A thematic analysis was applied to analyze gender-specific communication in Toyota’s and General Motors senior executive crisis communication.

General Motors responses revolved around the themes of exigency and regret, themes that denote a female-specific communication style.

Toyota’s crisis communication focused on defense and future action and denoted a male-specific communication style.

The media covered General Motors crisis mainly from the perspective of corrective action.

Toyota’s crisis coverage focused predominantly on responsibility attribution.