GOVERNMENT'S CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A NARRATIVE REVIEW
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v23.5136Keywords:
Communication, Crisis, Government, COVID-19, Narrative ReviewAbstract
This research is a narrative review of 20 articles that discuss the government's crisis communication strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic in the period from 2020 to 2024. The goal is to inventory the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of research in this field. The studies reviewed used many key theories such as Risk and Crisis Communication Theory, CERC, Framing Theory, SCCT, and RCCE. Key findings show that successful communication is characterized by transparency, consistency of messages, evidence-based communication (involving experts), and effective use of digital multi-channels. These strategies have proven crucial in building public trust. In contrast, the dominant communication weaknesses include inconsistencies, lack of full transparency, communication that tends to be one-way (top-down), slow response at the beginning of a crisis, and failure to manage disinformation. The limitations of the research found are the focus which tends to be only on the early phases of the pandemic and the lack of measurement of the impact of communication on changes in actual behavior of the community. As an implication, future government crisis communication should be more adaptive, integrative between the CERC principles and empathetic and science-based messaging, and shift to a two-way communication model to achieve sustainable public compliance and trust.
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