Nonverbal cues of deception in audiovisual crisis communication

Crisis communication research has mainly focused on verbal response strategies, such as apologies and denial. However, organizations and individuals in crisis often respond in an audiovisual manner (e.g., press conferences, corporate videos). Audiovisual messages convey not only verbal but also nonverbal cues (e.g., gaze aversion, speech errors). These nonverbal cues can affect the public's perception of deception, and thus, the perception of the speaker's credibility. Through a content analysis of 160 audiovisual crisis responses, this study examines which nonverbal cues of deception are communicated by organizations and individuals in crisis and how situational factors (e.g., crisis type) affect the occurrence of these nonverbal cues. The findings show that several nonverbal cues of deception occur in audiovisual crisis communication and that their occurrence depends on the crisis type, the source, and the crisis communication format.