Dr. Kristi S Gilmore

Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, this study explores the emotions of sadness and anger, as well as the concept of schadenfreude (the feeling of pleasure one experiences when a person or organization suffers a misfortune or setback) in relationship to stakeholders' perceptions of corporate reputation in response to a crisis. While the stimulus materials were unsuccessful in creating significantly different emotions in the subjects, there was an indication that schadenfreude as a concept is present in crisis communication scenarios and that it may have a distinctly different effect on perceived reputation than its more negative counterparts of anger and sadness.

Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, this study explores the emotions of sadness and anger, as well as the concept of schadenfreude (the feeling of pleasure one experiences when a person or organization suffers a misfortune or setback) in relationship to stakeholders’ perceptions of corporate reputation in response to a crisis. While the stimulus materials were unsuccessful in creating significantly different emotions in the subjects, there was an indication that schadenfreude as a concept is present in crisis communication scenarios and that it may have a distinctly different effect on perceived reputation than its more negative counterparts of anger and sadness.