. Case Block 2 (Randomized): Starbucks (COVID-19 2020)

(Use the same item numbers and wording for direct comparability; replace “the company” with “Starbucks” where helpful.)

D1 Perceived Transparency & Clarity
D2 Empathy & Tone
D3 Corrective Action & Accountability
D4 Dialogic Engagement
D5 Trust & Behavioral Intentions

D6 Platform Experience

16. Where would you prefer to see updates from this company? (Select all)

D7 Open-ended (optional)

17. What worked well in this company’s social media response?

18. What did not work or should be improved?

E. Cross-Case Comparative Items

(Use 5-point scales unless noted.)

1.Overall, whose crisis response on social media was more effective?
2.Which company showed greater empathy?
3.Which company provided clearer information?
4.Which company engaged better with comments and questions?
5.On which platform did crisis updates feel most useful overall? (Single choice)

6.Perceived brand trust (single-item per brand; 0–10 scale):

McDonald’s:

McStarbucks:

F. Demographics (Anonymous; optional except first two)

1.Gender
2.Highest level of education
3.How often do you read news on social media?
4.Self-rated familiarity with corporate communications

5.Household income (bands appropriate to your sampling country)

Prefer not to say (default)

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