17. Reputational interdependence and spillover: Exploring the contextual challenges of spillover crisis response

a spillover crisis occurs when events in an external organization create concern, uncertainty, or perceptions of harm for another organization. While crisis spillover can result from a direct relationship with an organization in crisis, being in the same industry or market category as an organization in crisis can also lead to negative spillover effects due to reputational interdependence. This chapter provides a conceptual overview of reputational interdependence and spillover crisis and outlines communication response strategies that, when effectively applied, can not only limit the negative effects of crisis spillover but also increase an organization’s competitive advantage within an industry. Spillover crisis is further explored through three crisis cases that present distinct contextual challenges and offer additional insight for crisis communication research and practice.