Culture and emotion in crisis communication: Indigenization of the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model
Abstract
Arguably the first study that has tested the ICM model cross-culturally, this study addresses the call by Asian scholars (see Wang & Kuo, 2010) to test the relevance of and indigenise Western models to Eastern contexts. Essentially, this study seeks to examine how the American-centric Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model, an emotion-driven crisis model, can be applied to the Asian culture, in which four crisis cases from Singapore, a microcosm of Asian cultures, are studied. Findings showed conceptual rigor of the ICM model. However, differences in emotional responses between stakeholders in the West and Asia demonstrated that displays of emotions and cognition tend to be influenced by culture. While crisis strategies (see Benoit & Pang, 2008) are useful, practitioners should increasingly integrate emotions and culture in crisis responses.