Multimodal Sensemaking and Sensegiving Processes of Discursive Threat Appraisal in Environmental Crisis Communication

Silvia Ravazzani, Carmen Maier, and Yan Jin. “Multimodal Sensemaking and Sensegiving Processes of Discursive Threat Appraisal in Environmental Crisis Communication.” The 7th International Crisis Communication Conference, October 5-7, 2023, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate how multimodal discursive sensemaking processes are employed by citizens rallying in global environmental movements in order to empower communities and reveal how voluntary corporate commitments are failing to reduce the global plastic pollution. The theoretical framework includes perspectives on global sticky crises (Jin et al., 2021), environmental threat appraisal and risk communication (Choi et al., 2023), crisis sensemaking and framing (Maitlis & Sonenshein, 2010), and multimodal discourse (Van Leeuwen, 2008). Empirically, a series of brand audits reports of #breakfreefromplastic global movement are systematically examined in a longitudinal view (2018-2022). These brand audit reports created by citizen scientists, i.e. public members voluntarily participating in scientific research, are meant to document and expose how corporate plastic polluters are held accountable for the cause and solution of this matter. The analytical focus transcends the usual monomodal approach and is directed to the multimodal interplay that builds strategic discourses through images and texts. The multimodal discursive sensemaking processes of content enrichment and appeal bolstering (Höllerer et al, 2018; Maier & Ravazzani, 2022) and their outcomes related to the building of common sense, new sense, and non-sense (Vaara & Wittle, 2021) are identified and explained in order to clarify how prognostic, diagnostic and motivational framing tasks (Zoch & al, 2008; Ravazzani & Maier, 2022) are accomplished. This study’s findings can provide insights useful to corporations too when reevaluating their own corporate communications and, ultimately, contribute to changing risky corporate behavior toward more effective and ethical environmental risk communication and crisis prevention.