Cross-cultural crisis management: Do cultural similarities provide for equal media perception during crisis? : A case study of the Deepwater Horizon and BP's crisis communication

This thesis investigates whether cultures with similar characteristics perceive crisis in the same way. In order to observe this phenomenon I took BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as a case study. The accident occurred in April 2010 and BP, a British organization, was viewed as the principal responsible party for the accident in US territory. Previous studies in the field confirmed that culture is considered a critical element during crisis. However this study differs from others by contrasting countries, (the US & UK) that have many cultural similarities. This was achieved through discourse analysis of US (CNN) and UK (BBC) media coverage of the accident for the fifteen days immediately following the accident. The research material confirmed that despite cultural similarities both medias channels perceived and reacted to the event differently. Furthermore the theories of Cultural Dimension and Face-Negotiation guided me to an improved understanding of the cultural characteristics of the UK and US. Those cultural similarities are in fact a major reason for the diverging perception of the event the countries have. Keywords: BP, HSE, Oil Spill, Crisis Communication, Intercultural Communication, Deepwater Horizon, Macondo