Optimised crisis communication after attacks with Islamist background in Germany (OKAI)

The OKAI project applied approaches from crisis communication research to examine how Muslim associations in Germany respond to Islamist attacks. The central question was how these organisations might improve their responses to terrorism in order to mitigate negative public perceptions.

The most widely used framework in this field, the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), shows that an organisation’s response to a crisis – particularly when it is not responsible for the crisis itself – can significantly influence its reputation. The OKAI project treated terrorist attacks as a form of crisis and sought to apply SCCT principles to this context, a perspective that has so far received little attention in existing research.

In the first phase, the project analysed how Muslim organisations in Germany currently communicate after such attacks. The findings revealed a highly varied landscape: while some associations respond regularly and to almost all incidents, many smaller organisations issue few or no statements at all. When they do respond, Muslim associations often emphasise society’s collective responsibility and frequently draw on religious references in their messaging.

Building on this analysis, the researchers explored ways to improve these responses. Through a series of eye-tracking and online experiments involving several thousand participants, the team examined whether and how public attitudes towards Muslim associations, Muslims in general, and Islam as a religion are influenced by such statements.

The findings demonstrate the benefits of active crisis communication. When a Muslim association issued a public response to an Islamist attack, attitudes towards both the organisation and, in some cases, Muslims more broadly tended to be more favourable. The most negative reactions were observed when participants were told that an association had been asked to comment but declined. In contrast, the differences between various communication styles were relatively minor.

The project discussed its findings with Muslim associations and developed concrete recommendations to support their public communication strategies following attacks. The results have so far been published in three specialist articles in English.