1. Facing the Music: Best Practices for Conducting CEO Crisis Response on YouTube Elizabeth Petrun Sayers, RAND Corporation epetrun@rand.org Julia Daisy Fraustino, West Virginia University jdfraustino@mail.wvu.edu

2. YouTube as a Crisis Monitoring & Response Tool Social media offer new opportunities for CEOs and other organizational leaders to engage directly with publics during a crisis World’s largest video platform 2 nd largest social networking site (behind ) (Pew Research data)

3. YouTube during Crisis: Scientific Guidance? : Appealing to leaders who want to meet their publics where they digitally live Anecdotal evidence highlights benefits and pitfalls of online video statements from org leadership Science? Best Practices well known & tested in traditional formats Best Practices under development in social media contexts

4. Lingering Questions Such as:  When is the right time to respond via online videos?  Who is the best spokesperson for online videos?  What is appropriate content for YouTube?  What aspects of audio and visual components for YouTube should organizations consider? (and many more…)

5. Methods 1. synthesis of academic and trade literature on org leadership use of YouTube for crisis comm 2. highlight real-world illustrations of effective and ineffective use of YouTube by orgs during crises 3. offer initial framework of best practices for org leadership crisis response on YouTube 4. pose research questions to provide scientific guidance in this evolving area

6. BEST PRACTICE Q: Who is the best spokesperson for YouTube crisis response? CEOs present in crisis response can yield: greater trust in video content more positive audience attitudes more favorable purchase intentions greater customer satisfaction after crisis

7. EXAMPLE

8. BEST PRACTICE Q: What aspects of audio and visual components for YouTube should organizations consider? Lighting Sound Background Cuts/Edits Can impact audience message processing, perceptions, and responses

9. EXAMPLES “Is he in the loo?” “He looks like a kidnap victim. Nice one.” Real YouTube Viewer Comments

10. Best Practices Hints (but more research needed) Respond immediately Say “sorry,” and say it early on Sincerity is key Empathy and situational awareness are necessary Prior positive reputation impacts audience receptiveness

11. Future Research Should Test and Refine… Response immediacy? (24 hours is widely accepted— less?) Use of music, sound effects? YouTube across the crisis lifecycle? What increases (or decreases) any power? Context?

12. Thanks! Elizabeth Petrun Sayers, RAND epetrun@rand.org Julia Daisy Fraustino, West Virginia University jdfraustino@mail.wvu.edu