Email this article 
How Digital Communication Transparency and Public Trust Shape Crisis Communication through Public Engagement
Abstract
This study examines the influence of digital communication transparency and public trust on crisis communication effectiveness in local governments in the MENA region, with public engagement as a mediator. Using a quantitative approach and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with data from 228 respondents, findings indicate that while transparency enhances public engagement significantly, trust alone does not directly boost engagement. Public engagement plays a vital mediating role, strengthening the effects of both transparency and trust on communication effectiveness. These results suggest that MENA governments should prioritize strategies fostering public participation alongside transparency to improve crisis communication outcomes. By actively engaging citizens, governments can enhance crisis management, strengthen public trust, and achieve more effective communication. This study contributes to the literature by underscoring the critical role of public engagement in crisis communication strategies.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Al-Hujran, O., Al-Debei, M. M., Chatfield, A., & Migdadi, M. (2015). The imperative of influencing citizen attitude toward e-government adoption and use. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 189-203.
Alexander, D. E. (2014). Social media in disaster risk reduction and crisis management. Science and engineering ethics, 20, 717-733.
Arshad, S., & Khurram, S. (2020). Can government’s presence on social media stimulate citizens’ online political participation? Investigating the influence of transparency, trust, and responsiveness. Government Information Quarterly, 37(3), 101486.
Banaji, S., & Moreno-Almeida, C. (2021). Politicizing participatory culture at the margins: The significance of class, gender and online media for the practices of youth networks in the MENA region. Global Media and Communication, 17(1), 121-142.
Blind, P. K. (2007). Building trust in government in the twenty-first century: Review of literature and emerging issues. 7th global forum on reinventing government building trust in government,
Bonsón, E., Royo, S., & Ratkai, M. (2015). Citizens' engagement on local governments' Facebook sites. An empirical analysis: The impact of different media and content types in Western Europe. Government Information Quarterly, 32(1), 52-62.
Chen, Q., Min, C., Zhang, W., Wang, G., Ma, X., & Evans, R. (2020). Unpacking the black box: How to promote citizen engagement through government social media during the COVID-19 crisis. Computers in Human Behavior, 110, 106380.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2020a). Balancing governance capacity and legitimacy: how the Norwegian government handled the COVID‐19 crisis as a high performer. Public Administration Review, 80(5), 774-779.
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2020b). The coronavirus crisis—crisis communication, meaning-making, and reputation management. International public management journal, 23(5), 713-729.
Comfort, L. K. (2007). Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control. Public Administration Review, 67, 189-197.
de Fine Licht, J. (2014). Transparency actually: how transparency affects public perceptions of political decision-making. European political science review, 6(2), 309-330.
Dhaoui, I. (2022). E-government for sustainable development: Evidence from MENA countries. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 13(3), 2070-2099.
Dzigbede, K. D., Gehl, S. B., & Willoughby, K. (2020). Disaster resiliency of US local governments: Insights to strengthen local response and recovery from the COVID‐19 pandemic. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 634-643.
El Mouloudi, M. (2022). Use of social media in crisis communication in the federal government during COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of responses strategies Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa].
Elhersh, G. A., Khan, M. L., Malik, A., Al-Umairi, M., & Alqawasmeh, H. K. (2024). Instagram for audience engagement: an evaluation of CERC framework in the GCC nations for digital public health during the Covid-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 1587.
Emovwodo, S. O., Adedimeji, M. A., Saud, M., & Ida, R. (2024). Community radio and post-conflict peace building: A study of Orisun 89.5 FM in Ife–Modakeke, Osun State, Nigeria. Journal of African Media Studies, 16(1), 25-44.
Enria, L., Waterlow, N., Rogers, N. T., Brindle, H., Lal, S., Eggo, R. M., Lees, S., & Roberts, C. H. (2021). Trust and transparency in times of crisis: Results from an online survey during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK. PLoS ONE, 16(2), e0239247.
Fakhruddin, B. S., Blanchard, K., & Ragupathy, D. (2020). Are we there yet? The transition from response to recovery for the COVID-19 pandemic. Progress in Disaster Science, 7, 100102.
Fissi, S., Gori, E., & Romolini, A. (2022). Social media government communication and stakeholder engagement in the era of Covid-19: evidence from Italy. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 35(3), 276-293.
Gagliardi, D., Schina, L., Sarcinella, M. L., Mangialardi, G., Niglia, F., & Corallo, A. (2017). Information and communication technologies and public participation: interactive maps and value added for citizens. Government Information Quarterly, 34(1), 153-166.
Gómez-Contreras, A. (2021). Trust in Government During Crisis.
Grimmelikhuijsen, S. G. (2010). Transparency of public decision‐making: Towards trust in local government? Policy & Internet, 2(1), 5-35.
Hickmann, E., Richter, P., & Schlieter, H. (2022). All together now–patient engagement, patient empowerment, and associated terms in personal healthcare. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), 1116.
Hillyard, M. J. (2000). Public crisis management: How and why organizations work together to solve society's most threatening problems. iUniverse.
Holland, D., Seltzer, T., & Kochigina, A. (2021). Practicing transparency in a crisis: Examining the combined effects of crisis type, response, and message transparency on organizational perceptions. Public Relations Review, 47(2), 102017.
Houston, D. J., & Harding, L. H. (2013). Public trust in government administrators: Explaining citizen perceptions of trustworthiness and competence. Public Integrity, 16(1), 53-76.
Hyland-Wood, B., Gardner, J., Leask, J., & Ecker, U. K. (2021). Toward effective government communication strategies in the era of COVID-19. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8(1), 1-11.
Jin, Y., Liu, B. F., & Austin, L. L. (2014). Examining the role of social media in effective crisis management: The effects of crisis origin, information form, and source on publics’ crisis responses. Communication research, 41(1), 74-94.
Lee, N.-J., Shah, D. V., & McLeod, J. M. (2013). Processes of political socialization: A communication mediation approach to youth civic engagement. Communication research, 40(5), 669-697.
Lee, Y., & Li, J. Y. Q. (2021). The role of communication transparency and organizational trust in publics' perceptions, attitudes and social distancing behaviour: A case study of the COVID‐19 outbreak. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 29(4), 368-384.
Liao, Q., Yuan, J., Dong, M., Yang, L., Fielding, R., & Lam, W. W. T. (2020). Public engagement and government responsiveness in the communications about COVID-19 during the early epidemic stage in China: infodemiology study on social media data. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(5), e18796.
Liu, W., Xu, W. W., & Tsai, J.-Y. J. (2020). Developing a multi-level organization-public dialogic communication framework to assess social media-mediated disaster communication and engagement outcomes. Public Relations Review, 46(4), 101949.
MacKay, M., Colangeli, T., Gillis, D., McWhirter, J., & Papadopoulos, A. (2021). Examining social media crisis communication during early COVID-19 from public health and news media for quality, content, and corresponding public sentiment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15), 7986.
Mezran, K., & Perteghella, A. (2021). The politics of pandemics: evolving regime-opposition dynamics in the MENA region.
Miniesy, R. S., & AbdelKarim, M. (2021). Generalized trust and economic growth: The nexus in MENA countries. Economies, 9(1), 39.
Musa, H. G., Fatmawati, I., Nuryakin, N., & Saleh, H. G. M. (2024). Investigating the Impact of push and pull motivations and Environmental Concerns on Sustainable Destination Loyalty. E3S Web of Conferences,
Musa, H. G., & Musa, A. A. M. (2023). Social media as a political platform in Africa: A bibliometric analysis. Komunikator, 15(2), 129-141.
Ngai, C. S. B., Singh, R. G., Lu, W., Yao, L., & Koon, A. C. (2023). Exploring the relationship between trust-building strategies and public engagement on social media during the COVID-19 outbreak. Health Communication, 38(10), 2141-2157.
Nguyen, T. T. U., Nguyen, P. V., Huynh, H. T. N., Vrontis, D., & Ahmed, Z. U. (2024). Identification of the determinants of public trust in e-government services and participation in social media based on good governance theory and the technology acceptance model. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 18(1), 44-61.
Nunkoo, R., Ribeiro, M. A., Sunnassee, V., & Gursoy, D. (2018). Public trust in mega event planning institutions: The role of knowledge, transparency and corruption. Tourism Management, 66, 155-166.
Oldeweme, A., Märtins, J., Westmattelmann, D., & Schewe, G. (2021). The role of transparency, trust, and social influence on uncertainty reduction in times of pandemics: empirical study on the adoption of COVID-19 tracing apps. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(2), e25893.
Organization, W. H. (2020). Regional guiding framework for risk communication and community engagement for the COVID-19 response in the Eastern Mediterranean Region/Middle East and North Africa: December 2020.
Pancic, N. (2010). Crisis Communication in theory and practice: Analysis of cultural influence, strategy applicability, and stakeholder relevance in Australia and New Zealand
Park, S., & Gil-Garcia, J. R. (2022). Open data innovation: Visualizations and process redesign as a way to bridge the transparency-accountability gap. Government Information Quarterly, 39(1), 101456.
Pramiyanti, A., Mayangsari, I. D., Nuraeni, R., & Firdaus, Y. D. (2020). Public perception on transparency and trust in government information released during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research, 8(3), 351-376.
Satizábal, P., Cornes, I., Zurita, M. d. L. M., & Cook, B. R. (2022). The power of connection: Navigating the constraints of community engagement for disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 68, 102699.
Strauß, N., Kruikemeier, S., van der Meulen, H., & van Noort, G. (2015). Digital diplomacy in GCC countries: Strategic communication of Western embassies on Twitter. Government Information Quarterly, 32(4), 369-379.
West, D. M. (2004). E‐government and the transformation of service delivery and citizen attitudes. Public Administration Review, 64(1), 15-27.
White, C. S. (1997). Citizen participation and the Internet: Prospects for civic deliberation in the information age. The Social Studies, 88(1), 23-28.
Yang, Y., Deng, W., Zhang, Y., & Mao, Z. (2021). Promoting public engagement during the COVID-19 crisis: how effective is the Wuhan local government’s information release? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(1), 118.
Zhang, F., & Feeney, M. K. (2018). Managerial ambivalence and electronic civic engagement: The role of public manager beliefs and perceived needs. Public Administration Review, 78(1), 58-70.
Zheng, Q. (2023). Restoring trust through transparency: Examining the effects of transparency strategies on police crisis communication in Mainland China. Public Relations Review, 49(2), 102296.
Zintl, T., & Houdret, A. (2024). Moving towards smarter social contracts? Digital transformation as a driver of change in state–society relations in the MENA region. Mediterranean Politics, 1-24.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18196/jkm.24485
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Komunikator
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Komunikator Supported by:
Program Studi Ilmu Komunikasi Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Politik Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta,
Jl. Lingkar Selatan Yogyakarta 55183 Po Box 1063, telp. (0274) 387656 pesawat 175, fax: (0274) 387646, email: jurnal.komunikator@gmail.com komunikator@umy.ac.id, website: journal.umy.ac.id
Komunikator Incorporates with:
Komunikator is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.