The Case of Patiswiss As A Social Media Crisis in the Context of Crisis Communication Theories

Öz

Crises are undesirable situations that every business is likely to face at different times. According to the communication literature, crises are manageable situations. Crisis communication approaches offer a rich literature on how crises should be managed. In this study, the fact that Patiswiss, an Ankara-based chocolate brand, grew into a major crisis in a short time after a consumer complaint, with the CEO's response to the consumer on a social media platform, was analyzed in the context of some crisis communication approaches in the public relations literature. In the study, data were obtained by content analysis technique from qualitative methods. For the analysis, the posts made by the brand on its official social media platforms Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram between April 20, 2024 and August 1, 2024 regarding the crisis process were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. NVivo program was used for the analysis of qualitative data. As a result, it was seen that especially the CEO of the brand made serious communication mistakes during the crisis management process of the brand and that there were aspects where the brand was faulty and incomplete in the crisis communication process. In the study, it is claimed that brands' calm, planned and appropriate behavior in accordance with the principles of crisis communication in the crisis communication process will lead to positive results in crisis management.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Patiswiss
• Crisis
• CEO
• Crisis Communication
• Social Media

Kriz İletişim Teorileri Bağlamında Sosyal Medya Krizi Olarak Patiswiss Örneği

Öz

Krizler her işletmenin farklı zamanda karşılaşması muhtemel istenmeyen durumlardır. İletişim literatürüne göre krizler yönetilebilir durumlardır. Krizlerin nasıl yönetilmesi gerektiği konusunda kriz iletişimi yaklaşımları zengin bir literatür sunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada Patiswiss adlı Ankara merkezli çikolata markasının bir tüketici şikâyeti sonrası, kurumun CEO’sunun bir sosyal medya platformunda tüketiciye verdiği cevapla büyüyerek kısa sürede büyük bir kriz haline gelmesi, halkla ilişkiler literatüründeki bazı kriz iletişim yaklaşımları bağlamında analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada nitel yöntemlerden içerik analizi tekniği ile veriler elde edilmiştir. Analiz için markanın resmi sosyal medya platformları olan Facebook, X (eski adı Twitter) ve Instagram’da 20 Nisan 2024 tarihi ile 1 Ağustos 2024 tarihleri arasında kriz süreci ile alakalı yaptığı paylaşımlar nitel içerik analizi ile incelenmiştir. Nitel verilerin analizi için NVivo programından istifade edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak markanın kriz yönetimi sürecinde özellikle CEO’sunun ciddi iletişim hataları yaptığı ve markanın da kriz iletişim sürecinde hatalı ve eksik kaldığı yönler olduğu görülmüştür. Çalışmada markaların kriz iletişim sürecinde sakin, planlı ve kriz iletişimi ilkelerine uygun davranmasının kriz yönetiminde olumlu sonuçlar doğuracağı iddia edilmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Patiswiss
• Kriz
• CEO
• Sosyal Medya
• Kriz İletişimi

Kaynakça

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