Issues Management vs. Crisis Communication
- Oct 8, 2025
- 3 min read
Issues management is a strategic management tool that focuses on proaction instead of reaction in crisis communication. According to Gaunt and Ollenburger, the objective of issues management is to "identify emerging issues and respond to them before they become public knowledge" (Gaunt & Ollenburger, 1995, p. 201). Issues management directly correlates with public relations and practitioners' experience with navigating stakeholder relationships. Additionally, it can bring public relations into management decisions. According to Grunig and Grunig's excellence theory, the organization must empower public relations as a critical management function for it to contribute to organizational effectiveness (Grunig & Grunig, 2008). Issues management is one of the ways that public relations can make an organization excellent.
The Issue Lifecycle
In issue management, it is key to understand how issues develop. Crable and Vibbert (1985) introduced the issue lifecycle, explaining how issues develop.
Potential Status
Initial interest demonstrated by a person or group.
Imminent Status
The potential status is accepted by others, often through endorsements.
Current Status
The issue becomes a wide topic of conversation among the media, and concerned people or groups choose sides.
Critical Stage
Concerned groups exert pressure for a desired outcome, demanding policy action.
Dormant Stage
The issue appears resolved, but public issues never seem to fully die or can be resurrected.
Crisis Communication
Issues management aims to eliminate the possibility of an outrage by watching the status of the issue closely and responding quickly. In contrast, crisis communication deals with an issue after it has exploded in the media and has entered the critical stage. For example, American Eagle's campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney led to extreme backlash across social media and news media (D’Innocenzio, 2025). The ad featured the actress trying on jeans and the slogan "Sydney Sweeny has great jeans," which sparked a debate about race and Western beauty standards (D'Innocenzio, 2025). After the ad aired, the company’s chief marketing officer told media outlets that it included “clever, even provocative language” and was “going to push buttons" (D'Innocenzio, 2025).
Had a public relations professional been involved in management decisions, they could have utilized issue management and the issue life cycle to "predict" what issues would develop and how soon. It seems as though the CMO of American Eagle knew some backlash was inevitable and hoped it would be more publicity than the crisis that occurred. The crisis and need for crisis communication could have been completely avoided if American Eagle had practiced excellence in public relations by allowing PR into management decisions.
References
Crable, R., & Vibbert, S. (1985). Managing Issues and Influencing Public Policy. Public Relations Review, 11(2), 3-15. 10.1016/S0363-8111(82)80114-8
D'Innocenzio, A. (2025, July 31). American Eagle’s ‘good jeans’ ads with Sydney Sweeney spark a debate on race and beauty standards. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/american-eagle-sydney-sweeney-jeans-dunkin-e4d0cfade207d3b1e1b4e93531bfc082
D’Innocenzio, A. (2025, Aug. 1). American Eagle responds to critics over ad with Sydney Sweeney, saying it was always about the jeans. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/american-eagle-sydney-sweeney-353699aaaa0660d772b94cb33932a794
Gaunt, P. & Ollenburger, J. (1995). Issues Management Revisited: A Tool That Deserves Another Look. Public Relations Review, 21(3),199-210. 10.1016/0363-8111(95)90021-7
Grunig, J. E. & Grunig, L. A. (2008). Excellence Theory in Public Relations: Past, Present and Future. Public Relations Research. 10.1007/978-3-531-90918-9_22
Shin, J. & Heath, R. L. (2020). The Role of Public Relations Professionals and Leadership Challenges. Public relations theory: A skills-based and case-study approach (1st ed.). Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
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