Social Media and Crisis Communication in the Cruise Industry Analysing the Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic

This academic monograph examines the crisis communication response strategies employed by the cruise industry on social media following the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on social media platform X, the author conducted a content analysis of the top three cruise lines' strategies using NVivo software and assessed public sentiment and emotions through comments using KNIME and R software. The findings identify the most effective strategies for generating positive public sentiment and favourable emotions, contributing to faster business recovery. The book enhances Situational Crisis Communication Theory and offers practical guidance for managers to improve crisis resilience in the face of crises of such magnitude and duration. This work uniquely combines corporate and consumer perspectives to assess the effectiveness of crisis communication.

1. The Importance of Crisis Communication.- 2. Crisis Communication and Social Media.- 3. Crisis Communication and Health Crises: A Systematic Literature Review.- 4. Social-Media Crisis Communication in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector: An Empirical Investigation in the Cruise Industry.- 5. Cruise Lines’ Crisis Communication Strategies on X During the Pandemic: Results of Content Analysis.- 6. Efficacy of Cruise Lines’ Crisis Communication Strategies During the Pandemic: Results of Sentiment Analysis.- 7. Conclusion.

Ginevra Testa completed her PhD at the Italian Centre of Excellence on Logistics, Transport, and Infrastructure (CIELI) at the University of Genoa, where she is now a Research Fellow. Her research focuses on crisis communication in the digital age, social media communication by startups, and the metaverse's strategic implications. She has also gained professional experience in strategic communication at Michelin S.p.A.