THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO White or Yellow? The Effects of a Spokesperson’s Ethnicity for Chinese International Firms in an Overseas Food Safety Crises Scenario Maggie (Dongying) Hao A Capstone Project Presented to the Faculty of the AU School of Communication in Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Public/Strategic Communication Supervisor: Prof. Caty Borum Chattoo April 22, 2014 1 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Copyright © 2014/4/22 Maggie (Dongying) Hao All Rights Reserved. To obtain permission to use material from this work, please submit a written request Via email to: dongying.hao1990@gmail.com. Thank you. 2 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Prof. Caty Borum Chattoo for giving me support and guiding me through this whole tough research process, Prof. Paula Weissman and Prof. Joseph Erba for being so helpful to give advice in the past months, my friend Bryan Clark for being supportive all the time and helping me to improve my English writing skills, my parents for providing me such a great opportunity to study in the American University School of Communication to pursue my dream as an international public relations specialist. 3 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO ABSTRACT We live in a time of crises happening no matter when and no matter where. This capstone aimed to exploring the relationship between the ethnicity of a spokesperson, the ethnicity of audience, and the perception of the audience in an overseas crisis scenario, as well as how similar ethnic backgrounds may influence an audience’s evaluation of crisis response. An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of using spokespeople of ethnic backgrounds similar to or different from target audiences. American audiences preferred the Chinese spokesperson in the fictional crisis of Chinese firms in the United States. On the contrary, Chinese people rated the American white spokesperson higher. Additionally, the capstone provided a general attitude evaluation from the target audience about Chinese food safety. Implications for Chinese companies that aim to launch in the U.S. market are discussed. 4 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 错误! 未定义书签。 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 10 Chinese Firms Conquer Global Market ............................................................................................. 10 Food Safety Crisis ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Chinese Spokesperson Strategy ........................................................................................................... 12 Functions of Spokespersons in Crisis ................................................................................................ 12 Ethnic Identity of Spokespersons ....................................................................................................... 13 Audiences’ Perceptions of Crisis Response .................................................................................... 14 Situational Crisis Communication Theory ...................................................................................... 15 Social Identity Theory .............................................................................................................................. 17 The Connection of SCCT and SIT ............................................................................................. 19 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................... 20 METHOD .......................................................................................................................................... 21 Participant Recruitment ......................................................................................................................... 23 Procedures .................................................................................................................................................... 24 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................... 25 General Demographic of Participants ............................................................................................... 25 Comparison Between Conditions ....................................................................................................... 27 Different participant group with same spokesperson .......................................................... 28 Same participant group with different spokespersons ........................................................ 29 Significant Differences ........................................................................................................................ 31 General Attitude towards Chinese Food Safety ............................................................................ 33 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................... 34 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 34 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................... 40 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 48 5 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO White or Yellow? The Effects of Spokesperson’s Ethnicity for Chinese International Firms in Overseas Food Safety Crisis Scenarios Half a century ago, President Kennedy (1959) said, “When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” (p.1) This saying has been widely known for a long time around the world, and it is still popular when people talk about crises and related issues. That means, with effective strategies, crises can be great opportunities for organizations to renew public faith, reputation and support. In other words, the importance of crisis communication is obvious, whenever and wherever. A president of the U.S. cited a Chinese lexical morphology theory in his famous speech, which seems to somehow foretell the future of the world. As globalization increases, more multinational organizations and transnational corporations appear and exert a great deal of power in the globalized economy. Apparently, China is one of twin turbochargers for the world economy, and a large number of Chinese firms are launching in oversea markets. These companies are planning to expand into international markets, especially the Western market (Backaler, 2014). However, in this process, many problems may occur due to cultural differences and market competition. One of the important points is to develop strategies to handle crises based on different cultural backgrounds. One of the tough problems is that the vast size of China's food production and consumption enterprises, along with the country's global economic importance, make China's food supply and food safety issues 6 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO a major interest to international markets and trading partners. Rated Chinese firms faced crisis and even scandals in the U.S. market, where food safety crises are always the priority. Interestingly, U.S. companies faced similar problems years ago. On March 15th, 2012, Chinese Consumer Day, China Central Television (CCTV) 315 Evening Show exposed that the food sold by McDonald’s had passed the expiration date and the staff intentionally changed the dates on the products. One of the largest American fast food restaurant chains faced an unprecedented crisis in Mainland China. Although McDonald’s responded promptly in both the mainstream media and social media platform, many consumers placed blame on its superficial and perfunctory attitude. The Chinese spokesperson from McDonald’s China provided the public an effective response, but Chinese netizens questioned the brand’s double standards. When the crisis reached its peak, Chinese consumers demanded a response from a spokesperson in McDonald’s headquarter, specifically an American person, as from a cultural perspective it means respect for Chinese consumers. Although many previous scholars discussed the relationship between the ethnicity of a spokesperson and the perception of the target audience, the amount of research focusing on spokespersons’ ethnicities during crisis is still limited (Armstrong, 2000; Arpan, 2002; Wang & Arpan, 2008). Most previous research focused on the ethnic differences between Caucasians and African Americans. Research results looking at the difference between Caucasian and Asian people is still needed. Additionally, this topic 7 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO would contribute to filling the lack in the international crisis situation. For Chinese companies, present research is a reference for them to choose appropriate crisis strategy in the U.S. and other overseas markets, and it also provides solid evidence for these companies that intend to enter the U.S. market in the future. Crisis communication is a concept within the broader discipline of public relations, and it is closely linked to the connected fields of risk communication, issues management, and reputation management (Coombs, 2010). The failure to communicate efficiently and effectively during crisis management can cause more damage to an organization’s reputation. On the contrary, effective crisis response can enhance perceptions of the organization’s credibility and reliability. In Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), Coombs highlighted the conceptions of crisis responsibility, stakeholder, and the history of crisis (Coombs, 2007). The theory divided crises into different categories and accordingly provided different strategies to respond. SCCT is a significant reference for organizations to manage and respond to crises in contemporary society. For multinational or transnational organizations, the situation can be more complicated. Compared to local businesses, the gaps, which include geographical distance and cultural differences, between the organization and their target audiences, can be huge. So, when they face a crisis, a qualified and appropriate spokesperson can be very important. Past research has indicated that an articulate and credible spokesperson who has the same value system with the target audience can provide 8 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO accurate information by using the correct communication strategy during a crisis. Utilizing this method, the organization can gain the public’s trust. This kind of spokesperson can be defined as an “effective crisis responder” (Barrett, 2005; Littlefield & Cowden & Novak & Ulmer & Curry, 2009; Reich, 2009). The ethnicity is just one of the visible traits for the audiences to judge whether the spokesperson has the same value system with them. In this area, Social Identity Theory (SIT) first clarified this as a part of social identities and the idea that people’s ethnicities influence their attitudes and behaviors (Tajfel, 1986), and it provided research with solid support to discuss why the ethnicity of a spokesperson can change relative to consumers’ perception. This research explores the effects of spokesperson ethnicity on consumer perceptions in crisis communication for Chinese international enterprises, and with specific focus on food safety crisis scenarios. The research aims to figure out how a spokesperson’s ethnicity impacts the consumer’s perception of crisis response in such a popular, sensitive and universal topic – public health and food security. Meanwhile, the study also addresses how target audience’s ethnicity influences their perceptions depending on different social identities. This capstone began with a review of the literature that involved the global market situation, Chinese spokesperson strategy, food safety related cases, function of the spokesperson in crisis scenarios, and ethnic identity topics, as well as theoretical framework including, Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Social Identity Theory. It furthered this discussion with an explanation of the methodology: 9 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO experiments, along with results of study, the implications of those results, and a conclusion that pointed toward additional research to be completed in the future as well as the limitation of this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Chinese Firms Conquer Global Market In the recent years, Chinese international firms keep making efforts to spread products, enhance the brand value, and improve reputations here in the U.S. and on a worldwide scale. According to the data from China’s Ministry of Commerce, Chinese overseas investment totaled U.S.$61.6 billion by the end of September 2013—a 17.4 percent year-­‐on-­‐year increase. At the same time, China’s investment in the U.S. also kept increasing, and the amount of non-­‐financial investment by Chinese enterprises in U.S. had already reached US$ 8.6 billion in 2012, with a wide range of investment covering various fields.1 The statistics proves that for many Chinese firms launching into overseas markets that the U.S. market has been their goal for a long time. From the list of Fortune 500 companies we can see that there are 79 Chinese firms (including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) on it, and it was the ninth consecutive rise of China2. All this data not only shows Chinese firms ambition and expansion, but also implies potential crisis and challenges in the future. 1 Data from the Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China official website: http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/statistic/ 2 FORTUNE 500 2012: http://www.fortunechina.com/fortune500/c/2012-­‐07/09/content_106535.htm 10 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Food Safety Crisis Nevertheless, Chinese companies’ overseas market launching is not entirely easy and smooth. Food safety is the biggest problem for Chinese firms and American consumers’ main doubts. Economic globalization has changed the pattern of food production and consumption worldwide. In this way, food contamination and foodborne illnesses have also become globalized. At the same time, people all over the world have become more insensitive (Lin, 2011). Unfortunately, increasing reports in the international media regarding the food safety crisis in China have recently appeared in U.S. media, with the most well-­‐known being the China melamine milk scandal in 2008 when six babies died and 300,000 became ill after consuming infant formulas contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine (Qiao et al., 2012). Since then the U.S. and other countries around the world started to ban dairy product imports from China (Jia and Jukes, 2013). The U.S. public and media institutions regard health problems and food safety related issues as hot topics. The U.S. local and national companies need to face these kinds of crises as well. In April 2009, Domino’s Pizza Inc. was attacked by a sudden and widespread viral video posted on social media, and it immediately turned into a major food safety crisis for the company. With effective crisis communication strategy and appropriate statements made by its spokesperson CEO Patrick Doyle, Domino’s Pizza Inc. solved this tough situation successfully and renewed its reputation (Farb, 2011). 11 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Chinese Spokesperson Strategy Based on the national condition of China, Chinese firms have their own crisis management system and spokesperson strategy. Chinese firms can choose their spokespersons’ identities, including gender, age and ethnicity instead of regarding the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or top executive as the only spokesperson. In China, an enterprise spokesperson was defined as “Communicators provide information to the public, which includes, important and sensitive issues”3 Apparently, the responsibilities of the Chinese spokesperson include making crisis responses. Different from companies in the U.S., in which the CEO (top-­‐executive) serves as spokesperson in most crisis scenarios, more Chinese companies prefer to designate communication professionals (non-­‐top-­‐executive) to be the organizations’ spokespersons to communicate with the media and make statements to the public (Wang, 2013). Chinese scholars conducted content analysis and concluded that more than half (55.7%) of Chinese companies adopted not-­‐top-­‐executive spokesperson strategies from 2004 to 2011 (Wang, 2013). Functions of Spokespersons in Crisis Many scholars have discussed the function of spokespersons in crisis communication since the 1990s. When an organization faces a crisis, it requires communicators to choose effective communication strategies, which inspire renewed or continued public faith and support (Allen & Caillouet, 1994). A spokesperson can be one of the most important aspects in a crisis situation, because he or she is the one who 3China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs official website: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_chn/ziliao_611306/tytj_611312/ 12 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO faces the public first and directly. Based on case studies, Barrett (2005) found that an effective spokesperson in a crisis situation could help to rebuild the organization’s reputation, and he implied that having the same value system with the target audience could be important for the spokesperson. The use of multiple spokespersons and poor message control resulted in an apparently fragmented message and loss of credibility (Barrett, 2005). Choosing organizational spokespeople is particularly crucial in a crisis situation because the organization’s credibility is under intense scrutiny (Arpan, 2002). Although there is little research at this time, Littlefield et al (2009) have suggested in their study that spokespersons outside the cultural group may be more credible in some situations. Ethnic Identity of Spokespersons The functions of spokespersons lay a foundation for crisis communication, and the ethnicity of the spokesperson is much more specific and focuses on the identity of the spokesperson. Both the topics of choosing spokespersons and how the identities of spokespersons affect communication results are popular in the field, and the topics have been discussed widely in the communication field, including advertising strategy, campaign tactics, and news reporting (Armstrong, 2000; Arpan, 2002; Arpan & Sun, 2006; Arpan & Peterson, 2008; Wang & Arpan, 2008). Arpan (2002) articulated that a spokesperson’s credibility considerably influenced audience acceptance of the response, and level of credibility was positively related to perceived ethnic and ideological similarity for different spokespersons. In their 13 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO research, Wang and Arpan (2008) supported the former findings by demonstrating that spokesperson’s race was a more powerful predictor of evaluation than spokesperson’s expertise among African American participants. In advertising research, White, Black, Latinos, and Asians, all appeared to engage in biased processing when exposed to models from a similar racial/ethnic background as theirs, especially those with strong ethnic attitudes, in other words, the people with a strong sense of identities (Mariea & Jeanan, 2000; Whittler & Spira, 2002; Elias & Gong, 2011). On the contrary, Arpan and Peterson (2008) suggested that the role of spokespersons’ personal identity traits contributed to the communication process, and impacted the perceptions of news bias and future news source selection mildly. Additionally, the race of the source alone did not cause a greater impact on audiences’ perceptions and the amount of audiences, and the persuasion-­‐related outcomes mentioned above have been measured by the previous experiments (Armstrong, 2000) Audiences’ Perceptions of Crisis Response From the receiver’s perspective, the spokesperson’s performance is highly related to audiences’ perceptions of crisis response. Even in some common situations, audiences and stakeholders expected spokespersons to serve as a two-­‐way and symmetrical link, which represent both the interest of the organization and that of the public (Grunig, 1984). All the more so, in case of emergency, certain messages can influence the attitude of the public (Reich 2009). Both the studies mentioned above implied that both audiences and stakeholders have high expectations of spokespersons. 14 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO This premise has set a high requirement for crisis managers, and it also means that it is challenging to change the audiences’ attitude in some certain situations, including crisis (Grunig, 1984). Furthermore, Arpan (2002) demonstrated that cross-­‐cultural communication strategies affect perceptions of multinational organizations in a crisis by examining the interaction effects of spokesperson and audience or stakeholder ethnicity. More importantly, path analyses indicated that spokesperson credibility ratings were partially determined by the degree to which participants felt the spokespersons were similar to themselves: credibility was positively related to perceived ideological and ethnic similarity for American and non-­‐American spokespersons (Arpan 2002). The target audiences’ perceptions of crisis response can be more positive due to increases in the speaker’s persuasiveness and credibility. Previous research showed that using cultural agents could contribute to building trust with different publics (Littlefield, Cowden et al. 2009). On the contrary, the other pervious research found that as a part of crisis response strategy, the spokesperson’s influence was limited, and it did not significantly affect people’s responses to the crisis in terms of trust and reputation (Verhoeven, Van Hoof et al. 2012). Situational Crisis Communication Theory Crisis communication research in public relations benefits are both analyzed theoretically and pragmatically through various contextual and methodological applications (Avery, Lariscy, Kim, & Hocke, 2010). Situational Crisis Communication 15 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Theory (SCCT) focuses on how to choose strategies in different crises, and it is one of the most important theories in crisis communication and management nowadays. Coombs (2007) concluded that crisis communication is about the perceptions of unexpected issues that frightened the expectations of stakeholders and negatively impact an organization’s reputation. Related to risk communication, issue management and reputation management, the studies of crisis communication are one of the dominant theories in the public relations field, and it will keep rapidly expanding in the coming years (Coombs, 2010). Crisis communication can be divided into three phases, including pre-­‐crisis preparation, crisis response, and post-­‐crisis learning (Coombs, 2010). The study implied that crisis communication is a process of an organization’s information managing and meaning managing. Based on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the crisis situation shapes what will be seen as an effective response, and the SCCT research clustered these situations into three categories, which include victim, accidental and preventable (Coombs, 2002). According to the organizational crisis responsibility, the organization could choose different strategies, which include denial strategies, diminish strategies, rebuild strategies, and bolstering strategies. Specifically, the research demonstrated that crisis managers should use more accommodative crisis response strategies when the organization has more responsibilities in the situation. Additionally, victim and accidental crises with no intensifiers only require instructing and adjusting information. Otherwise, when 16 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO intensifiers appear, crisis managers must use strategies like compensation and apology (Coombs, 2002). Research by Claeys, Cauberghe and Vyncke (2010) demonstrated the impact of crisis type and crisis response strategies on perceptions of corporate reputation by using a 3 (crisis type: victim crisis, accidental crisis, preventable crisis) × 3 (crisis response: deny strategy, diminish strategy, rebuild strategy) between-­‐subjects experimental design. The results showed that a person’s locus of control has a moderating impact on the relationship between crisis response strategy and organizational reputation. Social Identity Theory SCCT is valuable and useful for organizations to choose correct and appropriate strategies; however, it is too general for them to seek effective spokespersons in crisis situations. Tajfel and Turner (1979) formulated the theory of social identity from a social philosophical perspective, and it is a way to adapt and expand intergroup behavior, which means that people who share the same identities have some similarities and act in a coordinated way. According to social identity, group memberships, which can be judged both positively or negatively by out-­‐group members, affect the definition of an individual’s social identity. To explain the assumptions of SIT, Taifel stated, “Individuals define and evaluate themselves in terms of their social groups.” (Tajfel, 1978). Furthermore, the article also addressed that “an individual’s social identity is positive or negative according to the subjective status of the groups which contribute to it.” (Tajfel, 1978, p.203-­‐204) 17 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO SIT has been tested and used in many previous studies, in communication-­‐related fields, such as advertising. A group’s consideration can be defined by both inter and extra group comparisons between different groups (Erba, Phillips et al. 2012). Based on SIT, researchers found that the effectiveness of advertising is influenced by model representation; audiences responded stronger to in-­‐group images, in which the models had the same race as them (Whittler, 1991). Hyman and Torres (2009) used an experiment to examine a determinant of ethnic identification on intentions to buy the featured products. Relying on four extant scales and a new multi-­‐item measure of ethnic identification with an advertisement, the research proved the positive relationships proposed in the structural model. Mariea and Jeanan (2000) found that compared to an Asian model, white models are more attractive and credible to white participants. Furthermore, model ethnicity and product congruency were related when subjects estimate the model’s likeability. Previous study also has shown that the race of a character used in an advertisement can moderate the relationship between ethnic identity and consumer attitudes (Elias & Gong, 2011). Both spokespersons and participants are individuals who may be defined as in-­‐group or out-­‐group after comparison. Ethnicity can be a visible characteristic for participants to view themselves for in-­‐group or out-­‐group people, and this research will examine whether social identity affects the target audiences’ attitudes toward the spokesperson and the credibility of crisis response. 18 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO The Connection of SCCT and SIT A person's ethnicity will be more salient if that person is a member of a minority ethnic group in a society, making such a person more receptive and attentive to the cue of source ethnicity (Arpan, 2002). At this time, the gap between in-­‐group and out-­‐group can be obvious. Considering this feature, a matched source race on persuasion outcomes could be attributed to several reasons, including but not limited to experimental manipulations and different conceptualizations or measurements of the dependent variables (Wang and Arpan 2008). This persuasive communication process is affected by stakeholders’ social identity. That said, studies of international crises communication which were related to persuasive communication have been limited and inconclusive(Arpan 2002). According to the framework above, when a crisis has already happened, we should choose an effective strategy based on SCCT and an appropriate spokesperson considering his/her identity based on SIT to achieve the best effects. In other words, the use of a spokesperson is a part of the entire strategy package. Considering SIT, the ethnicity of a spokesperson and location of crisis are both important factors, which can impact the crisis manager’s choice and the result of the crisis response. Consequently, the whole process will influence the target audiences’ perceptions toward the organizations. This research will focus on crisis response, and how spokespersons’ ethnicities influence the perceptions of the organization. Additionally, this research will contribute 19 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO to the knowledge base on international crisis communication, which is another important part of crisis management. RESEARCH QUESTIONS To examine the effects of organizational spokesperson ethnicity among members of audiences of U.S. citizens and Chinese people living in the U.S., this investigation aimed to answer the following research questions: R.Q.1: What is the relationship between the ethnicity of the Chinese firm’s spokesperson, the ethnicity of the audience, and the public perception of crisis response on Chinese food safety issues? However, the ethnicity itself is not the only reason influencing the perception of the audience. Both the United States and China are multi-­‐ethnic countries, and the cultural background influences of each ethnicity should be considered in this research. To shape this study more rigorously, another key question is: R.Q.2: How do the same ethnic background influences target audience perception? Another purpose of this study was to investigate consumers’ attitude toward China 20 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO food safety from a global perspective. As discussed in the literature review, food safety was, is, and will continue to be the most significant topic in the global market. So the study evaluated the general attitude to provide reference for Chinese organizations especially in food industry. R.Q.3: What is the U.S. audiences’ general attitude on food safety issues related to China? METHOD In this study, I used an experiment to determine how the ethnicity of the spokesperson, compared with the ethnicity of consumer, influences the public perception in a crisis situation. This experiment used a 2 (Spokesperson ethnicity: Chinese and American) × 2 (Participant ethnicity: Chinese and American) factorial design. Stimuli Two news reports were developed using Microsoft Word, and the profile photos for each spokesperson were edited using Adobe Photoshop. A single crisis scenario -­‐-­‐ a food safety crisis that happened to a Chinese restaurant chain -­‐-­‐ which was located in the U.S., was adopted in the both news reports. The fictional news story included the crisis process, the statement from the spokesperson, and the restaurant chain’s profile. According to SCCT, in the crisis scenario created in this experiment, the company was 21 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO the victim, and it was not directly responsible for this crisis, as the incident occurred internally at the hands of employees. The response strategy was rebuilding the reputation of the organization. There were two independent variables being manipulated in this study, including the ethnicity of the spokesperson and the ethnicity of the consumer. The experiment used a white American (the white race) spokesperson and a Chinese spokesperson with the same statement responding to the crisis. The ethnicities of spokespeople were experimentally manipulated, and experimental news stories with the spokespeople’s names (typical White American and Chinese names which were in bold font to highlight the difference) and profile photos were created. According to the data from the U.S. Census Bureau (State & County QuickFacts, 2012), 77.9 percent of U.S. population were white people, who were defined as “people have origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa,” so an American middle-­‐aged white male was used as American spokesperson. The Chinese spokesperson was a middle-­‐aged Chinese male. Two independent variables resulted in four experimental conditions: a Chinese spokesperson responding to a crisis with American participants was used to test (Condition 1). A Chinese spokesperson responding to a crisis with Chinese participants were used to test (Condition 2). A white American spokesperson responding to a crisis with American participants were used to test (Condition 3). A white American spokesperson responding to a crisis with Chinese participants were used to test 22 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO (Condition 4), like the following figure shows: SPOKESPERSON American (white race) Chinese Chinese Condition 1 Condition 2 American Condition 3 Condition 4 PARTICIPANTS The dependent variable, which is the target audiences’ perception of crisis response, was measured in this study by questionnaires with five aspects, including effectiveness of statement, credibility of spokesperson, effectiveness of the apology, influence on sale, and influence on attendance. This research aimed to assess the relationship between different variables. I used an experiment as the method to answer my research question, because experiments can establish cause and effect (Wimmer, 2012). Additionally, although crises are common issues today, it is still difficult to find similar organizations and situations that can be compared to each other appropriately. Therefore, the experimental method could offer me “reasonable comparison” based on fictional crisis stories, and allowed the research to be controlled effectively and efficiently. Participant Recruitment The participants included Chinese college students temporarily living in the United States on F-­‐1 (academic student) visas, and American college students who are U.S. 23 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO citizens living in the U.S. now. Participants’ ethnic identities were identified by pre-­‐questions. A convenience sample (snowball sampling) was used in this research, and participants were selected among college students, who were aged 18-­‐30 and were not in media-­‐related majors in the United States. I selected these participants for three reasons. First, most college students who have received a high school education are qualified to provide fair evaluations and judgments to common issues. Second, I excluded students whose major is in communication media, because the fictional experimental scenarios can be invalid to them. Finally, the ethnic diversity in college contributed to the validity of this experiment. The recruitment notices were distributed via email, social media, and text message. Interested participants could contact me by email as well. To encourage participants to fill out the questionnaire, small gifts were provided to the first and the last participants in each group. Procedures To confirm that interested participants met the recruitment criteria, the basic information including gender, age, and education was inquired first via social media. Participants were encouraged to share the questionnaire with their friends. The questionnaires were created and distributed via Qualtrics. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions by using a random number generator in Excel, and the ethnicity of the spokesperson was manipulated by providing participants different news 24 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO stories with pictures, which describe the fictional crisis in detail. The informed consent was displayed on the first page of all questionnaires. The main dependent variables were the extent to how participants evaluate the crisis response, spokesperson, and the organization. These variables were measured with a questionnaire that was administered following exposure to the fictitious news reports. Participants were asked to indicate how favorable they felt toward the spokesperson’s response and whether the reputation of the organization had been damaged on a 5-­‐point Likert scale. Questions about demographic and background information, as well as potential influence factors, such as (the frequency of going Chinese restaurants and the preferences on China) were also included in the questionnaire for references and future research. RESULTS SPSS was used to clarify data and cross-­‐tabulate between related data points. 162 individuals began the questionnaire, and a total of 95 valid responses were collected via Qualtrics. The following sections were structured to investigate the demographic of respondents, similarities and differences within the conditions, and the respondents’ general attitudes toward Chinese food safety. General Demographic of Participants The respondents of four conditions consisted of 58 female and 37 female; 48.4 25 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO percent of participants were born between 1992 and 1989; 34.7 percent of them were born between 1995 and 1993, and 16.8 percent of them were born after 1989. The following figures (Chart 1-­‐3) provide breakdown of participants by gender and age. Chart 1: Gender Distribution
Male 39% Male Female Female 61% Chart 2: Age Distribution
29 & more 8% 26-­‐28 9% 18-­‐21 35% 22-­‐25 48% 18-­‐21 22-­‐25 26-­‐28 29 & more The ethnicity of all the respondents in Chinese-­‐participant-­‐only conditions (Condition 1 & 2) is Asian. In the other conditions, 80 percent of American participants defined themselves as “White/Caucasian,” which corresponds with the current race distribution in the United States (77.8%)4. Two respondents who chose more than one ethnic identity were classified as mixed-­‐races. Chart 3 showed the proportion of each ethnicity group. 4 U.S.A. QuickFacts: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html 26 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Hispanic/
Latino 8% Other 8% White Mixed-­‐races 4% Black 6% Black Mixed-­‐races White 74% Hispanic/Latino Other Chart 3: Ethnicity Distribution
Comparison Between Conditions To answer R.Q.1, four 1. N=26 2. N=24 comparisons between different conditions were conducted. The 3. N=18 4. N=27 perceptions of participants with the same ethnicity in different crisis scenario (condition 1 &3; condition 2 & 4) were compared by the mean value, Chart 4: Comparison Schematic Plot as well as the perception of participants with different ethnicities in same crisis scenario (condition 1& 2; condition 3&4). The results were shown in the following charts: 27 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Different participant group with same spokesperson Chart 5 below shows the result of the comparison between American participants and Chinese participants both of whom had read the same news story with the white spokesperson. According to the mean value of each answer within the Likert scale, the perceptions of Chinese participants are much more positive than American participants’ in every perspective. Chart 5: White Spokesperson Scenario NEGATIVE
POSITIVE
Inuluence on attendance Inuluence on sale Effectiveness of the apology Credibility of spokesperson Effectiveness of Statement 0 0.5 1 American Participants 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Chinese Participants However, Chart 6 shows that in the Chinese spokesperson scenario the perceptions of white participants are more positive than Chinese participants’ except for the questions about the influence on attendance and sale. 28 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Chart 6: Chinese Spokesperson Scenario
NEGATIVE
POSITIVE
Inuluence on attendance Inuluence on sale Effectiveness of the apology Credibility of spokesperson Effectiveness of Statement 0 0.5 1 American Participants 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Chinese Participants Same participant group with different spokespersons The following charts show how respondents with the same ethnicity responded separately to different spokespersons. For American participants, the attitudes were more positive when they were exposed to news story with the Chinese spokesperson. All the answers indicated American participants’ positive perception toward the Chinese spokesperson, and the biggest difference showed in the effectiveness of the apology (M=3.5 Vs. M=3.27). However, in the two Chinese participant groups, the respondents evaluated the news story with the American spokesperson more positively in most of the questions. Except for the question about the effectiveness of apology, the American spokesperson’s response was more effective among Chinese participants. The results are shown in Chart 8 below. 29 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Chart 7: American Participants
4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Effectiveness of Statement Credibility of spokesperson Effectiveness of Inuluence on sale the apology Chinese Spokesperson Inuluence on attendance American Spokesperson Chart 8: Chinese Participants
4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Effectiveness of Statement Credibility of spokesperson Effectiveness of Inuluence on sale the apology Chinese Spokesperson 30 Inuluence on attendance American Spokesperson THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Significant Differences Four Independent t tests were conducted with different crisis scenarios and different groups of participants. The result indicated that there was no significant difference between Chinese participant groups. As Table 1 shows, there is no significant difference between Chinese participants who were shown the American spokesperson and the Chinese spokesperson. Table 1 Chinese Participants Chinese Spokesperson & American Spokesperson Total Chinese Total American Spokesperson Spokesperson Scenario N=24 Scenario N=26 M SD M SD Effectiveness of 3.08 1.14 3.58 0.99 Statement Credibility of 2.96 1.08 3.19 0.69 Spokesperson Effectiveness of 3.50 1.06 3.27 1.00 Apology Influence on Sale 2.75 1.19 2.92 0.84 Influence on 3.79 1.10 3.81 0.63 Attendance t df p 1.64 48 0.11 0.92 48 0.36 -­‐0.79 48 0.43 0.60 48 0.55 0.06 48 0.95 Table 2 shows that there were two significant differences in American participants’ scores for the Chinese Spokesperson and the American spokesperson on the question of the effectiveness of apology and the influence sale. 31 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Table 2 American Participants Chinese Spokesperson & American Spokesperson Total Chinese Total American Spokesperson Spokesperson Scenario N=27 Scenario N=18 M SD M SD Effectiveness of 3.70 0.87 3.33 1.28 Statement Credibility of 3.30 0.82 3.11 0.83 Spokesperson Effectiveness of 3.81 0.96 3.17 0.99 Apology Influence on Sale 2.59 0.84 1.83 0.71 Influence on 2.56 1.09 2.44 0.92 Attendance (* Significant difference, p value < 0.05) t df p -­‐1.16 43 0.25 -­‐0.74 43 0.47 -­‐2.19 43 0.03* -­‐3.15 43 0.00* -­‐0.36 43 0.72 According to Table 3 below, comparing Chinese and American participants who were shown the same crisis scenario with the Chinese spokesperson, significant differences exist in the perceptions of statement effectiveness as well as attendance impact. Table 3 Chinese Spokesperson Scenario Chinese Participants & American Participants Total Chinese Total American Participants Participants N=24 N=27 M SD M SD Effectiveness of 3.08 1.14 3.70 0.87 Statement Credibility of 2.96 1.08 3.30 0.82 Spokesperson Effectiveness of 3.50 1.06 3.81 0.96 Apology Influence on Sale 2.75 1.19 2.59 0.84 Influence on 3.79 1.10 2.56 1.09 Attendance (* Significant difference, p value < 0.05) 32 T df p -­‐2.20 49 0.03* -­‐1.26 49 0.21 -­‐1.11 49 0.27 0.55 49 0.59 4.03 49 0.00* THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO As the following Table 4 shows, among respondents who had the American spokesperson as the stimulus, there were two significant differences in audiences’ perceptions of influence on sale and attendance. Table 4 American Spokesperson Scenario Chinese Participants & American Participants Total Chinese Total American Participants Participants N=26 N=18 M SD M SD Effectiveness of 3.58 0.99 3.33 1.28 Statement Credibility of 3.19 0.69 3.11 0.83 Spokesperson Effectiveness of 3.27 1.00 3.17 0.99 Apology Influence on Sale 2.92 0.84 1.83 0.71 Influence on 3.81 0.63 2.44 0.92 Attendance (* Significant difference, p value < 0.07) T df p 0.71 42 0.48 0.35 42 0.73 0.34 42 0.74 4.49 42 0.00* 5.82 42 0.00* General Attitude towards Chinese Food Safety Overall, the participants of the experiment showed neutral to slightly Chart 9: General Attitude of Chinese Food Safety 9% 16% 22% negative attitudes towards Chinese food safety, since 37 percent 33 Strongly agree 32% 21% Agree Neither Disagree THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statement: “I think China has serious food safety issues ” and 31 percent of them disagreed or strongly disagreed. DISCUSSION This study considered how cross-­‐cultural crisis communication spokesperson strategies affect perceptions of Chinese firms in the U.S. by examining the interactional effects of spokesperson and audience ethnicity in a food safety context. Comparisons of conditions with the same spokesperson showed the differences between audiences with different ethnicity. Otherwise, comparisons within the same ethnic group indicated the difference that was caused by different ethnicities of spokespeople. Consequently, data analysis associated with R.Q.1 updated previous studies on the effects of spokesperson’s ethnicity in crisis communications. The research indicated the trends of people believing in out-­‐group spokesperson some time. Inconsistent with previous research on Social Identity Theory, this study found evidence of the trend that an audience’s perception was more positive to the spokesperson whose ethnicity was different with them. Specifically, Chinese audiences showed a more positive attitude towards American white spokespersons and American audiences considered Chinese spokespersons in a more positive light (Chart 1-­‐4) in general. The ethnicity impacted most aspects of the audience’s perception mildly, thus similar to the findings from previous research; however, this study also found that the spokesperson’s ethnicity strongly affected audiences’ perception of the crisis response’s 34 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO effectiveness. Furthermore, compared with Chinese audiences, American audiences were affected more obviously by the spokesperson’s ethnicity. The results indicated that different spokesperson strategies in different countries might be a reason to explain the perception difference. Almost 30 years ago, Reidenbach and Pitts (1986) indicated the trends at that time in advertising and marketing was the use of the CEO as the organization’s spokesperson and its products/service in the United States. The use of the CEO as an organization spokesperson was and is popular in the U.S. due to the credibility of the individual involved and impact of the CEO as an endorser of the company. Currently, the spokesperson strategy of adopting the CEO (top-­‐executive) as spokesperson to response crisis has become a part of American social/business norm. Therefore, this capstone speculated that the social/business norm, which can influence the ethnic background, affected audience perception. That could be one of the reasons why an American audience believed in Chinese spokesperson more: in the fictional scenario, it was more reasonable for a Chinese firm to have its Chinese CEO as the spokesperson. However, as predicted in this study, Chinese audience’s ethnic identity did interact with their perception of the influence on sale and future attendance. Unlike differences in other evaluating perspectives, these two aspects mentioned above were more related to the audience’s ethnic and cultural background. Such results implicated the in-­‐group similarities in SIT. For the crisis scenario in the food industry, Chinese audiences 35 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO responded more positive to in-­‐group content, in which Chinese food had the same ethnicity with them. Additionally, the result might be explained with consumer ethnocentrism, which was a psycho-­‐sociological concept relevant at both individual and social or cultural levels (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). Consumer ethnocentrism referred to consumer standpoints regarding the appropriateness and morality of purchasing products made abroad. The results of this research indicated that consumer ethnocentrism, with specific emphasis on food preference, might make a Chinese audience have a higher possibility to go and consume in the restaurant chain again regardless other factors. Chinese food was an exception though their attitudes were more negative from all the other perspectives. R.Q.2 was concerned about more than the construct of the spokesperson itself, but pointed out that ethnic identity should include cultural background related to the country. R.Q.3 asked about the overall evaluation of audience (both American and Chinese) regarding Chinese food safety. The results of this capstone also indicated that the general attitude of Chinese food safety was more positive than what has been framed in the media. The largest proportion of the audience showed a positive attitude, defined as “neutral” on the survey, toward Chinese food safety. For Chinese firms in the food industry, the result meant both challenges and opportunities. 36 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO CONCLUSION In 2013, at the Third Plenum in Beijing, China, the Central Committee changed its description of the role markets play in resources allocation from “basic” to “decisive.”5 For Chinese companies, this change means that a greater emphasis on public opinion is expected in the near future. More and more Chinese firms launched in the U.S. market due to more freedom in the business area. However, a Chinese company’s development in the U.S. has never been smooth. As a reference for multinational Chinese companies and organizations that have plans to launch western markets, this study aimed to explore the relationship between the ethnicity of spokesperson, the ethnicity of audience, and the perception of the public in a crisis scenario. The study also examined the effects of ethnic/cultural background in crisis response, and the general perception of audience about Chinese food safety. Situational Crisis Communication Theory, Social Identity Theory and qualitative experiments informed the actual study. The main findings of this research showed that the ethnicities of spokesperson and audience influence the audience differently from our imagination. Both social norm and the standard communication strategy have become a part of the ethnic culture. For Chinese firms that are launching or will launch in the U.S. market, choosing the same spokesperson strategy – adopting the CEO (top-­‐level executive) as the 5 China switches markets' role from basic to decisive: http://english.cntv.cn/program/bizasia/20131114/101591.shtml 37 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO organization’s spokesperson – might be the most appropriate choice for them to increase credibility and effectiveness in crisis response. Nevertheless, the premise of this solution is to strengthen media training for the CEOs and to improve their communication abilities as spokespeople. The findings of this research also indicated that for Chinese firms aimed at raising brand awareness and consumer base in the U.S. market, more specific, workable, and customized pre-­‐research and situational analysis was required. For media and communication professionals, it was necessary to have more communications with experts from other countries and industries. Meanwhile, globalization also requires communication agencies to adjust their human recourse: more bi-­‐cultural communicators (not translators) are needed. The limitations of this capstone focused on the restrictions of time and fund for a larger sample size. For future research, more participants should be able to be surveyed, and more significant differences might be found this way. Also this research didn’t use the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) as a theoretical framework but ethnicities of spokespersons are certainly a kind of cue, and present the information from the peripheral route. Here we only focus on these parts and control the argument of crisis response identically. However, different spokespersons of different ethnicities may use particular arguments to match the audiences’ social identities in order to enhance the perception from audience in a positive manner. Despite the limitations, this study provides insight regarding the use of a 38 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO spokesperson that match the ethnicity of the organization in a crisis communication setting. To have more solid results, future study can explore the relationship between the ethnicity of spokesperson, the ethnicity of audience, and the public perception in crisis scenario that are based on different locations for multi-­‐national firms with different origins. White or yellow? It’s not a choice of appearance; it’s about culture and the entire ethnic background behind the spokesperson and organization itself. 39 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO APPENDICES Introductory Statement: Consent Thank you for your time and patience to complete this survey. Your feedback is important and valuable for us to evaluate the crisis response. Your responses are confidential. This survey should only take about 15 minutes of your time. If you have any questions please contact Maggie Hao at dh7392a@american.student.edu Please click the Next button if you are full-­‐time college student and at least 18 years old. This participation is voluntary and you can stop at any time you want. Please identify your major: 1o Arts-­‐Related Majors 2o Science and Math-­‐Related Majors 3o Environment-­‐Related Majors 4o Business-­‐Related Majors 5o Engineering and Technology Majors 6o Literature and Language Majors 7o Media and Communication Majors [IF CHECKED THIS CHOICE, A MESSAGE WILL POP UP: Your participation in this study is now complete. This study is about a topic in the communication field and is for students who are not media and communication majors. Thank you for your time and patience.] 8o Other _________ 40 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Experimental Stimuli Study participants will be randomly assigned to receive one of the following 2 brief news reports with a profile of the spokesperson: Condition 1&3: White Spokesperson CHINESE POPULAR RESTAURANT IN L.A. TRIED TO REGAIN ITS REPUTATION IN THE U.S. Hunter Clark, Spokesperson of Haidilao Hotpot Restaurant Chain, Apologized (Los Angeles, C.A.) Popular Haidilao hotpot restaurant chain has issued a statement in defense of its reputation as it faces a credibility crisis over the authenticity of its food sanitation. The chain has 34 restaurants in the U.S., which mainly located in the West Coast. Last week, the popular spicy food restaurant chain came under fire after one of Haidilao employees posted nauseating image of someone dipping a dirty dish towel into the hotpot soup on her Facebook, with the caption, “Enjoy it, dear consumers. I will never eat this kind of stuff”. The post has been widely spread soon. 41 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO On Monday, the spokesperson of Haidilao restaurant in L.A., Hunter Clark, has issued an apology after the crisis emerged in the briefing meeting. He clarified that the soup in the photo was made by the employee himself with kitchen waste, and the soup was never served to any consumer. He also said that the employee involved behaved inappropriately. Here is the statement he made: “On behalf of the whole Haidilao restaurant chain, I sincerely apologize for this incident. Here, we want to thank members of the online community who alerted us immediately. Although it’s a hoax made by individual, we take the problem considerably seriously. This controversy at Haidilao show that adequately trained staff, food sanitation and transparency about food ingredients and products are still the major elements needed to form a solid foundation for a beverage business, especially for Chinese international firms. We will continue work hard on it.” Sichuan Haidilao Catering Co. Ltd was founded in 1994. It serves mainly Sichuan style hotpot while mixing the pick of other style hot pot. The chain of 75 Chinese eateries completed its first foray into the U.S. market at September 2013 in C.A. 42 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Condition 2&4: Chinese Spokesperson CHINESE POPULAR RESTAURANT IN L.A. TRIED TO REGAIN ITS REPUTATION IN THE U.S. Wei Zhang, Spokesperson of Haidilao Hotpot Restaurant Chain, Apologized (Los Angeles, C.A.) Popular Haidilao hotpot restaurant chain has issued a statement in defense of its reputation as it faces a credibility crisis over the authenticity of its food sanitation. The chain has 34 restaurants in the U.S., which mainly located in the West Coast. Last week, the popular spicy food restaurant chain came under fire after one of Haidilao employees posted nauseating image of someone dipping a dirty dish towel into the hotpot soup on her Facebook, with the caption, “Enjoy it, dear consumers. I will never eat this kind of stuff”. The post has been widely spread soon. On Monday, the spokesperson of Haidilao restaurant in L.A., Wei Zhang, has issued an apology after the crisis emerged in the briefing meeting. He clarified that the soup in the photo was made by the employee himself with kitchen waste, and the soup was never 43 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO served to any consumer. He also said that the employee involved behaved inappropriately. Here is the statement he made: “On behalf of the whole Haidilao restaurant chain, I sincerely apologize for this incident. Here, we want to thank members of the online community who alerted us immediately. Although it’s a hoax made by individual, we take the problem considerably seriously. This controversy at Haidilao show that adequately trained staff, food sanitation and transparency about food ingredients and products are still the major elements needed to form a solid foundation for a beverage business, especially for Chinese international firms. We will continue work hard on it.” Sichuan Haidilao Catering Co. Ltd was founded in 1994. It serves mainly Sichuan style hotpot while mixing the pick of other style hot pot. The chain of 75 Chinese eateries completed its first foray into the U.S. market at September 2013 in C.A. 44 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO Post-­‐Stimulus Questionnaire Now here are a few questions for you to get your opinions about the news story you just read. There are no right or wrong answers. I’m just interested in your thoughts. Thank you. For questions 1-­‐8, please check the most appropriate option for each statement that corresponds most closely to your opinion. 1. I think the Chinese Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Disagree Agree 1 2 3 4 5 restaurant effectively responded to the crisis 2. I think the statement provided by the restaurant is clear and appropriate 3. I believe what the spokesperson said is the truth 4. I think the spokesperson did a good job as a crisis responder 5. I will accept the firm’s apology 6. I think the restaurant’s sale will not be negatively impacted 45 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO 7. I will try Chinese hot pot in Haidilao if I have an opportunity in the future. 8. I think China has serious food safety issues 9. How many times have you eaten Chinese food in the last month? 1o None 2o 1-­‐2 3o 3-­‐4 4o 5-­‐6 5o More than 7 10. Have you been to Chinese restaurant in the U.S. before? 1o Yes 2o No 11. Have you been to Chinese hot pot restaurant in the U.S. before? 1o Yes 2o No 12. Have you been to Haidilao hot pot restaurant before? 1o Yes 2o No 13. Have you been to China before? (For Non-­‐Chinese Participant ONLY) 1o Yes 2o No Demographic questions 14. What is your age? 1o 18-­‐21 years old 46 THE EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY IN OVERSEAS CRISIS SCENARIO 2o 22-­‐25 years old 3o 26-­‐28 years old 4o 29 years old or older 15. Are you male or female? 1o Male 2o Female 16. Which of the following categories describe your race/ethnicity? 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