2022 article
The NRA in Crisis: Social Identities and Publics' Cognitive and Affective Evaluations
Shen, H., & Cheng, Y. (2022, October). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION, Vol. 59, pp. 653–662.
Contextualized in the Florida Parkland high school mass shooting and National Rifle Association (NRA) crisis, our study is among the first to apply the social identity theory in understanding simultaneously publics’ cognitive and affective evaluations of a non-profit organization’s crisis response. Results from an online survey ( N = 603) revealed that participants displayed a range of both negative and positive emotions towards the NRA, including anger, disgust, and interest and hope. On the rational side, publics considered NRA’s actions as harmful and unjust. Publics’ NRA affiliation status and political partisanship identity had a significant main effect on their crisis evaluations.