From Reaction to Position: A Framing Model of Brand Responses in the Digital Environment

Abstract

This study examines public brand responses in the digital environment as a form of strategic communication based on framing rather than as isolated reactive actions. Drawing on framing theory and contemporary research in crisis and reputational communication, the article assumes that the systematic use of stable response frames enables organizations to manage reputational tension and maintain communicative subjectivity under conditions of continuous public visibility on social media. Method. The empirical material consists of anonymized public interactions between a Ukrainian brand with international presence and its audiences on social media platforms, including responses to comments from end consumers, professional communities, and B2B stakeholders. Using a qualitative, inductive research design, the study applies framing analysis to retrospectively collected practice-based data. Communicative stimuli were classified, and recurring logics of public responses were reconstructed and conceptualized as strategic response frames. The results identify several recurrent types of public inquiries that generate reputational tension, such as misinformation, delegitimization attempts, emotional dissatisfaction, integrity-related doubts, and demands for authenticity and transparency, and demonstrate a stable correspondence between these inquiry types and dominant response frames. The findings indicate that public responses function not only reactively but also as sense-making mechanisms that structure the interpretive field around the brand. The study contributes to crisis and strategic communication theory by extending event-driven reactive models toward a continuous framing perspective and offers practical implications for developing internal response protocols and communication playbooks in high-visibility and reputation-sensitive digital contexts.