In this case study, I focus on Berlin’s BVG (public transport provider), who overcame asevere online firestorm in reaction to their marketing campaign centered around the slogan “Weil wir dich lieben “ (because we love you) in January 2015. Through a content analysis of the BVG’s Twitter feed in January 2015 (during the firestorm) and January 2016 (after the firestorm), I aim to determine how crisis communication strategies were employed by the BVG and what role humor played in their communication on Twitter. My approach to this topic is very much rooted in a rhetorical/ text-based theory of both crisis communication and humor, focusing exclusively on tweets authored by the BVG and analyzing each tweet’s content regardless of its context.My results indicate that humor is employed in the majority of the BVG’s tweets both duringthe crisis and after, a practice that may have helped reduce the perceived severity of the initial cause for the online firestorm. The use of humor in direct response to the crisis is more cautious than after the crisis, showing that despite its newfound jovial image, the BVG in no way underestimated the severity of the crisis situation. Furthermore, the BVG’s Twitter communication is shown to be highly interactive and conducted in a conversational tone. This indicates that the BVG uses their Twitter account to engage with their customers in a friendly and open conversation, building stronger relationships and ultimately creating a network of support, which can be useful both for marketing purposes and as a deterrent for future communication crises.This study can be seen as a small addition to crisis communication and humor research as well as research into online marketing. For future research the framework and methodology may need to be expanded to more widely assess how humor could be employed to overcome negativity online and especially face organizational crises such as online firestorms.

在這網路發達的世界，電子口碑(electronic word of mouth)一直以來都是學術界研究的重點。電子口碑分成正面跟負面，尤其以負面電子口碑備受關注，因為這會帶給企業難以估計的傷害。而在2014年，開始有學者提出了網路風暴(online firestorm)的新名詞，描述在現代社群網路下，負面口碑在網路上突然大量流傳的現象。 關於網路風暴的文獻相當少，但在台灣2014年舉辦的九合一選舉中，可以看出網路風暴對選情的影響之大，我們觀察到某些候選人可以藉由應對來有效控制情勢，但有些回應卻會讓負面口碑風暴越趨惡化，因此我們想要探究這之間的問題所在。所以本研究首先透過文獻了解口碑風暴的定義，從而利用文獻推斷出口碑風暴形成過程。並以Google Trend設計出衡量口碑風暴的方式，以此找出選舉中符合口碑風暴標準的負面口碑案例。之後把案例分成三種情境，每種情境以兩個不同候選人的個案為例，把從Opview收集到的負面口碑資料套用在設計出的公式裡來判斷選舉人的應對有效與否。選舉人的應對則會利用Benoit印象修復理論來做進一步說明。最後，由於此篇研究是以選舉中的口碑風暴為主，因此我們會把選舉中的口碑風暴與傳統商業中的口碑風暴做比較，來看兩者間有何不同或相同之處。 / During the political election period in Taiwan in Nov. 2014, this study observed significant effects caused by online firestorms: some candidates used appropriate responses to mitigate their effects or minimize the harm, some turned negative into positive support of their brand, but some candidates were unable to manage the crisis and lost their brand value. To date, few studies have noted the importance of negative WOM (NWOM) management in political election campaigns. Nor have studies noted the effects of online firestorms on brand value. This study undertakes research to seek answers to the following research questions: What is the uniqueness of online firestorms in a political election? And, how do candidates respond the online firestorm to retain brand value? This study initially reviewed the literature on negative WOM and online firestorm, and consolidated these studies to formulate the forming process of an online firestorm. Then the study classified online political election firestorm cases into three categories including fault, defect, and counterforce slander, and analyzed the best responses in each situation. Next, the study applied Google Trend to measure the online firestorm and referred image restoration theory to form an understanding of the response of a brand manager. The study results show that for fault situation, the most useful strategies seem to be mortification, minimization the offensive feeling, and ignoring to respond to most offensive accusations. For defect situation, the most used strategies are insisting the main opinion and using attack strategy to evade the most offensive accusations. Last, for counterforce slander situation, most candidates used full denial, blame shifting and accuser attack strategies to prove their innocence. Finally, the study further distinguished the difference between conventional business online firestorm and political elections online firestorm from several angles which include: online firestorm targets, causes, consumer reactions, initiatives, effects and dissemination.

口碑一直以為都是企業行銷的重要利器，而同時也是要害之一，且隨著網路的發達和社群網路的發展，對企業的影響也越來越大。而近幾年在媒體中開始出現一個新名詞，用來形容負面口碑在社群媒體中傳播的現象-線上口碑風暴(Online Firestorm)。 線上口碑風暴的相關研究相當的稀少，而在許多口碑的相關研究中也未多著墨，但隨著社群媒體的發展，此現象已越來越普遍，因此有研究探討的價值，所以在本研究中將先定義出線上口碑風暴，並以Google搜尋趨勢設計出測量線上口碑風暴的方式，以利將其從負面口碑的傳播分辨出來，並利用這樣的方法找出六個線上口碑風暴的個案來進行研究，配合Coombs的印象修復理論來進一步分析。 研究結果發現，可以將線上口碑風暴依成因分成「過去不好的服務或產品體驗」、「錯誤的時機情境」和「不適當的聲明或宣傳」，而各類別的最佳回應策略在文中有詳細講述。另外，當企業使用的回應策略越多時，線上口碑風暴持續的時間就可能越久。影響線上口碑風暴的因素有很多，經本研究的討論分析後，發現「負面訊息傳播的平台」、「回應策略的運用」和「企業的規模和性質」為最會影響線上口碑風暴的因素。 / Word-of-Mouth (WOM) has been a major marketing tool to the enterprise, but could also be one of its threats. With the development of the Internet and social networks, the impact of WOM on enterprises is also growing. In recent years, the rapid propagation of negative Word-of-Mouth in social media has gained much attention in media and is named “Online Firestorm.” Academic studies about Online Firestorm are rare, and researchers of Word-of-Mouth have not investigated it. Giving the development of social media, this phenomenon has become increasingly common. Therefore it is important for companies to know and better handle it and for researchers to investigate this new issue. In this study, we will define and measure Online Firestorm though Google Trends. We will also collect data from six cases and analyze how different responding strategies may result in different outcomes. Research found that Online Firestorm can be categorized into “past bad service or prouduct experience”, “bad timing scenarios” and “inappropriate statements or propaganda” according to the causes of the storm. The best response strategies to all kinds are described in the text. In addition, when used more response strategies, Online Firestorm duration may longer. There are many factors affecting the Online Firestorm, after the discussion and analysis found that "negative information dissemination platform", "the using of response strategies" and "the scale and nature of the enterprises" and as the factors that most likely to affect the Online Firestorm.