SK-II China and its skin cream scandal: An extended analysis of the image restoration strategies in a non-Western setting

SK-II, a global luxury cosmetic and skincare brand of Proctor & Gamble (P&G), was sued by a Chinese consumer in 2005, which raised serious questions about SK-II's product safety and the credibility of its advertisements. This public relations debacle resulted in a dip in SK-II's performance in the China skincare market. The theory of image restoration discourse was applied in this case to analyze SK-II's public relations efforts to rebuild its prestigious brand image in China and to regain Chinese consumers’ trust. More rigorous image restoration strategies for multinational corporations (MNCs) in the Asian market were also discussed.     

Mayhem in the Magic City: Rebuilding legitimacy in a communication train wreck

This study explores the relationship between corrective action and rebuilding legitimacy. Specifically, the corrective actions taken by the City of Minot and Ward County officials in response to the emergency communication breakdowns during the 2002 Canadian Pacific train derailment and anhydrous ammonia spill are analyzed. The study concludes that corrective action when employed as organizational learning can expedite image restoration, rebuild legitimacy, and better prepare organizations for future crises.     

The National Review “fires” Christopher Buckley: Image restoration and the rhetoric of severance and restraint

Image Restoration Discourse, Situational Crisis Communication Theory, and related crisis-response models tend to involve charges leveled at entities: individuals or organizations. In The New Rhetoric, Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca suggest an important mid-ground: stakeholder concerns regarding aberrant actions of a member of a larger public. Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca's “techniques of severance and restraint” comprise 11 strategies for countering the possible effects of an aberrant member's acts on the image and reputation of a larger public. This article will explore those techniques through an examination of how the National Review Online, the Web site complement of National Review magazine, responded to columnist Christopher Buckley's endorsement of Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.     

Prior reputation and the transition from image repair to image makeover: The case of Hosni Mubarak

Through an analysis of Hosni Mubarak's speeches made over the course of the Arab Spring, this study examined Mubarak's response to criticism about his role in the crisis and the resultant attempt to repair his image. The study thereby draws attention to the image repair strategies of an individual with a negative prior reputation in a crisis. Data indicate that Mubarak's negative prior reputation resulted in his attempting not just an image repair as image repair discourse theory would suggest but rather a more complex image makeover. The cultural significance of his rhetorical choices and the implications for theory are discussed.     

Finding the path beyond reputation repair: A structural topic modeling analysis of the crisis communication paradigm in public relations

This research utilizes computational methods to examine crisis communication scholarship from 2010 to 2020 in two studies with a census of all articles in Public Relations Review and the Journal of Public Relations Research (n = 1293 articles, 7400,685 words). Results indicate crisis scholarship has expanded beyond its prior focus on reputation repair. Situational crisis communication theory and image repair are compared in volume of scholarship and methodological affinity. Social media, SCCT, and media relations are identified as central topics within crisis communication scholarship.     

This is not a race, this is a farce: Formula One and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway tire crisis

Formula One is the most technologically advanced and financially lucrative form of motorsport in the world with global audiences in the billions over the course of a season. A highly unusual and potentially deadly set of events took place during the Friday practice for the sixth annual United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Controversy and blame soon followed. Using Benoit's public relations and image restoration strategy framework, this paper examines the different strategies employed during the crisis by the Formula One teams, Michelin, the Federation Internationale De L’Automobile, Formula One Management, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. An examination of the crisis situation at the United States Grand Prix allows this study to expand Benoit's initial framework into sport as well as examining the implications for public relations and image repair strategies.     

Sex scandals: A cross-cultural analysis of image repair strategies in the cases of Bill Clinton and Silvio Berlusconi

The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and the current Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, do not have many things in common save one: both have been involved in highly publicized sex-related scandals during their respective mandates. And yet in both cases, from the beginning, each safeguarded his position and managed to keep a significant percentage of the public opinion on his side. This paper argues that although the image restoration strategies of Berlusconi and Clinton were substantially different in content and form, they were both appropiate in their cultural contexts. A cross-cultural examination of the cultural dynamics of these two distinct nations shows that the effectiveness of image restoration strategies can vary greatly according to cultural, political and media variables of each country.     

The role of empathy in crisis communication: Providing a deeper understanding of how organizational crises and crisis communication affect reputation

This study advances our theoretical knowledge of how organizational crises and crisis communication affect reputation. Prior research solely emphasizes the importance of organizational crisis responsibility in this process. Three experiments show that stakeholders’ empathy toward the organization provides a second explanation. The first two experiments demonstrate that victim crises not only inflict less reputational damage than preventable crises because stakeholders consider the organization less responsible for the events, but also because they are more likely to empathize with the company. The third study shows that empathy can also explain the outcomes of crisis communication. An apology arouses empathy among stakeholders and subsequently increases reputation repair, unlike denial. The role of empathy in the crisis communication process has implications for both theory and practice.     

Crisis communication in higher education: The use of “negotiation” as a strategy to manage crisis

This case study examined the crisis response strategies of Louisiana State University after its women's head basketball coach resigned amid charges of inappropriate conduct with former basketball players. This case study draws on relationship management and negotiation as the theoretical lens to examine the efforts of the University in managing relationships and restoring its image. Data for this study was collected through opened-ended questionnaires from students, faculty, and staff at the University. The findings from this study indicate that the good reputation of the University was responsible for the positive evaluation of the crisis management. In addition, results from this study suggest that “negotiation” can play an important role in managing a crisis when the conflicting parties are not willing to participate in a dialogue.     

The dysfunctional side effects of quantitative indicator production: illustration from mental health care (a message from Chicken Little)

In the current context of economic conservation, accountability and retrenchment from social programs, justification is required in order to maintain human service capacity. In this effort, evaluation is a key component. Yet desire to base action upon information resulting from evaluation must be tempered by increased attention to the effects of the evaluation process. All too often premature application of quantitative indicators formerly used for individual assessment and research to bureaucratic decision making produces side effects that are dysfunctional in nature. Frequently these side effects influence service delivery directly. More insidious, because they are less easily discerned, are distortions introduced into the data by evaluation pressure. These not only delay effects on service but also impair understanding of the very process they are meant to illuminate. In order to illustrate this phenomenon, the author reviews a general literature and utilized examples from mental health care. Common themes are identified and a tentative theory of side effect generation proposed.     

Strategic Management and Change in High Dependency Environments: The Case of a Philanthropic Organization

On the basis of a detailed, in-depth study of the operations and strategic decision-making of Centraide, a charitable organization in Greater Montreal, this paper suggests that dependency on the environment can be a stimulus to organizational adaptation. Two major changes over a 10-year period are studied to show that strategic management in high dependency situations requires a continual attention to the organization's relationships and interactions with the forces in its environment, and a continuous management of the process by which change takes place. The basic position advanced is that: strategy in philanthropic organizations is more effective in ensuring survival and growth when the search for autonomy is seen as irrelevant and when dependence is seen as an unavoidable fact that should shape behavior. A set of propositions helps conceptualize the findings and is offered as a guide for further research.