Reputational Crisis Risk Management: The Immediate Effect of a Plane Crash on Airlines’ Digital Branding

Airlines tragedies are fortunately rare, but when they happen, the results are devastating. Most of the companies under crisis are not able to manage effectively the “post-crisis” period, resulting in reputational damage with enormous consequences on business performance, revenue, and brand name. This kind of crisis strikes usually without warning and escalates with remarkable speed, mainly due to the widespread use of social media. Airline companies try to mitigate the risk of potential reputational crisis by preparing various response strategies and investing in risk mitigation. This paper investigates the mechanism behind customers’ online behavior during a reputational crisis, focusing on users’ online behavior, utilizing Web analytics, and fuzzy cognitive mapping methods. The results of the study clearly demonstrate the need for airline managers to immediately put into action an effective communication strategy across multiple channels, as part of an operational risk management plan, in favor of brand optimization, since digital branding and reach percentage are significantly increased following an air crash.