2010 thela bh_cool communication study_english_final

2010 THE LAB h® Cool Communication Study Report

2010 THE LAB h® Cool Communication® Study Report

Perception of the Top 10 Korean Companies

Among Twitter Users and Among the General Public in Korea

October, 2010

THE LAB h®


Table of Contents

Introduction: 2010 Cool Communication® Study

Executive Summary: Key Message of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study 4

Intro & Context: Background of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study 6

Overview & Methods: How was the 2010 Cool Communication® Study conducted? 11

Core Findings: 2010 Cool Communication® -- General Public vs. Twitter Users

Overall Reputation: Comparison of Corporate Reputation Perception

1. Overall Analysis 13

2. Results by Category 18

Cool Crisis Communication: Comparison of Perception for Crisis Response



“News Behavior”: Comparison of News Production and Consumption Channels



Conclusion & Insights: Completing the 2010 Cool Communication® Study 38

Appendix: Reference Materials

Profile: Respondent Demographics 42

Column: “Thinking of Samsung in the Twitter Age” (The Hankyoreh) 43

About: THE LAB h® 45


Introduction: 2010 Cool Communication® Study


Executive Summary: Key Message of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study

1. Overview: From April to May 2010, THE LAB h® conducted the 2010 Cool

Communication® Study through a specialized research firm, Research and Research®,

on 500 general citizens and 305 Twitter users regarding three major topics including

corporate reputation (six categories), communication & response in a crisis situation

(three categories), and news production & consumption (three categories), pertaining to

the top 10 companies in Korea.

2. Key Results:

A. Responses for Corporate Reputation (six categories): The general public group

chose Samsung as the no. 1 company across all six categories, while Twitter users

selected a different company for each category - POSCO (for trust and

responsibility), Samsung (for self-promotion and purchase intention), LG (for

listening to customer opinions), and SK (for communication with consumers).

B. Response for Transparent Management and Communication in a Crisis Situation:

The general public group voted Samsung for all three categories (transparent

disclosure of wrongdoing, genuine apology, and efforts for improvement), whereas

Twitter users selected POSCO for all three categories, reflecting a stark contrast

between the two groups.

C. Measurement of Contrasting Responses by Company between Twitter Users and

the General Public: When measuring the differences between the two groups

(Twitter users vs. the general public), Samsung was ranked much more favorably by

the general public while POSCO was ranked much more favorably by Twitter users.

D. News Consumption and Production Tendency: Six out of ten Twitter users and

five out of ten general citizens subscribed to newspaper home delivery; Twitter

users relied on portal websites (35.1%) and online newspapers (25.9%) while the

general public group relied on TV (61.9%). Nearly seven out of ten (67.2%) Twitter


users and barely two out of ten (15.2%) general citizens posted an online review for

a certain product over the last year.

3. Implications:

A. Formerly, companies have tried to establish a positive public perception by relying

on “image advertisements” and “one-off promotions‟.”

B. Active users of Twitter and other social media do not perceive a company by relying

only on such images and promotions, but instead, they extensively share their

experiences and information over social networks and create opinions through

online conversations.

C. Considering social media users‟ increasing role in terms of forming public and

personal opinions within the Korean society, companies must recognize the

corporate perception gap between the general public and social media users and

modify and/or supplement their strategies to target each group accordingly.

D. For example, Twitter users are more likely to send questions straight to the CEO

through Twitter or understand the situation on their own through conversations via

social networks instead of accepting the refined and obvious company statement.

This implies that in order to communicate, companies must first engage in

conversations rather than just unilaterally release a statement.

E. Corporate communication should no longer just send “beautiful” messages, but

must participate in social networking, listening, and responding to various

stakeholders. Such a shift is requiring companies, or more accurately, people of a

company such as CEOs or certain department employees, to get involved in social

media.


Introduction and Context: Background of the 2010 Cool Communication® Study

July 2007 On July 20th and 27th, there were two interesting articles published within a span of one week. The first was a

Yonhap News1 story on how Chung Yong-jin, CEO and Vice Chairman of Shinsegae2 opened a personal website

where he talked about classical music, his treasure item, the iPod, and stories about his father, mother, younger

sister, and children. The article was entitled “Shinsegae Vice Chairman, Shows Family Love on His Website.”3

Apparently, this drew a lot of attention, and there was a lot of traffic on his website. Formerly, stories about

Korean conglomerates‟ families were only covered in magazines as gossip or rumors, and rarely was there a case

in which the person himself came out to share his personal stories.

However, just as expected, his website did not last too long. On July 27th, only after a week, the headlines read

“Shinsegae Vice Chairman Eventually Shuts Down Personal Website.”4 According to sources, “The high interest

driven by the opening of the personal website was too overwhelming which is believed to be the reason behind

its closure.”

July 2010 Fast forward to three years later. On July 27th, the Gyeongido Veterinary Service announced that after a round of

investigation on large retailers, Shinsegae E-Mart5 Gwangmyeong branch was caught selling imported beef as

domestic beef. Twitter users asked Chung, for comments regarding the situation via Twitter. On the very next day,

July 28th, Choi Byung-ryul, the CEO of E-Mart apologized on Twitter saying, “We ask for your forgiveness for the

fake Korean beef issue,” and Chung promptly re-tweeted the CEO‟s tweet also “apologizing for the inconvenience

caused by the whole beef scandal.”

One might wonder why the opening and shutting down of a personal website owned by a conglomerate CEO

and him ”tweeting” should cause such a stir. Moreover, it is well known that some are critical about whether these

Twitter-friendly CEOs are actually engaging in real conversations with ordinary people. However, it is not vice

chairman Chung himself but the situational changes over the past three years amidst his move from a personal

website to Twitter that is actually noteworthy. This is not simply a change of an online platform but rather an

1 Korea‟s major wire service

2 Shinsegae is a leader in the Korean retail industry. Shinsegae is the first department store in Korea, opened in

1930.

3 http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/07/20/2007072000781.html


5 E-Mart is the largest discount store chain in Korea by Shinsegae.

http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/07/20/2007072000781.html



evolution of communication methods and a shift in companies‟ internal and external perspectives. CEO Chung‟s

story is attention-grabbing because it reflects the influence of social media on our society, particularly, corporate

communications.

3 Years and 3 Changes

“Direct” - First, despite closing down his personal website after unfavorable media coverage in 2007, CEO

Chung now has over 60,000 followers to his Twitter site (as of October 9, 2010), and even with intensive attention

from general citizens and media, he has not closed his account. As for a website, one can simply close the

unidirectional communication channel, but in a social network that involves numerous followers, the decision to

shut it down is not an easy choice. Chung is developing his own way of directly communicating with consumers

through social media.

“Personal” – Second, within a typical corporate website, there was almost zero interaction between a company

and consumers, but in the world of Twitter, consumers may directly ask for Chung‟s position regarding a specific

topic or ask for other responses such as an apology. The fact that a CEO is communicating directly with

consumers through a personal media channel, like Twitter and not an official company channel is a huge

transformation in itself.

“Cool” – Third, Chung has been quite “cool” about even personal matters that may have previously been

covered as rumors or gossips in a magazine. In August 2010, as news about him dating a flutist came out, he

wrote on Twitter, “Looks like I‟ll get myself a lot of followers today…. No. 2 keyword search on Naver!!!”6 Also in

July 2010, his Twitter message once again made the headlines as he wrote about how he ran into trouble while

using the Galaxy S made by Samsung – the family-run conglomerate, to which he is blood-related.

What is Cool Communication®? Obviously, this current report is not about Shinsegae‟s CEO Chung Yong-jin. The purpose of this study is to

illustrate unprecedented cases in our society brought about by Twitter and other social media tools and how this

is resulting in incremental changes in corporate culture and communication. Now, corporate communication is no

longer led by just the PR department and journalists.

Companies engage in various communications with consumers. Topics may be in regards to products and services,

official company activities, the CEO and other figures, as well as both „good‟ and „bad‟ news.

6 http://twitter.com/#!/yjchung68/status/20441810999

http://twitter.com/#!/yjchung68/status/20441810999


In an era of social media such as Twitter, corporate communication is undergoing three major changes:

“Public to Personal” – First of all, the corporate communication channel is no longer limited to an official

route such as the PR department, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, it is expanding into various types

of personal media owned not only by a CEO but also by employees at all levels.

“Speaker to Phone” – Second, corporate communication so far was carried out in the name of '”PR”, and

although it was meant to be a mode of communication, in reality, it was largely a unilateral news announcement

through press releases. Also, dialogues only took place between the company‟s PR department and media

journalists. Nonetheless, nowadays, even the general public can ask questions to the CEO directly and although

not all do, basic communication and dialogues in response to these queries are actually taking place. Perhaps this

can be seen as a shift from an audio speaker that just emits sound to a telephone that enables conversations.

“Control to Conversation” – Third, as communication has expanded from an official corporate channel to

personal channels, and as people are now sending questions straight to company executives and staff, complete

transparency has resulted, regardless of companies desire for such transparency. Also, in such an era, companies

are finding it difficult to control their messages. Therefore, tactics frequently employed by companies in a crisis

situation including no response, denial of mistakes or wrongdoings, and belated apologies are no longer effective.

Despite the need to promptly admit to mistakes or wrongdoings in a “cool” manner as well as the need to

apologize and announce improvement measures, there are still many cases in which companies are stuck in an

old paradigm. As mentioned above, with the rise of Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and other social media channels,

mistakes and wrongdoings of companies are being fully disclosed, which has resulted in a large increase of public

apology requests by the general public or influential groups more than ever before.

While consulting and coaching companies during a bad news situation, I have given keen attention to the recent

changes driven by social media and have studied the trend. Meanwhile, I contemplated how I could describe the

enormous shift in corporate communication led by social media and how we should view this. Moreover, during

the 2008 Business Blog Marketing Seminar held on December 13, 2007, I declared that ”PR in the Web 2.0 era will

be about getting down and dirty,” so we must shift towards a crisis communication in which even negative

opinions are openly accepted.7

At the Business Blog Summit held on June 25, 2008, I made a presentation titled “Social Media and Corporate

Crisis Management: Bad News 2.0” where I used the term “Cool Communication®” for the first time to define




corporate communication. Afterwards, during the Online Strategy Conference with Josh Bernoff hosted by

Electronic Times on September 4, 2009, I further developed the concept of “Cool Communication®” with a

presentation on “Cool Communication®: Groundswell Phenomenon and Corporate Bad News Management

Strategy.”

The idea of Cool Communication® is simple. Formerly, company PR was largely „inhuman.‟ Strengths were

excessively peddled while weaknesses were kept silent. However, as contributed by social media, not the company

but the people (or individual) have now emerged as a major player in corporate communications, and as such,

consumers no longer passively absorb news but act as a proactive communicator and news producer. In this era,

the tactic of stressing strengths and hiding weaknesses is no longer effective. The biggest reason for this lies in

the transparent characteristic of social media, in which corporate mistakes and wrongdoings that had not yet

been unveiled in the past are now being revealed. Hence, in a social media-driven transparency age, corporate

communication must be “cool‟” in regards to both strengths and weaknesses. In social media communication, if a

company is not “cool,” it may be pushed to the brink. For example, public apologies are increasingly becoming

more important because an apology is a major form of cool communication.

This three year-long study takes a scientific approach to Cool Communication® as a paradigm of corporate

communication in the social media era with relevant data and is the first attempt to offer guidance to corporate

communication professionals. As a first trial, there inevitably are some shortcomings. For example, the study was

limited to the top 10 companies in Korea, and thus, several companies that are active (but not the top 10) in the

social media landscape have not been included. Nonetheless, this research will not end as a one-off study and

will be supplemented and improved every year.

For the first Cool Communication® research, the gap in corporate perception between the general public and

Twitter users, a recent focus in and out of Korea, has been studied. In order to see the changes led by social

media observing the users‟ changes in perception towards Korean companies and news consumption and related

behaviors is the most important, and we decided to focus on Twitter in this study, which is a leading social

medium.

Around the time this study was being written in August 2010, there were reports that the number of Twitter users

in Korea would soon reach over a million. Not only was there a quantitative growth, but the year 2010 has a

special meaning for social media in Korea. For the past couple of years, blogs were popular among individual

web users as a social media platform, but unlike in the US, this was not the case among Korean opinion leaders

as they were either inactive or skeptical about blogs. In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that Korean opinion

leaders have shunned blogging while in the US, Nobel Prize laureates such as Paul Krugman was active in the

scene.

However, Twitter has completely overturned this situation and as mentioned above, not only CEO Chung, Yong-jin


but other politicians, celebrities, and CEOs have been immensely engaged. Here we need to focus not on the

fact that these big name figures are tweeting but on the fact that they have entered a world in which they can

communicate with the general public through social media. In the meantime, social issues caused by malicious

postings on the web must also be discussed. THE LAB h® will continue its research on Cool Communication® as

a new corporate communication paradigm in the age of social media and share the results in the future.

While preparing and conducting the research, I sought assistance from many different people. Dr. Jaeseung

Jeong of KAIST gave me advice while planning the research. I have been studying for my doctoral degree under

the guidance of Dr. Jeong who has been feeding me with constructive advice and encouragement in taking a

scientific approach to corporate public apologies. Furthermore, Dr. Cha Mi-young of KAIST offered me valuable

advice on what to be wary of in regards to studying Twitter users. Also, I would like to thank Twitter user

@kkoosoo, President of SCOTOSS Hamsu Kang, President of Social Link Juny Lee, and Joohyun Huh (consultant)

for their precious opinions in interpreting the research outcomes as well as Research and Research‟s JC Bae and

SY Kang (researcher) for conducting the survey.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to the Twitter users who have actively taken part in

this study. In addition, I would like to apologize for the delayed results analysis and release. I sincerely hope that

this report helps you develop response measures for the changes taking place in corporate communication.

Furthermore, it would be highly appreciated if you could send me your opinions (email: [email protected] /

Twitter: @hoh) on how we can improve this study. Thank you very much.

October 20108

Hoh Kim, Founder and Head Coach of THE LAB h®

8 The original report in Korean language was released in August 2010, and this English version is released in

October, 2010.

mailto:[email protected]


Overview & Methods: How was the Cool Communication® Study conducted?

THE LAB h® commissioned the research specialized organization, Research and Research (http://w3.randr.co.kr/),

for the 2010 Cool Communication® study (Project Team: Manager JC Bae and Researcher SY Kang). The overview

of the study is listed in the table below:

Table 1: Study Design and Method

General Public* Study Twitter User Study

Subjects Nationwide men/women 19 years old

and above

Korean Twitter users

Subject Size 500 305

Sampling Error

(95% Confidence Level)

+/- 4.38% +/- 5.61%

Method CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone

Interviewing)

Online research

Sample Extraction Quota sampling based on

region/gender/age

Random participation through Twitter

announcement + Twitter users on the

Research and Research panel

Duration April 1, 2010 10:00 – 21:00 May 1 – 17, 2010

* Some Twitter users among the general public group may have been included. Therefore, this study should be

understood not as a comparison of Twitter users vs. Non-Twitter users but of Twitter users vs. the general public

in Korea.

The following 10 conglomerate companies were given as options in the questionnaire – Kumho Asiana, Lotte,

Samsung, POSCO, Hanjin, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, GS, LG and SK. The order of

these options was rotated in order to minimize respondent bias.

http://w3.randr.co.kr/


Core Findings: 2010 Cool Communication® Study Key Results


Overall Reputation: Corporate Reputation Perception by the General Public vs. Twitter

Users

1. Overall Analysis

A total of six aspects were selected in order to conduct a study on the overall perception of corporate reputation

and to compare them. These categories were most trustworthy (trust) , most competent in self-promotion (self-

promotion) , most engaged in listening to customers‟ opinion (listening), most responsible (responsibility), most

skilled in communication (communication) , and most desirable to purchase (purchase intention) , among which

respondents were asked to pick one company per category.

Key Finding: The general public group chose Samsung as the no. 1 company across all six

categories while Twitter users selected a different company for each category - POSCO

(for trust and responsibility), Samsung (for self-promotion and purchase intention), LG

(for listening), and SK (for communication).

[Table 2] In order to see an overall trend, the average of the six categories combined was taken, and for the

sake of convenience, it is referred to as the Reputation Quotient (RQ), which is illustrated below in Table 2. It

appears that Samsung ranked no. 1 by both groups. However, in the general public group, Samsung was the top

company by far with a 50.9% response rate, which is a staggering 37.2% greater rate than that of the no. 2

company, LG, whereas among Twitter users, Samsung was chosen by only 28% of respondents, which is merely 7%

greater than the no.2 company, POSCO.

Table 2: Comparison of the Combined Average of 6 Categories (RQ) by the General Public and Twitter Users

Rank General Public Twitter Users

No. 1 Samsung 50.9 Samsung 28.0

No. 2 LG 13.7 POSCO 21.0

No. 4 Hyundai-Kia 9.0 LG 15.9

No. 4 ~ No. 10 POSCO

SK

Lotte

Hyundai Heavy Industries

Kumho Asiana

GS

Hanjin

8.1

6.2

3.7

3.6

1.8

1.7

1.2

SK

Hyundai-Kia

GS

Kumho Asiana

Lotte


Hanjin

14.5

6.1

4.7

4.5

2.3

1.9

1.3


Within the general public group, the top 3 companies accounted for 73.6% of the responses, and the

gap between the no. 1 and no. 3 companies was 41.9% (50.9% - 9.0%); however, among Twitter users,

the figure was 64.9%, and the difference between the no. 1 and no. 3 company was 12.1% (28.0% -

15.9%), reflecting an even distribution. The top 5 companies were Samsung, LG, Hyundai Kia Automotive

Group, POSCO, and SK among both groups, only in a different order. Coincidently, Hanjin ranked no. 10

by both groups, which can either mean that Hanjin has low awareness or that the percentage or ranking

may differ if surveying with the name Korean Air, which is Hanjin‟s most well-known brand.

[Table 3] Among the six categories, four have more significance in this social media era. These categories are

trust, listening, responsibility, and communication. While surveying the general public, Samsung was ranked as

undeniably no. 1 among Korean general public (in the six categories, the differences between the no. 1 Samsung

and the no. 2 companies ranged from as small as 29.4% to as great as 45.1%). Meanwhile, interestingly enough,

among Korean Twitter users, companies other than Samsung were selected as no. 1 in each of the four categories

that have become increasingly important in the age of social media. POSCO was chosen for trust, LG for listening

to customers, POSCO for responsibility, and SK for communication.

Table 3: Comparison of the No. 1 Company by Category and the Difference with the No. 2 Company

General Public Twitter Users

“Most trustworthy” Samsung (54.0%)

Difference with No. 2 POSCO (12.2%): 40.8%

POSCO (41.3%)

Difference with No. 2 Samsung (27.2%): 14.1%

“Most competent in

self-promotion”

Samsung (57.1%)

Difference with No. 2 Hyundai/Kia (12.0%):

45.1%

Samsung (61.6%)

Difference with No. 2 SK (17.4%): 44.2%

“Most engaged in listening

to customers‟ opinions”

Samsung (46.0%)

Difference with No. 2 LG (16.6%): 29.4%

LG (23.3%)

Difference with no. 2 Samsung (17.4%): 5.9%

“Most responsible” Samsung (52.7%)

Difference with No. 2 POSCO: 37.9%

POSCO (40.3%)

Difference with no. 2 Samsung (21.6%): 18.7%

“Most skilled in

communication”

Samsung (41.3%)


SK (31.5%)


“Most desirable to

purchase”

Samsung (54.6%)


Samsung (26.9%)


However, the “most competent in self-promotion” category can be seen as either positive or negative

depending on the respondent. This category, which had an interesting result, was added while taking

into account how in our daily lives, we use the expression “do PR” as synonymous with “boasting” and

how this attribute contrasts with listening to customers. With regard to the Samsung numbers in Table 3,


except for ranking no. 3 in the communications category with 13.4%, Samsung was ranked within the top

2 across all other categories with both the general public and Twitter users.

Here, regardless of Samsung’s ranking as no. 1 or 2 (or 3) by Twitter users, the difference in

selection between the general public group and Twitter users was significant, resulting in a much

lower score for the company by the latter group. The only exception is with the “most competent

in self-promotion”. Among the general public group, 57.1% voted for Samsung in the “self-

promotion” category, while the figure was 61.6% – a higher vote – among Twitter users. On the

contrary, 46.0% of the general public respondents selected Samsung for in the “most engaged in

listening to customers’ opinions” category, while only 17.4% of Twitter users – less than half –

made the same choice.

[Table 4] We looked at how extremely different corporate perception was between the general public and

Twitter users. First, we compared the average of Twitter users and the general public for the six categories and

then added up the absolute value of the differences and took another average of this. This number can be used

to indicate how extreme the difference of view is between the general public and Twitter users.

Two big trends can be found in Table 4. First, in general, companies that were better perceived by the

general public were Samsung, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Lotte, and

Hanjin.9 On the other hand, Twitter users chose POSCO, SK, LG, GS, and Kumho Asiana. Second,

when looking at how great the difference was between the general public and Twitter users,

Samsung and POSCO showed the most severe gap as Samsung was best perceived by the general

public, while POSCO was best perceived by Twitter users. Also, SK received a relatively high score by

Twitter users, and the rating for Hyundai Kia Automotive Group and LG were quite evenly distributed.

When comparing the averages of the absolute value for the remaining five companies, the two groups

gave them similar ratings; however, the average values within each group was insignificant; hence, it is

not meaningful to be discussed.

9 As for Hanjin, the difference is insignificant, standing at 0.1


Table 4: Results of the Level of Difference for Overall Corporate Reputation by the General Public and

Twitter Users

Company Evaluation Category Twitter

Users

General

Public

Difference by Groups

(Absolute Value)

Average of

Difference by

Group

Samsung . “Most trustworthy”

. “Most competent in self-promotion”

. “Most engaged in listening”

. “Most responsible”

. “Most skilled in communications”

. “Most desirable to purchase”

27.2%

61.6%

17.4%

21.6%

13.4%

26.9%

54.0%

57.1%

46.0%

52.7%

41.3%

54.6%

26.8

4.5

28.6

31.1

27.9

27.7

24.43

POSCO . “Most trustworthy”






41.3%

6.2%

12.1%

40.3%

11.1%

14.8%

13.2%

4.0%

6.9%

14.8%

6.4%

3.1%

28.1

2.2

5.2

25.5

4.7

11.7

12.9

SK . “Most trustworthy”






6.2%

17.4%

17.0%

7.2%

31.5%

7.5%

5.9%

7.8%

7.1%

3.9%

10.6%

2.2%

0.3

9.6

9.9

3.3

20.9

5.3

8.22

Hyundai Kia . “Most trustworthy”





. Most desirable to purchase”

2.6%

3.9%

4.9%

7.2%

4.9%

12.8%

6.1%

12.0%

9.3%

7.6%

9.9%

9.1%

3.5

8.1

4.4

0.4

5.0

3.7

4.18

LG . “Most trustworthy”






11.1%

4.9%

23.3%

9.2%

23.3%

23.3%

10.5%

6.5%

16.6%

10.1%

13.6%

25.1%

0.6

1.6

6.7

0.9

9.7

1.8

3.55

GS . “Most trustworthy”






3.6%

1.6%

9.8%

2.6%

4.6%

5.9%

0.7%

1.0%

2.9%

0.8%

3.2%

1.6%

2.9

0.6

6.9

1.8

1.4

4.3

2.98


Company Evaluation Category Twitter

Users

General

Public

Difference by Groups

(Absolute Value)

Average of

Difference by

Group

Kumho

Asiana

. “Most trustworthy”






2.6%

1.3%

9.5%

3.9%

6.6%

3.0%

1.9%

1.5%

3.6%

1.3%

1.7%

0.7%

0.7

0.2

5.9

2.6

4.9

2.3

2.77

Hyundai

Heavy

Industries

. “Most trustworthy”






2.3%

0.7%

0.7%

5.6%

1.0%

1.0%

5.0%

5.0%

1.8%

5.4%

4.2%

0.2%

2.7

4.3

1.1

0.2

3.2

0.8

2.05

Lotte . “Most trustworthy”






2.3%

2.0%

3.0%

0.7%

2.3%

3.6%

1.9%

4.5%

3.9%

1.6%

7.0%

3.0%

0.4

2.5

0.9

0.9

4.7

0.6

1.67

Hanjin . “Most trustworthy”






0.7%

0.3%

2.3%

1.6%

1.3%

1.3%

0.8%

0.6%

1.8%

1.8%

2.0%

0.6%

0.1

0.3

0.5

0.2

0.7

0.7

0.42


2. Results by Category

[Chart 1 - Trust] As for a “trustworthy” company, the general public and Twitter users both chose

Samsung, POSCO, and LG; however, the general public ranked Samsung and Twitter users ranked POSCO as no.

1. In the survey, 54.0% (general public) ranked Samsung as no. 1, and 41.3% (Twitter users) ranked POSCO as no.

1. The difference between the no. 1 Samsung and no. 2 POSCO within the general public group was a staggering

40.8%, while the gap between the no. 1 POSCO and no. 2 Samsung among Twitter users was 14.1%. Although it

is unclear in this study why POSCO was ranked as the no. 1 company in terms of trust, it is still noteworthy that

POSCO was well perceived by Twitter users across various categories in the study.

Chart 1: “Most Trustworthy” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter Users

3.60%

0.70%

2.60%

2.30%

2.30%

6.20%

2.60%

11.10%

41.30%

27.20%

0.70%

0.80%

1.90%

1.90%

5%

5.90%

6.10%

10.50%

13.20%

54%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

GS

Hanjin

Kumho Asiana

Lotte


SK

Hyundai Kia Automotive

LG

POSCO

Samsung

General public


[Chart 2 – Self-Promotion] As mentioned before, among the six categories regarding overall reputation,

Samsung was given an extremely low score for five of them by Twitter users, but the company received a

relatively high rating for the “self-promotion” category.

Chart 2: “Most Competent in Self-Promoting” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter

Users

0.30%

1.60%

1.30%

6.20%

2%

0.70%

4.90%

17.40%

3.90%

61.60%

0.60%

1.00%

1.50%

4.00%

4.50%

5.00%

6.50%

7.80%

12%

57.10%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%

Hanjin

GS

Kumho Asiana

POSCO

Lotte


LG

SK


Samsung

General public

Twitter users


[Chart 3 – Listening (to customers)] In a social media age, the ability to listen has become

increasingly important for corporate communications. While the general public gave Samsung the highest score

as the no. 1 company, Twitter users selected LG as the no. 1 company in this category. It is interesting when

taking into account that among the top 30 companies, LG Electronics not only has been very active in the

corporate blogging scene but also the first for a top 30 company to share customers’ comments on its blog

without screening.

Chart 3: “Most Engaged in Listening to Customers’ Opinions” Category Comparison between the General

Public and Twitter Users

2.3%

0.7%

9.8%

9.5%

3.0%

12.1%

17.0%

4.9%

23.3%

17.4%

1.8%

1.8%

2.9%

3.6%

3.9%

6.9%

7.1%

9.3%

16.6%

46.0%

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%

Hanjin


GS

Kumho Asiana

Lotte

POSCO

SK


LG

Samsung

General public

Twitter users


[Chart 4- Responsibility] In terms of responsibility, Samsung, POSCO, and LG were the top 3 companies

ranked, and the general public group and Twitter users chose Samsung and POSCO, respectively, as the no. 1

company in this aspect. POSCO was ranked as the best company for two out of the six categories – trust and

responsibility – by Twitter users.

Chart 4: “Most Responsible” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter Users

2.60%

3.90%

0.70%

1.60%

7.20%

5.60%

7.20%

9.20%

40.30%

21.60%

0.80%

1.30%

1.60%

1.80%

3.90%

5.40%

7.60%

10.10%

14.80%

52.70%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

GS

Kumho Asiana

Lotte

Hanjin

SK



LG

POSCO

Samsung

General public

Twitter users


[Chart 5 - Communication] As for communication, Samsung, LG, and SK were ranked as the top 3

companies by both respondent groups. The general public ranked Samsung, and Twitter users ranked SK, as the

no. 1 company in this category. Among Twitter users, out of the six categories, SK ranked no. 1 for

communication only, which may either be a result of having SK Telecom, Korea’s leading mobile operator -

or because SK Telecom was the first company among the top 30 Korean companies to open a corporate

blog and directly communicate with consumers.

Chart 5: “Most Skilled in Communications” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter

Users

6.60%

1.30%

4.60%

1.00%

11.10%

2.30%

4.90%

31.50%

23.30%

13.40%

1.70%

2.00%

3.20%

4.20%

6.40%

7.00%

9.90%

10.60%

13.60%

41.30%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%

Kumho Asiana

Hanjin

GS


POSCO

Lotte


SK

LG

Samsung

General public

Twitter users


[Chart 6 - Purchase] The only category in which both the general public and Twitter users chose

Samsung as the no. 1 company was the sales category. This reflects a shared perception of Samsung product

excellence and brand power. In fact, in this category, there are a couple of top 10 companies that did not have

much to do with customer purchases. For example, POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries are “B2B (Business to

Business)”, not directly related to ordinary consumers. Despite this fact, POSCO ranked no. 3 in the “most

desirable to purchase” category by Twitter users and ranked ahead of the no. 4 Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.

As POSCO was consistently perceived as favorable and trustworthy across various parts of the study among

Twitter users, a follow-up research should be conducted to find the reasons while POSCO was ranked no. 3 in this

category..

Chart 6: “Most Desirable to Purchase” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter Users

1.00%

1.30%

3.00%

5.90%

7.50%

3.60%

14.80%

12.80%

23.30%

26.90%

0.20%

0.60%

0.70%

1.60%

2.20%

3.00%

3.10%

9.10%

25.10%

54.60%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%


Hanjin

Kumho Asiana

GS

SK

Lotte

POSCO


LG

Samsung

General public

Twitter users


Cool Crisis Communication: Comparison of Perception for Crisis Response by the Top 10

Companies

1. Overall Analysis

We defined communication during a crisis situation in a “cool” manner without employing strategies of cover up,

underplay, or delay as “Cool Crisis Communication,” and we studied three areas as Cool Crisis Communication‟s

key categories: after making a mistake or wrongdoing a “company that officially discloses to consumers or the

general public most transparently and candidly”; a “company that most genuinely apologizes for their

wrongdoing”; and a “company that makes the most effort to make up for their mistakes and not stop with a

simple apology.”

Key Finding: “In terms of transparent communication and response in a crisis

situation, the general public ranked Samsung and Twitter users ranked

POSCO as the best company.”

[Table 5] As we quantified the average of the six category rankings for overall reputation, when doing the

same for the three categories for cool crisis communication (C3Q), the general public voted for Samsung

and Twitter users voted for POSCO as the no. 1 company. The following is worth noting. First, Samsung did

not make it in the top 3 by Twitter users in terms of cool crisis communication (Similarly, POSCO was ranked no.

1 by Twitter users but no. 4 by the general public). Second, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group which stood at no. 3

in the general public‟s ranking was voted as the no. 7 company by Twitter users. This illustrates that the Hyundai

Kia Automotive Group is not perceived as a relatively transparent company by Twitter users. Third, LG was voted

as the no. 2 company by both groups, reflecting a shared perception.

Table 5: Cool Crisis Communication Three Category Average (C3Q) Comparison between the General Public

and Twitter Users

Ranking General Public Twitter Users

No. 1 Samsung 35.9 POSCO 30.7

No. 2 LG 14.8 LG 21.0

No. 3 Hyundai/Kia 13.9 SK 10.5

No. 4 ~ No. 10 POSCO

SK

Lotte

Kumho Asiana

GS


Hanjin

13.1

7.2

4.5

3.4

3.0

2.7

1.4

Samsung

GS

Kumho Asiana

Hyundai/Kia

Lotte

Hanjin


10.3

7.8

7.6

5.8

2.9

2.0

1.4


[Table 6] The intriguing fact here is that in terms of the three categories related to crisis communication, the

general public group and Twitter users show a sharp contrast. As the general public chose Samsung as the no.

1 company for all six categories under overall reputation, the general public also selected Samsung for all of

the three cool crisis communication related categories. On the contrary, Twitter users picked POSCO as the

no. 1 company for all three categories of cool crisis communication related categories. LG ranked no. 2 in

two categories by the general public group and in all three categories by Twitter users, showing similar

perceptions across respondent groups.

The results imply that Samsung is well-reputed among the general public, not only in terms of overall

perception but also with various measures in dealing with a crisis.

Meanwhile, Twitter users ranked POSCO as the no. 1 company for three categories pertaining to trust,

responsibility, and transparency in a crisis situation; hence, in total, Twitter users ranked POSCO as the no.

1 company for five out of nine categories (six overall reputation categories + three crisis communication

categories). In regards to this result, Twitter user @kkoosoo remarked that “POSCO‟s morality may have

been highly respected because there are relatively less known corruption scandals of the company.” The

reason behind POSCO‟s coherent positive appraisal requires follow-up research.

Table 6: Cool Crisis Communication Comparison of the No. 1 Company by Category and the Difference with

the No. 2 Company

General Public Twitter Users

“Company to officially

disclose its wrongdoing”

Samsung (32.0%)

Difference with No. 2 Hyundai/Kia (14.7%):

17.3%

POSCO (32.8%)

Difference with No. 2 LG (19.7%):

13.1%

“Company to genuinely

apologize”

Samsung (33.7%)


POSCO (32.5%)


“Company to make efforts for

improvement”

Samsung (42.1%)


POSCO (26.9%)


[Table 7] How much do the views of the general public and Twitter users differ in terms of transparent

communication and response measures in a crisis situation? As done previously, we looked at how much the

views differ by comparing the average of the absolute value of the two respondent group scores for the three

categories under crisis communication by company. Companies that showed the largest gap between the

general public and Twitter users were Samsung (difference of 25.63) and POSCO (17.63) in order of variance.


Samsung and POSCO were each better reputed by the general public and Twitter users, respectively. As with

the overall reputation survey, Samsung and POSCO were the two companies that varied the most in terms of

respondent views regarding crisis communication.

Table 7: Results of the Variance between the General Public and Twitter Users for Transparent Crisis

Communication and Response Measures by Company

Category Twitter

Users

General

Public

Difference by

Groups

(Absolute Value)

Average of

Difference

by Groups

Samsung . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”

. “Genuine Apology”

. “Improvement Efforts”

6.9%

8.9%

15.1%

32.0%

33.7%

42.1%

25.1

24.8

27

25.63

POSCO . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



32.8%

32.5%

26.9%

14.2%

14.4%

10.7%

18.6

18.1

16.2

17.63

Hyundai

Kia

. “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



5.2%

5.2%

6.9%

14.7%

12.8%

14.1%

9.5

7.6

7.2

8.1

LG . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



19.7%

22.6%

20.7%

13.9%

16.2%

14.3%

5.8

6.4

6.4

6.2

GS . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



7.9%

7.5%

7.9%

3.1%

3.0%

2.8%

4.8

4.5

5.1

4.8

Kumho

Asiana




9.5%

7.5%

5.9%

4.4%

2.3%

3.5%

5.1

5.2

1.2

3.83

SK . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



11.5%

9.5%

10.5

9.7%

7.4%

4.5%

1.8

2.1

6

3.3

Lotte . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



3.9%

1.6%

3.3%

4.0%

5.0%

4.6%

0.1

3.4

1.3

1.6

Hyundai

Heavy

Industries




0.7%

1.6%

2.0%

2.7%

3.3%

2.3%

2.0

1.7

0.3

1.33

Hanjin . “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing”



2.0%

3.0%

1.0%

1.3%

2.0%

0.9%

0.7

1.0

0.1

0.6


2. Results by Category

[Chart 7 – Disclosure of Wrongdoing] Going public with a mistake or wrongdoing in a transparent

manner during a crisis situation is an integral first step for Cool Crisis Communication. In this case, the general

public ranked Samsung, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, and POSCO as the top 3, and Twitter users ranked

POSCO, LG, and SK as the top 3, listed in order of ranking. POSCO is the only company that was ranked within

the top 3 by both groups.

Chart 7: “Transparent/Candid Disclosure of Wrongdoing” Category Comparison between the General Public

and Twitter Users

2.00%

0.70%

7.90%

3.90%

9.50%

11.50%

19.70%

32.80%

5.20%

6.90%

1.30%

2.70%

3.10%

4.00%

4.40%

9.70%

13.90%

14.20%

14.70%

32.00%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00%

Hanjin


GS

Lotte

Kumho Asiana

SK

LG

POSCO


Samsung

General public

Twitter users


[Chart 8 – Genuine Apology] The second step in Cool Crisis Communication is a genuine apology

based on the acknowledgement of making a mistake. In this case, the general public ranked Samsung, LG, and

POSCO as the top 3, and Twitter users ranked POSCO, LG, and SK as the top 3, listed in order of ranking. POSCO

and LG are the only companies that were ranked within the top 3 by both groups.

Chart 8: “Genuine Apology for Wrongdoing” Category Comparison between the General Public and Twitter

Users

3.00%

7.50%

7.50%

1.60%

1.60%

9.50%

5.20%

32.50%

22.60%

8.90%

2.00%

2.30%

3.00%

3.30%

5.00%

7.40%

12.80%

14.40%

16.20%

33.70%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00%

Hanjin

Kumho Asiana

GS


Lotte

SK


POSCO

LG

Samsung

General public

Twitter users


[Chart 9 – Improvement Efforts] It is not “cool” for apologies to end only in rhetoric. An apology is

only complete when there is supporting compensation or recovery actions. Regarding the question for the

company that would do best in making efforts to make up for their wrongdoing and not just stop with an

apology, the general public voted for Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Kia Automotive Group as the top 3, whereas

Twitter users voted for POSCO, LG, and Samsung as the top 3, listed in order of ranking. Samsung and LG were

the only companies ranked within the top 3 by both groups.

Chart 9: “Make Improvements and Go Beyond a Rhetorical Apology” Category Comparison between the

General Public and Twitter Users

1.00%

2.00%

7.90%

5.90%

10.50%

3.30%

26.90%

6.90%

20.70%

15.10%

0.90%

2.30%

2.80%

3.50%

4.50%

4.60%

10.70%

14.10%

14.30%

42.10%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 45.00%

Hanjin


GS

Kumho Asiana

SK

Lotte

POSCO


LG

Samsung

General public

Twitter users


“News Behavior”: Comparison of News Production and Consumption Channels

Lastly, we looked into the news consumption characteristics and production of news through social media by the

general public and Twitter users.

Key Finding: “6 Twitter users and 5 general public members out of 10

subscribe to newspaper home delivery”

1. Overall Analysis

When looking at the newspaper home delivery rate, compared to the general public‟s subscription rate

(51.5%), Twitter users‟ rate (60.3%) was approximately 10% higher. Current college students or graduates

make up 50.1% of the general public group, whereas they make up 96.7% of Twitter users. Also, white

collar workers make up 16.4% of the general public group and 60.3% of Twitter users. These numbers

may be the contributing factors to the newspaper home delivery rates in Korea.

However, although newspaper subscription was higher among Twitter users, it was the general public

group who perceived newspapers as a more important news channel. In regards to the question about

which news channel respondents use the most, the general public group chose TV (61.9%), online

newspaper (25.9%) and print newspaper (10.2%), while Twitter users chose portal websites (35.1%), online

newspaper (25.9%), and TV (17.7%). As for Twitter users, newspapers ranked only no. 5 after mobile

(13.1%).

What does a newspaper mean to Twitter users if a significant number of them subscribe to it, yet it is

not their key source of information? Regarding this, the President of SCOTOSS Consulting, Kang Hamsoo,

makes the following case: “It must be interpreted as people who use Twitter having a strong desire

and demand for news and information usage, therefore, not relying on a single information source

(channel) to obtain information or knowledge. Although Twitter users’ subscription of an influential

newspaper may be higher than the general public’s, the former group tends not to trust

information solely from the newspaper they subscribe to, so they obtain and absorb news stories

through another information sources. In this light, regardless of the rating of newspapers, it can

be extrapolated that the usage of Internet news and portal websites is higher due to its speed

among Twitter users compared to among the general public.”

When asked if the respondent has ever posted a product-related review on the web during the past year,

not even 2 out of 10 (15.9%) of the general public group chose “yes,” while almost 7 out of 10 Twitter


users (67.2%) said they had posted a review before. Looking at the age distribution, the general public

group respondents who chose “yes” had 30% of respondents in their 20s, about 21.4% in their 30s, 14.1%

in their 40s, and 3.5% in their 50s, while in the Twitter users group, over 60% of respondents in their 20s

as well as their 30s, 40s, and above had posted an online review before.

2. Result by Category

[Chart 10 – Newspaper Subscription] For the question, “Do you subscribe to one or more

newspaper home delivery”, 5 out of 10 from the general public group and 6 out of 10 from the Twitter users

group replied “yes.”

Chart 10: Newspaper Home Delivery Subscription

60.30%

51.10%

46.00% 48.00% 50.00% 52.00% 54.00% 56.00% 58.00% 60.00% 62.00%

Subcribing newspaper General public

Twitter users


[Chart 11 – Age Group Analysis] Looking at the age distribution, over half of the respondents in their

40s and 50s from the general public group subscribed to newspapers, while less than half of the respondents in

their 20s and 30s from the same group did. In the Twitter users group, not only with respondents in their 40s (the

questionnaire for Twitter users did not include an option of “50s and above” and only had “40s and above”) but

over half of the respondents in their 20s and 30s subscribed to newspapers, and interestingly, the subscription

rate was higher among the 20s group than among the 30s group. The reason may be that in Korean society,

there are a significant number of people in their 20s residing with their parents, and compared to the general

public, the parents of the Twitter users are more likely to have white collar jobs who would have higher

newspaper subscription rate in Korea.

Chart 11: Newspaper Home Delivery by Age

61.9%

55.6%

70.5%

44.9%

38.4%

59.5%

56.7%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0%

19-29 years old

30s'

40s' (and above for Twitter users)

50s' and above

General public

Twitter users


Key Finding: “The main channel of the news for the general public is TV,

while the main channel of the news for Twitter users is portal websites.”

[Chart 12 – The Main Channel of the News] The general public group ranked the channel

through which they get the news the most in the following order: TV, online newspaper, and print newspaper. On

the other hand, Twitter users ranked the channel through which they get the news in this order: portal websites,

online newspaper, and TV. Although 6 out of 10 Twitter users subscribed to newspaper home delivery, not even 1

out of 10 Twitter users responded that print newspapers were their main source of obtaining the news.

Chart 12: The Most Used Channel for Obtaining the News

0.0%

2.3%

13.1%

0.0%

35.1%

5.9%

25.9%

17.7%

0.7%

0.7%

0.5%

1.1%

9.1%

10.2%

15.8%

61.9%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%

don't know/no response

others

mobile

radio

portal sites

newspaper

online newspaper

TV

General public

Twitter users


Key Finding: “As for posting a product review online, 7 out of 10 Twitter

users had experience, while barely 2 out of 10 from the general public had

experience over the past year”

[Chart 13 – Online Review Posting Experience] When asked whether they had posted a product

review on the web over the past year, 15.9% of the general public group responded “yes.”

With the online review posting experienced group, the proportion was higher with the younger (32.1% of

the 20s group) and more educated (23.6% of current college students and graduates) respondents as

well as those with a monthly income of 4 million won and above (21.8%).

As for Twitter users, when looking at the number of tweets excluding re-tweets over the past month, 76.2%

of those who tweeted 30 times or more and 64.1% of those who tweeted 10~29 times had posted

reviews online, whereas only 34.8% of those who tweeted less than 5 times over the past month had

posted a product review on the web over the past year.

Chart 13: “Experience of Posting an Online Review over the Past Year”

67.20%

15.90%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00%

online review over the past year General public

Twitter users


[Chart 14 – Review Content] We asked those who had posted a review in the past whether they left a

positive or a negative feedback. In the general public group, 41.8% responded that their comment was mostly

negative, while in the Twitter users group, only 19.5% said their comment was mostly negative. In addition, 55.1%

of Twitter users and 37% of the general public group replied that the review contained both positive and negative

comments. Furthermore, while the reviews posted by members of the general public were mainly negative (41.8%

vs. 19.5%, see chart 14), in contrast, Twitter users showed a more balanced response in terms of positive and

negative content (37% vs. 55.1%, see chart 14).

Chart 14: Review Contents for Respondents with Online Review Posting Experience

55.10%

19.50%

25.40%

37.00%

41.80%

19.70%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

positive/negative

negative

positive

General public

Twitter users


Key Finding: “Among Koreans, barely 2 out of 10 people have their own blog

and produce 1 or more contents per month, while 3 out of 10 people only

visit a particular blog.”

Lastly, there was a question subject for the general public group only. We asked about blog subscription and

ownership as well as contents production.

[Chart 15 – Blog Contents Consumption] In regards to how often they visit other people‟s blogs,

over half of the respondents did not have a blog they regularly visited or read and some did not even know what

a blog was (this finding includes non-responses). However, 1 out of 4 people (25.4%) had a blog they visited and

read at least once a week.

Chart 15: Blog Subscription Frequency

17.40%

51.40%

5.80%

25.40%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

don't know what a blog is/no response

do not regularly visit blogs

I have blogs to visit at least once a month

I have blogs to visit at least once a week

계열 1


[Chart 16 – Blog Contents Production] Although 35% of the general public had their own blogs (5%

+ 9.4% + 20.6%), over 20% responded that they almost never post any contents. Merely 15% responded that they

post at least one content per month. A total of 65% responded that they did not own a blog or did not know

what a blog was (49.9% + 15%).

In short, 1 to 2 out of 10 from the general public group make 1 or more monthly postings on their blogs,

and 3 out of 10 have a blog they visit and read at least once a month.

Chart 16: Blog Ownership and Contents Posting

15.00%

49.90%

20.60%

9.40%

5%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

don't know what a blog is/no response

don't have a blog

have a blog, but do not post almost anything

have a blog, and post one or more content(s) every month

have a blog, and post one or more content(s) every week


Conclusion & Insights: Completing the 2010 Cool Communication® Study


Conclusion & Insights: Completing the 2010 Cool Communication®

A. The interest for social media among opinion leaders from business and political circles in

Korea has increased alongside the popularity of Twitter and smart phones that enable easy

access to social media. Companies must focus on how social media is shaping the way their

employees, consumers, and experts are producing and consuming news, ultimately,

transforming the paradigm of opinion formation.

B. Formerly, a cultural anthropologist, Edward T. Hall (1959) remarked that “communication is

culture and culture is communication.” Therefore, companies taking advantage of the recent

shift that has been driven by social media in how we communicate should be approached

for managing corporate culture changes. For instance, it will be difficult for

executives/employees to actively use Twitter and directly engage with consumers without an

open culture that supports it.

C. Furthermore, unless CEOs and other influential leaders in the company are at the forefront in

using social media, employees will inevitably be discouraged to participate, especially in Korean

culture. For example, without the CEO of Shinsegae E-Mart, Chung Yong-jin, taking the lead by

opening a Twitter account, it would not have been possible for each branch to have and be

active members on Twitter. Therefore, a CEO who seems indifferent about social media but

still orders employees to “make good use of it (social media)” is misunderstanding the

essence of social media.

D. Unlike people who are familiar with the existing traditional media channels, there may be

differences in terms of corporate perception for the social media-savvy; hence, companies

must pay attention to how they are perceived by social media users. Furthermore, they

must find the area that has the biggest gap, find the reasons behind the gap, and take

necessary measures to close the gap.


E. In a social media era, communication is shifting from corporate to individuals, indirect to direct,

and control to dialogue. At THE LAB h®, we define the new paradigm of corporate

communication in a social media era as “Cool Communication®.” The biggest reason we need

a “cooler” paradigm is because we are now entering a society in which communication through

a paradigm of “highlighting strengths underplaying weaknesses” is no longer feasible because,

company mistakes and wrongdoings are increasingly unveiled to the public through social

media.

F. Social media users no longer perceive a company based on a unilateral “image

advertisement,” “press release or newspaper article” or “one-off promotion” but are

rather influenced by conversations coming from social networks.

G. The first criteria for establishing a positive relationship with social media users is enabling real

people from the company to participate in social media and talking about their strengths

and weaknesses in a “cool” manner.

H. In such Cool Communication®, everyday trust, responsibility, listening, and communication

are key elements, while in crisis situations, the disclosure of wrongdoing, genuine apology,

and actual efforts for improvement are crucial.


Appendix: Reference Materials


Profile: Respondent Demographics

Category Sub-categories General Public Twitter Users

By Region Seoul

Incheon/Kyonggi

Daejon/Chungchong

Gwangju/Jeolla

Daegu/Gyeongbuk

Busan/Ulsan/Gyeongnam

Gangwon/Jeju

106 (21.2%)

140 (28.0%)

50 (10.0%)

52 (10.4%)

52 (10.4%)

79 (15.8%)

21 (4.2%)

183 (60.0%)

67 (22.0%)

13 (4.3%)

8 (2.6%)

8 (2.6%)

25 (8.2%)

1 (0.3%)

By Gender Male

Female

248 (49.6%)

252 (50.4%)

200 (65.6%)

105 (34.4%)

By Age 19-29

30s

40s (Twitter users until here)

50s and above

97 (19.4%)

107 (21.4%)

114 (22.8%)

182 (36.4%)

126 (41.3%)

135 (44.3%)

44 (14.4%)

By Education Level Below middle school graduate

High school graduate

Current college student & graduate

71 (14.3%)

175 (35.6%)

247 (50.1%)

0 (0%)

10 (3.3%)

295 (96.7%)

By Income Below 2mil Korean Won

2mil.-2.99mil. Korean Won

3mil.-3.99mil. Korean Won

Over 4mil. Korewan Won

126 (29.9%)

85 (20.1%)

93 (22.1%)

118 (27.9%)

25 (8.2%)

47 (15.4%)

62 (20.3%)

171 (56.1%)

By Occupation Self-employed

Blue collar

White collar

Housewife

Student

Unemployed/Others

72 (14.6%)

63 (12.8%)

81 (16.4%)

139 (28.0%)

59 (11.9%)

80 (16.2%)

0

40 (13.1%)

184 (60.3%)

0

55 (18.0%)

26 (8.5%)

Total 500 (100%) 305 (100%)


Column: Related article of 2010 Cool Communication® Study10

Thinking of Samsung in the Twitter Age

By HOH KIM

August 19, 2010, The Hankyoreh

Samsung is undoubtedly Korea‟s leading global company. According to the results of a professional research firm

survey on 500 people conducted by my company, in all of the six different categories representing corporate

reputation, Samsung ranked as the no. 1 company, outpacing the no. 2 company by 27% to 45%.

However, in a separate survey on 305 Twitter users, the results were completely different. Here are three

interesting results: First, although when all of the reputation-related scores were summed up, Samsung still

remained the no.1 company, it ranked no. 1 in only two of the six categories. Second, the two categories in which

it ranked as being the best were purchasing intention and self-promotion, while the categories in which it lost the

no. 1 spot were trust, listening to customer opinions, responsibility, and communication, which are becoming

increasingly important in this Twitter Age. Third, Twitter users gave Samsung a higher score than the general

public only in the self-promotion category; in the rest of the categories, Samsung was rated much lower.

In an additional study, three categories – disclosure of wrongdoing, genuine apology and improvement efforts –

regarding a company‟s transparent response during a difficult situation caused by its mistake or wrongdoing were

surveyed. Again, the general public group ranked Samsung as the no. 1 company by over twice the score of the

runner up company. Nonetheless, amongst Twitter users, Samsung overall ranked no. 4, with only 1/3 of the score

earned by POSCO, which was ranked as the no. 1 company for these three categories. The only category in which

Samsung ranked within the top 3 by this group was the improvement efforts category.

Who exactly are these Twitter users taking part in the study? Compared to the general public, three times more

Twitter users resided in Seoul, and the proportion of those in their 20s to 30s were two times greater. While 50%

of people from the general public group participating in the study were currently college students or above, the

figure was nearly 97% with the Twitter users group. Also, there were twice as many Twitter users earning 4 million

won and above, per month, and the percentage of those holding white collar jobs was four times greater. If we

had to put this statistics into words, compared to the general public, the Twitter users were “people who had a

little more” and “received higher level education.” Moreover, when looking at it from a social media perspective,

Twitter users had easy access to advanced information and were not only actively consuming but also producing

10 THE LAB h®‟s Cool Communication Study was featured in major media in Korea, including The Hankyoreh, The

Dong-A Ilbo, and DBR (Dong-A Business Review), etc.


information.

Samsung Electronics projects 150 trillion won in revenues for this year. Therefore, inevitably, Samsung is always

under the spotlight for investors. Nevertheless, the world is changing. Last year, a Harvard Business Review

column by two leadership experts, James O‟Toole and Warren Bennis, said that the metric used to evaluate

corporate leaders is moving from the extent to which they created wealth for investors into the extent to which

they create organizations that are not only economically but also ethically and socially sustainable. Also, in their

recently published book, O‟Toole and Bennis stress that the keyword for corporate leadership is shifting to

“transparency.” Among the top 10 Korean companies included in this study, Samsung was evaluated the most

differently between the general public and Twitter users. While the company was highly evaluated in the general

public‟s eyes, this did not hold true among the Twitter users, who are more critical of “obvious rhetoric” by

companies and “most likely to know better about” what‟s going on behind the walls.

I am writing this column on the latest computer made by Samsung. My parents stick to Samsung-made and top-

of-the-class customer service. Although, recently, the company had its share of hardships due to the introduction

and popularity of the iPhone, I believe that it will become a stronger global brand with even better products than

now. For the same reason, Twitter users also chose Samsung as the no. 1 company in terms of purchasing

intention.

Furthermore, I am currently traveling in the US for business. I can proudly talk about Samsung products to

anyone I meet here. For consumers and investors, Samsung is the best company for its strong financial and

product performance. Nevertheless, I still cannot boast about how Samsung is a globally transparent and ethical

company to my foreign colleagues. It has been three years since Samsung‟s former lawyer, Kim Yong-chul, blew

the whistle on the company‟s slush funds. Moving forward, social responsibility and transparency will become of

utmost importance for global brand power. It is not just myself who hopes that Samsung will change from being

known as “controlling” to being known as “transparent.” Thinking about Samsung in an era of transparency

represented by Twitter….


About: THE LAB h®

• THE LAB h® (Official Company Name: Kim Hoh, The Laboratory Corporation; Founder & Head Coach Hoh

Kim; thelabh.com) is a specialized consulting/coaching firm, researching appropriate corporate responses

to bad news and producing contents based on the understanding of bad news production and

consumption. THE LAB h® offers one-on-one coaching and designs and facilitates workshops for

corporate executives.

• Major Services:

• 1:1 coaching sessions for corporate executives: The Art of Q&A; Business Storytelling for Results

• Corporate executive-focused workshops: Bad News Management Workshop (Crisis Leadership

Workshop)

• As the only official Korean partner of the US based INFLUENCE AT WORK®, Hoh Kim of THE LAB

h® has introduced and has been conducting the POP_Principles of Persuasion Workshop (two full

days).

• Hoh Kim (Founder & Head Coach)

• THE LAB h®

• The first Korean “Principles of Persuasion” certified trainer (CMCT=Cialdini Method Certified Trainer; Dr.

Robert Cialdini, INFLUENCE AT WORK® Certification)

• Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Graduate School of Culture Technology,

Doctoral program (Currently studying “Apology as Cool Communication® in a Crisis Situation for

Companies and Leaders” under the guidance of Dr. Jaeseung Jeong)

• Game Design Certificate for completion of a business game design workshop (NASAGA: North

America Simulation and Gaming Association)

• Managing Director at Edelman Korea, the world‟s largest independent PR consulting firm (2004-2007),

recorded three consecutive years of highest revenue while serving as Deputy Managing Director

(2002-2004), established healthcare and issue/crisis management practice

• MSD Korea Communications Manager (2001-2002)

• Sogang University Graduate School of Media Adjunct Professor (2005-2006), lectures at Ewha Womans

University (2008) and at KAIST (2008-2010)

• Dong-a Business Review, JoongAng Economist, 1/n, Hankyoreh Columnist

• M.A. at Marquette University (PR); B.A. at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (French/Philosophy)

• “Sorry Works” (Joint Translation; 2009; The Korean Doctors‟ Weekly)

• Contact: [email protected] / @hoh (twitter) / hohkim.com (blog)

mailto:[email protected]

2010 thela bh_cool communication study_english_final

Documents