A Mixed-methods Investigation of the Implications of Cancel Culture for North American Crisis Communications Practitioners

The development of cancel culture theory is imperative for contemporary crisis communications practitioners given the newfound speed and scale of digitally mediated content circulation and elevated frequency of cancellations. Using a mixed-methods approach, this MRP analyzed ten North American corporate cancel culture cases to evaluate the applicability of crisis communication literature to cancel culture and illuminate the stages of a cancelling event. Quantitative hashtag volume data was sourced using Twitter API as scholars have cited Twitter as the preferred platform to initiate a cancelling. Thematic analysis was used to detect themes contained within the sourced corporate communications snippets. A six-stage cycle was conceptualized for an algorithmically induced cancelling on Twitter using polynomial regression analysis. The themes inductively generated through thematic analysis were consistent with crisis communication best practices apart from the antithetical Hold Your Ground theme.