Exploring the concept and application of crisis-induced uncertainty in organizational crises
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation was designed to investigate stakeholders’ feelings of uncertainty during an organizational crisis and how such feelings influence stakeholders’ relationship with the organization and change their information-seeking behaviors. Through reviewing current theories about uncertainty in risk communication and interpersonal communication, this dissertation created a term, crisis-induced uncertainty, and conceptualized the construct. The researcher designed two studies to measure and test the construct separately. Study 1 aimed to develop a multidimensional scale to capture crisis-induced uncertainty. Two samples were collected to validate the scale (n1 = 341; n2 = 294). Through the comprehensive assessment of content validity, construct validity, discriminant validity, convergent validity, and reliability, this study yielded a three-dimension scale with 11 measurement items. Crisis-induced uncertainty contained three dimensions: protection uncertainty, process uncertainty, and relationship uncertainty. Using a survey (n3 = 324), Study 2 attempted to discover the relationship between crisis-induced uncertainty and organization-public relationships, and the relationship between crisis-induced uncertainty and information-seeking behaviors. The survey revealed that crisis-induced uncertainty significantly predicts satisfaction, trust, and commitment. It also indicated that crisis-induced uncertainty does not change people’s information-seeking behaviors during a crisis. This dissertation greatly contributes to the understanding of uncertainty during a crisis and paves the way for future uncertainty research in the crisis context.
abstract: This dissertation was designed to investigate stakeholders’ feelings of uncertainty during an organizational crisis and how such feelings influence stakeholders’ relationship with the organization and change their information-seeking behaviors. Through reviewing current theories about uncertainty in risk communication and interpersonal communication, this dissertation created a term, crisis-induced uncertainty, and conceptualized the construct. The researcher designed two studies to measure and test the construct separately. Study 1 aimed to develop a multidimensional scale to capture crisis-induced uncertainty. Two samples were collected to validate the scale (n1 = 341; n2 = 294). Through the comprehensive assessment of content validity, construct validity, discriminant validity, convergent validity, and reliability, this study yielded a three-dimension scale with 11 measurement items. Crisis-induced uncertainty contained three dimensions: protection uncertainty, process uncertainty, and relationship uncertainty. Using a survey (n3 = 324), Study 2 attempted to discover the relationship between crisis-induced uncertainty and organization-public relationships, and the relationship between crisis-induced uncertainty and information-seeking behaviors. The survey revealed that crisis-induced uncertainty significantly predicts satisfaction, trust, and commitment. It also indicated that crisis-induced uncertainty does not change people’s information-seeking behaviors during a crisis. This dissertation greatly contributes to the understanding of uncertainty during a crisis and paves the way for future uncertainty research in the crisis context.
author: Zhou, Ziyuan
language: en_US
language: English
keywords: Mass communication
date published: 2019
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:44:10Z
provider: University of Alabama
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Alabama Libraries