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Last but not least, this study also tried to observe how Taipei Lee-Chi use official website as a communication channel in crisis communication. Taipei Lee-Chi had posted two announcements on the “Latest news” page during the crisis, but these announcements were found removed few months later. The first announcement was posted on September 8 to apologize for making customers worried during the tainted oil crisis, but the content of this post did not mention any information about the refund and return policy, nor the contact information for customers who might have
problems of the products. The second post was the press release from Consumer Ombudsman Officer at Department of Legal Affairs of Taipei City Government on September 10. This post was the governmental approval announcing that Taipei Lee-Chi had the right to adjust the return and refund policy. For visitors who may be anxious to know more about the tainted oil crisis, they would fail to find useful information on the official website. These two announcements did not include an
explanation of this crisis event, or a clear return and refund information. Taipei Lee-Chi could have done more in using official website to provide crisis information to the stakeholders.
4.3 Analysis of Social Media Communication
In this study, social media communication refers to how organization utilize Facebook fan page to communicate with its target audience. There were three aspects to be analyzed at this part.
First was the background of Taipei Lee-Chi’s social media usage, then to observe the posts during the tainted oil crisis in order to analyze the crisis communication strategies. The interaction between Taipei Lee-Chi and its audience of Facebook fan page was also evaluated in this section.
Social media usage and crisis communication strategies (RQ3). There was no clear
information about how long this fan page had been set up. The first profile picture was uploaded in 2010, but the first post was Taipei Lee-Chi’s moving announcement in July 12, 2013. The fan page
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had 2,492 page likes, and 4,095 check-ins as of June 12, 2015. Prior to the tainted oil crisis in September, 2014, Taipei Lee-Chi had in average four to five posts per month, and the “likes” of a post were usually less than 100. Post dates often coincided with important holidays and related sales, for instance, the Dragon Boat Festival and Moon Festival.
During the tainted oil crisis, the post frequency increased to six posts within three weeks. These posts attracted much more attention than what Taipei Lee-Chi had posted before. These posts related to tainted oil crisis had received more than 200 likes on average for each post, and some posts even received over 400 likes. After the announcement of its reopening on September 27, 2014, Taipei Lee-Chi had decreased its post frequency. There were only one post in October about the special event of the shop, and even no post in November. In December and February, Lee-Chi had separately four and three posts because it was the holiday season of Christmas, New Year, and Chinese Lunar New Year. The most recent post was in June 30, 2015, which was a hiring notice of the shop.
Although Taipei Lee-Chi seemed to let low on social media and decreased post frequency after the tainted oil crisis, but it was found that the number of likes slightly increased comparing to the time before the tainted oil crisis happened.
Users’ responses to the posts. Scrutinized the posts before tainted oil crisis, it was found that
the fans seemed not engaged in the content posted by Taipei Lee-Chi. There were only few feedbacks left by fans on each post. But fans had heated discussion to the posts during tainted oil crisis. The number of messages increased from just a few to over a hundred, and most of these messages were supportive to Taipei Lee-Chi. For those negative comments, few of them complained that Taipei Lee-Chi was not careful enough on choosing safe ingredient, and some criticized that
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Taipei Lee-Chi did not give a full apology at the first time. Fans’ attention on each post was found to continue for three days to one week.
According to the observation of Taipei Lee-Chi’s Facebook fan page, these commenters could be categorized into four types:
(1) The followers: who had followed Taipei Lee-Chi’s tainted oil issue from the very beginning.
They had kept an eye on Taipei Lee-Chi’s posts on the Facebook fan page, and were active in expressing their opinions to Taipei Lee-Chi.
I-Chien Ho. September 10, 2014 at 9:44pm Staffs, cheer up!
何苡倩 September 10, 2014 at 9:44pm 員工加油！
I-Chien Ho September 11, 2014 at 10:07pm Calm down guys! Hope they understand that staffs are innocent. There are many victims…
The government should be blamed on not having quality control!
何苡倩 September 11, 2014 at 10:07pm 大家冷靜，只是希望他們能夠了解員工是 無辜的，受害者一堆…
但真正錯的是政府把關出問題！
(2) The observers: who were always there absorbing information, but not necessarily participating in the conversation until there was a provoking topic or question.
Ren Ping. September 9, 2014 at 10:19pm Cheer up. I saw how hard you have been through on TV, and I felt sorry about that.
Hold on to your belief. Be tougher when the situation is more difficult. So many people on the fan page are supporting you. Everything will be fine. Cheer up.
仁評 September 9, 2014 at 10:19pm 加油，在電視上看到貴公司受到的屈辱，
很不忍心。堅持你們的信念，越是堅難越 需要堅定，看看粉絲團這麼多人支持你們，
這一切會過去的，加油。
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(3) The inactives: who indirectly received the information from social media followers or traditional media, then visited Taipei Lee-Chi’s Facebook fan page out of curiosity.
Mei-Hsiu Lin. September 12, 2014 at 7:29pm I have never heard about Taipei Lee-Chi before.
But I saw your guts and attitude through this incident, and I have kept you in my mind. On every holiday, or whenever I pass by this shop, I would like to buy your products, no matter buy for myself or as a gift. Cheer up, boss!
林美秀 September 12, 2014 at 7:29pm
沒聽過台北犁記，也沒吃過，卻因為這次的事 件，看到了你們的 guts、態度，讓我記住了你 們，以後只要看到這家店，還是遇上了中秋，
亦或逢年過節，就會有想購買的意願，不管是 自己吃，還是用來送禮。老闆，加油！
(4) The opposers: who did not appreciate Taipei Lee-Chi’s attitude in this crisis, hence
criticized its crisis response and wished their opinions to be seen by the organizations and others.
Chu Jeremy. September 13, 2014 at 8:12pm Where is the victim? That oil did not receive a GMP certificate! In addition, as a century old shop, shouldn’t it be responsible for quality control? I buy its product because I trust this shop.
But this century old shop used poor quality oil to reduce the cost. Don’t tell me they could not distinguish high quality and poor quality ingredient as an old shop. The only thing I can say is I’m very disappointed. I feel silly for teaching my family to pay more for premium quality.
Chu Jeremy September 13, 2014 at 8:12pm 受害者在哪？那油又沒 gmp！再說百年老店自
Taipei Lee-Chi’s crisis responses on the fan page. By scrutinizing Taipei Lee-Chi’s posts
during crisis, we can observe whether the organization was active in communicating with its online audience. We can also analyze Taipei Lee-Chi’s social media crisis communication strategies from the post content. After reviewing the six crisis responses Taipei Lee-Chi had posted during this tainted oil crisis, it was found that Taipei Lee-Chi often used the words that expressing apology in many of the posts. However, Taipei Lee-Chi did not directly apologize for using tainted oil in their products. Instead, their apology focused on how this event “made customers worried.” Taipei Lee-Chi’s crisis communication strategy was different comparing to crisis communication theories, which suggested organization to give a full apology only when it has strong crisis responsibility. It can be observed that the crisis communication guidelines proposed by researchers from western
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cultures should be slightly altered when it comes to a different culture, such like in Taiwan. Although Taipei Lee-Chi had apologized many times, there were still many voices complaining that these apologies came too late, or not sincere enough. It can be assumed that an apology is required in crisis communication in Taiwanese society. In Taiwan, organizations apologize in order to demonstrate repentance and to calm the emotional publics down. Apology does not guarantee an immediate forgiveness from the public, but the lack of a timely apology, might cause even more anger from the public and may worsen reputation.
In addition to the apology, Taipei Lee-Chi also applied emotional appeals in its crisis communication strategy. Its historical background was emphasized in many of their posts, which helped to remind the customers of the familiarity and relationship of the shop. It also openly asked for customers’ support and encouragement, and this strategy worked well. Many of the customers, and even those who visited Taipei Lee-Chi’s fan page out of curiosity had left supportive comments to speak up for Taipei Lee-Chi. These positive comments could help influence other people’s impression on the organization, and might restore its brand image.
The posts on Taipei Lee-Chi’s Facebook fan page during tainted oil crisis were all listed chronically in this section. The 6 posts from Taipei Lee-Chi were provided as below (with original posts in Chinese, and translated into English):
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Press statement 1 of 6.2014 年 9 月 8 日
Dear friends of Taipei Lee-Chi,
Today is Moon Festival. Thank Tian Gong (Jade Emperor, a Chinese god) for such great weather.
Although Lee-Chi has confronted such an obstacle, we will keep moving on. We hope all of you can keep supporting us. Thank you!
The latest announcement from Taipei Lee-Chi is as below:
Taipei Lee-Chi’s Announcement 2014 - 09 - 08 Taipei Lee-Chi apologized for making our customers worried about the quality of our oil products. The lard oil used for making Taipei Lee-Chi’s Mung Bean Mooncake and Curry Mung Bean Mooncake was obtained from pig’s fatback, which was procured from Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Other pastries were vegetarian, which used Anchor Butter from New Zealand.
Please feel safe on consumption.
Here to clarify that Taipei Lee-Chi operates independently with the other Lee-Chi store and Taichung Ricians store. We are sincerely sorry for involving other stores into this crisis by having same brand name. Thanks, and we apologize again to all the friends who support us.
Taipei Lee-Chi General Manager Chang Wan-ling
September 8, 2014
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Taipei Lee-Chi’s first post was on three days after the break of tainted oil crisis. The post started with a brief greeting of Moon Festival to its audience. After the greeting, Taipei Lee-Chi admitted that they had confronted a difficulty, and then asked for encouragement from the customers. The post also embedded a link to the same content announcement on the official website. In this
announcement, Taipei Lee-Chi apologized for making customers worried, and guaranteed the safety of other pastry products. At the end, Taipei Lee-Chi again apologized to Taichung Lee-Chi and Rician’s Bakery for causing trouble for them in this tainted oil crisis.
The first post received 60 comments in total, and only one negative comment criticized that Taipei Lee-Chi sold higher price but used low quality oil. Other commenters all showed their support, and believed that Taipei Lee-Chi was not intended to use tainted oil.
In a crisis situation, the first official announcement plays an important role, which might influence stakeholders’ first impression of organization’s crisis communication efforts. Taipei Lee-Chi’s first announcement was released on the third day after the shop was reported using tainted oil in their pastry products. Taipei Lee-Chi would have a better performance in crisis communication if it had make an official statement on the first day when the news broke out.
Besides the timing of the first announcement, the content also matters. Sturges (1994) had recommended three steps when making crisis response. Coombs (2007) had further explained this idea and divided crisis response content into three sequential categories: (1) instruction information, (2) adjusting information, and (3) reputation management. Instructing information is the first priority in a crisis, followed by adjusting information, then reputation repair. To interpret the content of
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Taipei Lee-Chi’s first announcement, it could be divided into three parts: (1) clarified that the oil ingredient used in making pastry products during Moon Festival was safe, (2) apologized for making customers concerned of food safety, and (3) apologized for involving the other two bakeries into troubles. Content of the first post seemed more like the “adjusting information,” which is used to express sympathy and to explain what the organization is doing to prevent a repeat of the crisis. To the stakeholders, this announcement might be unclear because there was no instruction information, such as the contact information of the store, or the return and refund policy of the products. In conclusion, Taipei Lee-Chi could have done a better job in making their first crisis response if they had seize the right timing to communicate with stakeholders, and organized a more clear official statement to help the stakeholders reduce uncertainty during the crisis.
Press statement 2 of 6.
2014 年 9 月 8 日
Taipei Lee-Chi’s Announcement: Trade inquiries from New Zealand and Taiwan Sugar Corporation.
Taipei Lee-Chi apologized for making our customers worried about the quality of our oil products. The lard oil used for making Taipei Lee-Chi’s Mung Bean Mooncake and Curry Mung Bean Mooncake was obtained from pig’s fatback, which was procured from Taiwan Sugar Corporation (8,000 kilogram in total). Other pastries were vegetarian, which used Anchor Butter from New Zealand. Please feel safe on consumption.
Attached is the link to trade inquiries from New Zealand and Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Ricians Corporation was authorized as the import agent.
http://goo.gl/DwgShx
Thank you and apologize again to all the friends who support us.
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On the same day after the first post, Taipei Lee-Chi published the second announcement with a link to an album, which showed seven inventories of Taipei Lee-Chi’s imported oil products. At the end of the post, Taipei Lee-Chi apologized again to their customers and “friends.”
The second post received 230 comments, and only 23 comments showed negative attitude to Taipei Lee-Chi’s response. Most of the commenters showed positive support to Taipei Lee-Chi, and they felt bad seeing customers arguing with staffs. Many of them left messages saying that they decided to buy Taipei Lee-Chi’s products to show their support after these disputes. Even some foreign visitors left messages saying that they would go visit Taipei Lee-Chi when they come Taipei.
On the other hand, the negative commenters complained that Taipei Lee-Chi’s refund policy was too complicated. They appreciated the other bakery, Keelung Lee-Hu, which accepted all kinds of product for refund. These commenters thought Keelung Lee-Hu was more responsible in handling this crisis.
The content of the second post was similar as the first announcement posted earlier on the same day. The only difference was that the second post attached a link to the photo album of inventories.
Taipei Lee-Chi’s guarantee of using qualified oil product became more persuasive after posting these import inventories. But the second announcement still did not offer clear instruction information for stakeholders, which made this post a little redundant.
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Press statement 3 of 6.2014 年 9 月 11 日 (已被刪除)
(It was found deleted few months later) Taipei Lee-Chi apologized for making our customers worried about the quality of our oil products. We always support customers’ right and will face the problem with responsibility.
Attached is the press release from Consumer Ombudsman Officer at Department of Legal Affairs of Taipei City Government on September 10. Taipei Lee-Chi will work hard and move on.
We hope you can see our growth and regain confidence on us.
Three days after the first and second post on the fan page, Taipei Lee-Chi again apologized for making customers worried and promised that Taipei Lee-Chi would always be responsible to customers. The post also attached an official announcement from Consumer Ombudsmen Office, which declared that Taipei Lee-Chi was responsible for offering refund of certain products that were reported containing tainted oil, with a right to adjust their refund policy, and the Consumer
Ombudsman Office was glad that Taipei Lee-Chi showed responsibility to its customers by offering refund to all the returned products.
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This post received 66 comments in total. There were five negative comments complaining that Taipei Lee-Chi’s owner did not stand out and apologize at the very first time. Other comments were mostly positive, saying that Taipei Lee-Chi’s products were still their favorite, and promised to visit again after they resumed opening.
A lot of disputes were caused after Taipei Lee-Chi announced their return and refund policy.
At first, both receipt and product were required to get a full refund. Without the receipt, the customer could only get half price in accordance to the amount of certain pastry products for the refund.Many customers complained that this policy was way too strict, and their anger even caused disputes with the staffs. As the customers became more outraged on the refund policy, Taipei Lee-Chi relaxed the restrictions. It can be assumed that Taipei Lee-Chi posted this official announcement from the governmental department to make their decision on refund policy become more persuasive and reasonable. It was a great strategy to show stakeholders the support from third party when an
At first, both receipt and product were required to get a full refund. Without the receipt, the customer could only get half price in accordance to the amount of certain pastry products for the refund.Many customers complained that this policy was way too strict, and their anger even caused disputes with the staffs. As the customers became more outraged on the refund policy, Taipei Lee-Chi relaxed the restrictions. It can be assumed that Taipei Lee-Chi posted this official announcement from the governmental department to make their decision on refund policy become more persuasive and reasonable. It was a great strategy to show stakeholders the support from third party when an