Advancing Crisis READINESS in a Global Context: Exploring Theoretical Development and Adaptation of Crisis Communication in Asia

ABSTRACT This study investigates theoretical developments in crisis communication within the Asian context and examines how these contributions inform and expand global understandings of crisis READINESS. Drawing on a comprehensive review of 125 empirical studies published between 1995 and 2025 in leading communication journals, it explores the application, adaptation and innovation of theoretical frameworks in Asian crisis scholarship. While foundational theories, such as situational crisis communication theory and image repair theory, remain influential, research in the Asian context has increasingly contextualized and extended these frameworks to reflect region‐specific sociopolitical, cultural and media environments. Through a READINESS‐guided content analysis, the findings identify opportunities to more fully align prevailing patterns in Asian research with core READINESS dimensions, particularly in emotional leadership, team‐level coordination and crisis spillover. Highlighting the need for a more conceptually integrated and culturally grounded approach to crisis communication, this study proposes a forward‐looking research agenda that synthesizes Asian crisis contexts with the multidimensional READINESS framework to advance global crisis communication theory and practice.