Natarajan Meghanathan et al. (Eds) : CCSEA, NCOM, AIFU, DKMP, EMSA, SIPRO, SEA - 2018 pp. 63– 71, 2018. © CS & IT-CSCP 2018 DOI : 10.5121/csit.2018.80306 EXAMINING RISK COMMUNICATION OF SAMSUNG BY ANALYSING CUSTOMER REACTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: FROM GALAXY NOTE 7 EXPLOSION TO GALAXY S8 RELEASE Jaewon Lim and Jang Hyun Kim Department of Interaction Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea ABSTRACT Crisis of product defect causes recalls, which not only causes financial loss but also devastates brand reputation. This study explores customers’ response to the twice recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in Korea. The authors examined the semantic networks of consumers comments from the Samsung official social media ‘Samsung Newsroom (blog and Facebook)’ in five time periods(i.e., release, first recall, recommendation to discontinue use, second recall, and compensation program). Customers in each period showed different emotional states which were positive in the first recall but negative in the second recall. Therefore, timely recall and factual communication is needed to the product-harm crisis management, but root cause investigation should be taken to avoid further recalls. KEYWORDS Galaxy Note7, Product harm crisis, Recall, Semantic network analysis 1. INTRODUCTION The crisis of the Galaxy note 7 recall occurred within a month of its release. Galaxy note 7 was unveiled on August 19, 2016. However, several Galaxy note 7 explosion cases were reported and the epidemic was spreading. Samsung diagnosed the cause of the explosion is a failure of the batteries and recalled the Note 7. Although they provided replacement phones, those began to explode as well. In the end, Samsung issued the second recall and recalled the entire line of Note 7 phones. [1]Recalling a product can make the involved firms’ brand image worse.[2]Therefore, they should try to reduce negative impacts, one of which is to convey their official position to the public through media. [3]Since the mid-2000s, Social media platforms increasingly tend to act as both a place for the firms and customers. Focal firms’ risk communication message can be delivered instantly and broadly. With social media, customers can voice their opinion. Samsung posted a statement in