Examples of crisis.

Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) provides a theoretical framework for crisis response strategies in different crisis situations. Based on the theoretical framework of SCCT, a qualitative thematic analysis is conducted to examine the crisis response strategies used in 182 response documents officially released by Chinese universities, and a content analysis is further employed to classify 147 crises in 125 universities into three clusters to examine the use of strategies in addressing different types of crises. The findings revealed that Chinese universities have adopted 17 new strategies beyond the strategies proposed by SCCT, highlighting a discrepancy between the theoretical ground of the theory and the application of strategies in real-life crisis response of Chinese universities. Furthermore, the results revealed the applicable strategies for different crisis clusters, which contributed to construct the framework of crisis response strategies for Chinese universities in different situations. This study expanded SCCT theoretically by enriching the crisis response strategies while practically improving the applicability of SCCT in Chinese universities. The findings provided guiding significance for Chinese universities administrators in developing and implementing effective crisis response strategies in real-life crisis situations, enabling them to adjust and optimize their plans by incorporating innovative strategies to enhance the effectiveness of responses. These innovative strategies also provided empirical evidence for other organizations in different cultural contexts in crisis response.

情境危机沟通理论（Situational Crisis Communication Theory，以下简称SCCT）为不同危机情境下的危机应对策略提供了理论框架。本研究基于SCCT的理论框架，采用质性主题分析法，对中国高校官方发布的182份危机应对公文所采用的危机应对策略展开考察；同时进一步运用内容分析法，将125所高校的147起危机事件划分为三大类别，以探究不同类别危机下的策略使用规律。研究结果显示，中国高校在危机应对实践中采用了17种超出SCCT原有范畴的新型应对策略，凸显出该理论的理论根基与中国高校现实危机应对实践中策略应用之间的偏差。此外，本研究明确了不同危机类别下的适配性应对策略，为构建适用于中国高校不同危机情境的应对策略框架提供了支撑。本研究通过丰富危机应对策略的范畴，在理论层面拓展了SCCT的研究边界，同时在实践层面提升了该理论在中国高校场景中的适用性。本研究结果可为中国高校管理者在现实危机情境中制定并实施高效危机应对策略提供指导，助力其通过融入新型策略调整并优化应对方案，进而提升危机应对的实效性。这些新型应对策略同时也为不同文化语境下其他组织的危机应对工作提供了实证依据。