Navigating autonomous vehicle crashes: The role of corporate communication in shaping public opinion

Effective crisis communication is crucial for shaping public perceptions and restoring trust in autonomous vehicles (AVs) after safety incidents. While previous research has drawn on social media to explore public acceptance and user intentions related to AVs, few studies have examined how corporate communication strategies can influence public opinion and mitigate reputational risks. The present study addresses this gap by adopting the dual perspective of organizations and consumers. First, it analyzes the corporate communication strategies adopted by Cruise LLC, a leading AV company, following a recent high-impact accident on X. Second, the study analyzes public comments on the company's communications using sentiment analysis and emotion detection with KNIME and R software and a content analysis performed on NVivo 14 to identify the main issues raised in the public debate. The results show that corporate communication strategies aligned with the evolving attribution of responsibility and crisis phase coincide with positive public sentiments and favorable emotions, such as trust and expectation. The online debate highlighted public concerns about innovation, trust, accountability, transparency, and security. Monitoring online discussions reveals relevant insights for mitigating the negative effects of a crisis by communicating transparently and empathetically with stakeholders to foster technological development. Therefore, this study offers useful recommendations for industry managers to implement effective crisis communication strategies and outlines policy directions to foster collaboration and coordination to handle this new technology.