Crisis Management 2.0: Using Influencers to Rebuild Public Trust in Times of Crisis

Abstract

In an era of increasingly complex global crises, public institutions face mounting challenges in maintaining public trust and ensuring effective citizen engagement. Traditional top-down crisis communication strategies have often proven insufficient, particularly among digitally connected populations who demand timely, transparent, and relatable messaging. This study explores the strategic use of digital influencers in public crisis communication, examining how they may serve as trust-building intermediaries between government institutions and citizens. Grounded in the framework of New Public Management (NPM), which emphasizes performance, accountability, and citizen-centric service delivery, this research employs a quantitative approach based on 186 survey responses to test four key hypotheses. Results show that the perceived use, credibility, exposure to, and emotional engagement with influencers significantly predict higher levels of public trust, message acceptance, behavioral compliance, and perceived institutional responsiveness. These findings highlight the potential of influencer-based strategies as innovative tools of public governance, offering empirical evidence to support their integration into crisis communication models aimed at rebuilding institutional legitimacy and trust in the digital age.