Frozen Meat Against COVID-19 Misinformation: An Analysis of Steak-Umm and Positive Expectancy Violations

Ekaterina Bogomoletc; Nicole M. Lee

doi:10.1177/1050651920959187

Frozen Meat Against COVID-19 Misinformation: An Analysis of Steak-Umm and Positive Expectancy Violations

Ekaterina Bogomoletc, Nicole M. Lee

Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of (SSBS)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

COVID-19 has forced many businesses to adjust their communication strategies to fit a new reality. One surprising example of this strategy adjustment came from the company Steak-umm, maker of frozen sliced beef. Instead of finding new ways to promote its products, the company shifted its focus to the public’s urgent needs, breaking down possible approaches to navigating information flow during the pandemic. This resulted in overwhelming praise on social and news media, including almost 60,000 new Twitter followers within a week. Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this case study examines Steak-umm’s strategy, the content of social media responses, and why the approach was successful.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	118-125
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Volume	35
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920959187
State	Published - Jan 2021

Keywords

COVID-19
Twitter
brand communication
expectancy violation
misinformation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Business and International Management
Communication
Business, Management and Accounting(all)

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10.1177/1050651920959187

Cite this

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abstract = "COVID-19 has forced many businesses to adjust their communication strategies to fit a new reality. One surprising example of this strategy adjustment came from the company Steak-umm, maker of frozen sliced beef. Instead of finding new ways to promote its products, the company shifted its focus to the public{\textquoteright}s urgent needs, breaking down possible approaches to navigating information flow during the pandemic. This resulted in overwhelming praise on social and news media, including almost 60,000 new Twitter followers within a week. Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this case study examines Steak-umm{\textquoteright}s strategy, the content of social media responses, and why the approach was successful.",

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AB - COVID-19 has forced many businesses to adjust their communication strategies to fit a new reality. One surprising example of this strategy adjustment came from the company Steak-umm, maker of frozen sliced beef. Instead of finding new ways to promote its products, the company shifted its focus to the public’s urgent needs, breaking down possible approaches to navigating information flow during the pandemic. This resulted in overwhelming praise on social and news media, including almost 60,000 new Twitter followers within a week. Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this case study examines Steak-umm’s strategy, the content of social media responses, and why the approach was successful.

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Frozen Meat Against COVID-19 Misinformation: An Analysis of Steak-Umm and Positive Expectancy Violations

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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