Repairing Charity Trust in Times of Accidental Crisis: The Role of Crisis History and Crisis Response Strategy

Xuhui Yuan, Zirong Ren, Zhengjie Liu, Weijian Li, Binghai Sun School of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Weijian Li; Binghai SunCollege of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, 688 Yingbin Avenue, Jinhua, 321004, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail xlxh@zjnu.cn; jky18@zjnu.cnPurpose: Since it is practically significant to explore how to repair the public’s trust in charities during accidental crisis, this study explored the crisis response strategies that charitable organizations with and without crisis histories could adopt when facing a current accidental crisis.Participants and Methods: Study 1 (N = 177) used a 2 × 2 between-subjects design to examine the effects of crisis history (no crisis history vs. crisis history) and crisis response strategies (diminish vs. rebuild) on charity trust repair during an accidental crisis. Study 2 adopting a 3 × 2 between-subjects design examined the effects of crisis history (victim crisis history vs. accidental crisis history vs. preventable crisis history) and crisis response strategies (diminish vs. rebuild) on charity trust repair during an accidental crisis.Results: The results of Study 1 showed that the diminish strategy adopted by charities in an accidental crisis can enhance public trust. However, if the charity has a crisis history, the rebuild strategy will enhance public trust. The results of Study 2 showed that, under the victim crisis history condition, participants’ charity trust was borderline significantly higher than their pre-test charity trust when the diminish strategy was used. However, rebuild strategies did not significantly increase trust. Under the accidental crisis history condition, diminish strategies improved trust after the accidental crisis, while rebuild strategies did not. Under the preventable crisis history condition, diminish strategies did not improve trust after an accidental crisis, while rebuild strategies did.Conclusion: Charities should adopt a diminish strategy when experiencing their first accidental crisis. Charities with a victim or accidental crisis history should adopt a diminish strategy when facing a current accidental crisis. However, if a charity has a preventable crisis history, rebuild strategies are the most appropriate response to a current accidental crisis.Keywords: situational crisis communication theory, SCCT, crisis history, crisis response strategy, trust repair, charity