Tried in the Court of Public Opinion

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenon A. Brown ◽  
Breann Murphy ◽  
Lindsey C. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Factorial Experiment ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Combination Strategies ◽  
Best Response ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
Repair Attempts

This study expands the empirical study of Benoit’s image repair theory by serving two purposes using a sports context. First, this study will specifically examine criminal transgressions by comparing the effectiveness of image repair attempts by athletes facing domestic violence charges compared to other crimes. Second, this study will look at the effectiveness of using the mortification (apology) strategy in combination with other predominant strategies used by athletes in order to repair one’s image. Using a 3 × 8 factorial experiment involving 490 participants, results showed that athletes facing domestic violence charges are perceived more negatively regardless of their response to the transgression. In addition, results also showed that using mortification in combination with corrective action is the best response for athletes, regardless of the crime. Finally, using the mortification strategy in combination with other strategies is more effective to repair an athlete’s image, suggesting that it may be better to use combination strategies to respond to transgressions.

scholarly journals Responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria: An Exploration of Puerto Rico Tourism’s Image Repair Efforts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Tourism Organization ◽  
Crisis Responses

Tourists’ perceived image of a destination, including perceptions of safety and risk, play important roles in deciding whether or not to visit a destination. When crises strike a tourist destination, tourism organizations must work towards restoring their images to a favourable state. In the fall of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the Caribbean with devastating consequences. Puerto Rico, whose tourism industry plays a vital role in its economy, was particularly devastated by the hurricanes. In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico’s tourism sector was in a state of crisis whereby its economic health depended on tourism revenue. Since image plays a vital role in the health of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, this Major Research Paper (MRP) seeks to analyze the use of image repair strategies employed by Puerto Rico’s official tourism organization, See Puerto Rico, across multiple online platforms and across varying stages of the hurricane crisis. Drawing from image repair theory (Benoit, 1997), texts and images found on See Puerto Rico’s website and Facebook page were analyzed by identifying the presence of denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification strategies with the addition of informational and suffering strategies. Findings indicate that See Puerto Rico primarily employed bolstering, informational, corrective action, minimization, and suffering strategies throughout its website and Facebook page. Puerto Rico strived to restore its image by providing tourists select pieces of information regarding the status of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry and by showcasing the positive attributes of the islands. Part of See Puerto Rico’s image repair efforts involved ignoring the hurricanes and minimizing their seriousness and impacts to reassure tourists that they could still travel to Puerto Rico. The application of image repair theory in this study suggests that it can be used to help understand tourism organizations’ crisis responses to natural disaster.

scholarly journals Political crises: Chris Christie responds to Bridgegate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Larson
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Press Conference ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
Taking Responsibility

This case study focuses on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s response to the Bridgegate crisis. This paper presents a case study of a political individual’s response during a crisis across three distinct texts. Building on Image Repair Theory (Benoit, 1997a), differences across texts are identified and compared by observing the presence of Denial, Evasion of Responsibility, Reducing Offensiveness, Corrective Action and Mortification. The three distinct texts are analyzed through qualitative textual coding. These consist of Governor Christie’s prepared press conference response, his responses to reporter’s questions, and messages sent publically via Twitter January 9th 2014. Findings suggest that Image Repair Theory is useful for supporting a comparison between texts within a political image repair effort. Corrective action, as well as mortification strategies, were found to be used most prominently across the texts. The application of image repair theory in this case study led to the recommended addition of two new subcategories (Repentance and Taking responsibility) within the strategy of Mortification from Benoit’s (1997a) Image Repair Theory.

scholarly journals Communicating About COVID-19 Crisis: Content Analysis of Image Repair Strategy by The Malaysian Government and Its Association With Public Opinion on Social Media (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasaai Masngut ◽  
Emma Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Malaysian Government ◽  
Image Repair Strategies

BACKGROUND Good leadership image in times of health emergency is paramount to ensure public’s confidence towards government’s ability to manage a crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge for governments worldwide to manage and communicate about the pandemic effectively, while maintaining public trust. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to identify types of image repair strategies utilized by the Malaysian government in their communication about COVID-19. The study then analyzes public opinion towards these communication on social media. METHODS Content analysis was employed to analyze 120 media statements and 382 comments retrieved from Facebook page of two mainstream newspapers, Berita Harian and The Star. These samples were collected within a span of 6 weeks prior and during the implementation of Movement Control Order by the Malaysian Government. The media statements were analyzed according to Benoit’s Image Repair Theory to categorize strategies employed in government communication. Public opinion responses were measured using modified lexicon-based VADER sentiment analysis to categorize positive, negative and neutral statements. RESULTS The Malaysian government employed all 5 strategies of the Image Repair Theory in their communication in both newspapers. The strategy most utilized was the reduce offensiveness strategy (62.5%). This is followed by corrective action strategy (25.0%), evading responsibilities (8.3%), denial (3.3%) and mortification (0.8%). This study also found multiple sub-strategies in government media statements including denial, shifting blame, provocation, defeasibility, accident, good intention, bolstering, minimization, differentiation, transcendence, attacking accuser, resolve problem, prevent recurrence, admit wrongdoing and apologize. This study also found that 64.7% of public opinion were positive towards media statements made by the Malaysian government. This study also revealed a significant positive association between Image Repair Strategies utilized by the Malaysian government and public opinion. CONCLUSIONS Communication in the media may assist the government to foster positive support from the public. Suitable image repair strategies could garner positive public responses and help build trust in times of crisis.

scholarly journals Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Benoit
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
United Airlines ◽  
Proper Response

In April 2017, United Airlines had a passenger removed from one of its airplanes. Video of the bleeding man being dragged off through the aisle went viral the next day. United’s initial response attempted to downplay this offensive act (relying primarily on differentiation and mortification, but not really apologizing for this offensive act). This stance provoked outrage and ridicule. This study applies image repair theory (Benoit, 2015) to the discourse in this case study. United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, was forced to offer a “do-over,” stressing mortification and corrective action that were actually directed to the offensive act. United finally arrived at the proper response, but it came too late to realize its full potential. This essay argues that corrective action can be an important strategy in crisis communication theory; it also explains that social media have changed the crisis situation (with nearly instant and widespread criticism) and compressed the time in which those accused of wrongdoing can respond.

scholarly journals Responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria: An Exploration of Puerto Rico Tourism’s Image Repair Efforts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Tourism Organization ◽  
Crisis Responses

Tourists’ perceived image of a destination, including perceptions of safety and risk, play important roles in deciding whether or not to visit a destination. When crises strike a tourist destination, tourism organizations must work towards restoring their images to a favourable state. In the fall of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the Caribbean with devastating consequences. Puerto Rico, whose tourism industry plays a vital role in its economy, was particularly devastated by the hurricanes. In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico’s tourism sector was in a state of crisis whereby its economic health depended on tourism revenue. Since image plays a vital role in the health of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, this Major Research Paper (MRP) seeks to analyze the use of image repair strategies employed by Puerto Rico’s official tourism organization, See Puerto Rico, across multiple online platforms and across varying stages of the hurricane crisis. Drawing from image repair theory (Benoit, 1997), texts and images found on See Puerto Rico’s website and Facebook page were analyzed by identifying the presence of denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification strategies with the addition of informational and suffering strategies. Findings indicate that See Puerto Rico primarily employed bolstering, informational, corrective action, minimization, and suffering strategies throughout its website and Facebook page. Puerto Rico strived to restore its image by providing tourists select pieces of information regarding the status of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry and by showcasing the positive attributes of the islands. Part of See Puerto Rico’s image repair efforts involved ignoring the hurricanes and minimizing their seriousness and impacts to reassure tourists that they could still travel to Puerto Rico. The application of image repair theory in this study suggests that it can be used to help understand tourism organizations’ crisis responses to natural disaster.

scholarly journals Political crises: Chris Christie responds to Bridgegate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Larson
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Press Conference ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
Taking Responsibility

This case study focuses on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s response to the Bridgegate crisis. This paper presents a case study of a political individual’s response during a crisis across three distinct texts. Building on Image Repair Theory (Benoit, 1997a), differences across texts are identified and compared by observing the presence of Denial, Evasion of Responsibility, Reducing Offensiveness, Corrective Action and Mortification. The three distinct texts are analyzed through qualitative textual coding. These consist of Governor Christie’s prepared press conference response, his responses to reporter’s questions, and messages sent publically via Twitter January 9th 2014. Findings suggest that Image Repair Theory is useful for supporting a comparison between texts within a political image repair effort. Corrective action, as well as mortification strategies, were found to be used most prominently across the texts. The application of image repair theory in this case study led to the recommended addition of two new subcategories (Repentance and Taking responsibility) within the strategy of Mortification from Benoit’s (1997a) Image Repair Theory.

scholarly journals Responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria: An Exploration of Puerto Rico Tourism's Image Repair Efforts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Tourism Organization ◽  
Crisis Responses

Tourists’ perceived image of a destination, including perceptions of safety and risk, play important roles in deciding whether or not to visit a destination. When crises strike a tourist destination, tourism organizations must work towards restoring their images to a favourable state. In the fall of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the Caribbean with devastating consequences. Puerto Rico, whose tourism industry plays a vital role in its economy, was particularly devastated by the hurricanes. In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico’s tourism sector was in a state of crisis whereby its economic health depended on tourism revenue. Since image plays a vital role in the health of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, this Major Research Paper (MRP) seeks to analyze the use of image repair strategies employed by Puerto Rico’s official tourism organization, See Puerto Rico, across multiple online platforms and across varying stages of the hurricane crisis. Drawing from image repair theory (Benoit, 1997), texts and images found on See Puerto Rico’s website and Facebook page were analyzed by identifying the presence of denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification strategies with the addition of informational and suffering strategies. Findings indicate that See Puerto Rico primarily employed bolstering, informational, corrective action, minimization, and suffering strategies throughout its website and Facebook page. Puerto Rico strived to restore its image by providing tourists select pieces of information regarding the status of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry and by showcasing the positive attributes of the islands. Part of See Puerto Rico’s image repair efforts involved ignoring the hurricanes and minimizing their seriousness and impacts to reassure tourists that they could still travel to Puerto Rico. The application of image repair theory in this study suggests that it can be used to help understand tourism organizations’ crisis responses to natural disasters.

scholarly journals Responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria: An Exploration of Puerto Rico Tourism's Image Repair Efforts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Tourism Organization ◽  
Crisis Responses

Tourists’ perceived image of a destination, including perceptions of safety and risk, play important roles in deciding whether or not to visit a destination. When crises strike a tourist destination, tourism organizations must work towards restoring their images to a favourable state. In the fall of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the Caribbean with devastating consequences. Puerto Rico, whose tourism industry plays a vital role in its economy, was particularly devastated by the hurricanes. In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico’s tourism sector was in a state of crisis whereby its economic health depended on tourism revenue. Since image plays a vital role in the health of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, this Major Research Paper (MRP) seeks to analyze the use of image repair strategies employed by Puerto Rico’s official tourism organization, See Puerto Rico, across multiple online platforms and across varying stages of the hurricane crisis. Drawing from image repair theory (Benoit, 1997), texts and images found on See Puerto Rico’s website and Facebook page were analyzed by identifying the presence of denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification strategies with the addition of informational and suffering strategies. Findings indicate that See Puerto Rico primarily employed bolstering, informational, corrective action, minimization, and suffering strategies throughout its website and Facebook page. Puerto Rico strived to restore its image by providing tourists select pieces of information regarding the status of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry and by showcasing the positive attributes of the islands. Part of See Puerto Rico’s image repair efforts involved ignoring the hurricanes and minimizing their seriousness and impacts to reassure tourists that they could still travel to Puerto Rico. The application of image repair theory in this study suggests that it can be used to help understand tourism organizations’ crisis responses to natural disasters.

scholarly journals Crisis and Image Repair at United Airlines: Fly the Unfriendly Skies

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Benoit
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
United Airlines ◽  
Proper Response

In April 2017, United Airlines had a passenger removed from one of its airplanes. Video of the bleeding man being dragged off through the aisle went viral the next day. United’s initial response attempted to downplay this offensive act (relying primarily on differentiation and mortification, but not really apologizing for this offensive act). This stance provoked outrage and ridicule. This study applies image repair theory (Benoit, 2015) to the discourse in this case study. United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, was forced to offer a “do-over,” stressing mortification and corrective action that were actually directed to the offensive act. United finally arrived at the proper response, but it came too late to realize its full potential. This essay argues that corrective action can be an important strategy in crisis communication theory; it also explains that social media have changed the crisis situation (with nearly instant and widespread criticism) and compressed the time in which those accused of wrongdoing can respond.

scholarly journals The British Labour Party and the antisemitism crisis: Jeremy Corbyn and image repair theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110159
Author(s):  
Timothy Heppell
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Corrective Action ◽  
The Self ◽  
Image Repair ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
British Labour ◽  
Image Repair Theory ◽  
Jeremy Corbyn ◽  
Self Defence

This article utilises the work of William Benoit on image repair theory as a framework for examining the crisis communication of Jeremy Corbyn in relation to antisemitism within the Labour Party. By examining the self-defence rhetoric of Corbyn on the antisemitism allegations, the article identifies the following. Of the five strategies for crisis communication, Corbyn was overly reliant on denial, evading responsibility and reducing offensiveness; struggled to explain his attempts at corrective action; and reverted to accepting responsibility – that is, apologies – reluctantly and belatedly. Utilising existing perspectives on the most effective strategies for image repair – which emphasise the importance of effective corrective action and accepting responsibility at the expense of denial, evading responsibility and reducing effectiveness – the article argues that Corbyn undermined his own attempts at image repair in the crisis that defined his leadership.

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