The role of public relations in crisis management at Saudi Aramco company (Analytical study: Aramco's communication efforts to confront the climate change crisis)

Abstract

Abstract: Context and Background: Climate change has evolved from an incidental environmental issue into a persistent creeping crisis, fundamentally threatening the operational legitimacy and existential future of the global fossil fuel sector. Saudi Aramco, as the world’s largest crude oil producer and a primary pillar of the Saudi economy, serves as the focal case study for this research. The organization operates at the epicenter of a complex rhetorical arena, facing intense international pressure that holds the oil sector accountable for transboundary environmental degradation, thereby subjecting its corporate reputation to perpetual global scrutiny. Research Problem: Despite the systemic impact of creeping crises, crisis communication literature remains disproportionately focused on sudden, episodic events. A critical scholarly oversight is the reliance on Western-centric communication theories primarily the (SCCT) Theory and the SMCS model to explain organizational responses in non-Western contexts. This theoretical parochialism ignores the cultural, religious, and institutional specificities of the Middle East, raising an urgent question: can Western frameworks effectively interpret the responses of National Oil Companies (NOCs) that are inextricably linked to national sovereignty and collective cultural identity. Aims and Objectives: This thesis evaluates Saudi Aramco's crisis communication strategies during the climate change crisis (2013–2025). It aims to assess the applicability of SCCT and the SMCS model in the Middle East, identify unique, culturally nuanced strategies that emerge from this context, and analyze the framing contestation between Saudi and UK media discourse. Methodology and Research Design: Grounded in critical realism, this study employs a longitudinal qualitative case study design. Utilizing Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA), the research adopts a triangulation approach across two massive datasets: a deductive analysis of 10,380 official Aramco posts on X and an inductive analysis of 13,442 news articles from prominent Saudi and UK newspapers. The study’s 13-year scope is partitioned into three strategic phases 2013–2015 (Boiling Point), 2016–2020 (Legislative Framing), and 2021–2025 (Net Zero Acceleration) to capture the evolution of narrative and strategy. Rigor was maintained through inter-coder reliability testing and a pilot study to ensure valid thematic abstraction of latent meanings. Key Findings: The analysis reveals a radical transformation in Aramco’s communicative trajectory. The organization moved from defensive justification and denial (2013–2015) to proactive, leadership-oriented strategies aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 (2020–2025). Crucially, the study identifies that Aramco did not solely rely on Western templates. Instead, it successfully integrated three unique, hybrid strategies: the Patriotism Strategy (mergingcorporate identity with national sovereignty as a protective shield), the Community Building and Development Strategy (transcending traditional CSR to build structural trust), and the Boasting of Competence Strategy (an innovative alternative to the SCCT Apology strategy, utilizing technical legacy to claim epistemic authority). Furthermore, a sharp framing contest was observed: while Saudi media employed Patriotism Journalism to reinforce corporate legitimacy, the UK press escalated from financial skepticism to aggressive narratives of Greenwashing and Sportswashing, highlighting a fundamental clash of agendas. Conclusion and Significance: This study concludes that Western crisis communication theories require an explanatory expansion to incorporate cultural variables specifically patriotism and collective loyalty as independent communication variables within crisis models. The thesis offers an unprecedented understanding of how NOCs navigate environmental pressures by linking national economic goals with global ethical expectations. Theoretically, the study introduces Boasting of Competence as a viable alternative to apology in high-context cultures. Professionally, it recommends that firms facing climate-related skepticism move beyond rhetorical defense, adopting independent third-party auditing and Costly Signals (as proposed by Marschlich and Hurtado, 2025) to overcome the transparency paradox, thereby shifting the organization from a position of insincere claims to one of recognized, authentic environmental leadership.