Public relations and reputation resilience: an applied study of Facebook’s crisis management strategies

Introduction The study investigates the role of public relations strategies in fostering reputation resilience during crises on digital platforms, with a specific focus on Facebook. The research is grounded in Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Image Repair Theory (IRT), addressing how transparent communication (TIC), speed of response (SOR), and consistency in messaging (CIM) influence two key outcomes: rebuilding user trust (RT) and the overall effectiveness (OE) of crisis management. Methods Data were collected through a structured survey of 174 respondents and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) via AMOS v.24. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed reliability, validity, and model fit indices within acceptable thresholds. Findings revealed significant positive relationships between TIC and RT ( β = 0.401, p = 0.002), SOR and OE ( β = 0.393, p = 0.001), and CIM and RT ( β = 0.531, p < 0.001). Collectively, TIC and CIM explained 44.7% of the variance in user trust, while SOR accounted for 15.5% of the variance in effectiveness. The results empirically validate the theoretical proposition that transparency, timeliness, and coherence in messaging are essential to mitigating reputational damage and restoring trust in digitally mediated crises. Practically, the study highlights the necessity for organizations to adopt proactive and harmonized crisis communication strategies, particularly in high-visibility environments like Facebook, where missteps can rapidly amplify negative public perceptions. The research contributes to advancing crisis communication scholarship by providing platform-specific empirical evidence while offering actionable insights for public relations practitioners.