Managing a nation's image during crisis: A study of the Chinese government's image repair efforts in the “Made in China” controversy

The image of a nation is crucial in the conduct of international relations (Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). A favorable image plays a critical role in asserting one's influence (Benoit, W. L., & Brinson, S. L. (1994). AT&T: “Apologies are not enough”. Communication Quarterly, 42, 75–88; Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). Often, strategic communication tools like public relations and media diplomacy are used to enhance a nation's image (Giffard, A., & Rivenburgh, N. K. (2000). News agencies, national images, and global media events. Journalism Quarterly, 77, 8–21). In 2007, China's reputation as “the workshop of the world” (Gaulier, G., Lemoine, F., & Unal-Kesenci, D. (2005). China: A workshop of the Cd and a market for Europe. At: http://ideas.repec.org/a/cii/cepill/2005-245.html. Accessed on 14 May 2009) came under severe threat with a series of product recalls. This was arguably the first time that allegations of product deficiencies were targeted at a country. Using the image repair theory, this paper examined the strategies used and the image these strategies generated for China. Findings showed that the initial defensive strategies generated an image of a hurried and harried country. After it was willing to confront the crises through corrective action, a surer and more determined image emerged.     

The image repair strategies of Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens presents perhaps one of the most interesting challenges in sports public relations. Widely considered one of the National Football League's most talented athletes, he is also widely criticized as one of its most self-centered. When the Philadelphia Eagles refused to renegotiate his contract after one season, he became sullen with the press, belligerent with the coaching staff, and publicly critical of his team and quarterback. As a result, the Eagles deactivated Owens. Owens and his agent then attempted to repair the damage in a press conference, which is the subject of this study. On the whole, the press conference was a tremendous failure. Although Owens displayed a contrite demeanor, emphasizing mortification and bolstering strategies, he hurt his case by sidestepping the blame for the conflict. Rosenhaus sealed his client's fate by launching numerous indignant attacks against Owens’ accusers, and appearing aggressive and arrogant when employing bolstering and mortification strategies. Both men painted Owens as the victim, and neither discussed any corrective action Owens planned to take in order to prevent future conflicts. Ultimately, their rhetoric demonstrated a complete failure to understand the culture of team sport, which demands unity, commitment, and sacrifice, and failed to earn Owens’ reinstatement.     

Dancing in the Dark: Ticketmaster's response to its Bruce Springsteen ticket crisis

Ticketmaster was presented with a crisis on February 2, 2009, when some fans trying to purchase tickets online to Bruce Springsteen concerts were redirected to Ticketmaster-owned secondary ticket distribution website, TicketsNow, and erroneously purchased tickets at a higher price than the original ticket price. The purpose of this research-in-brief is to compare Ticketmaster's response to the theories of crisis management presented in the public relations literature.     

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.     

Seeking sincerity,finding forgiveness: YouTube apologies as image repair

Social media have become important communication tools for organizations and public figures, particularly in times of crisis. Public figures are frequently advised to use social media platforms to apologize to publics, and their apologies are often posted by news outlets or individual social media users. However, evidence suggests social media may function on an interpersonal level, yet traditional image repair strategies are based on a mass media model. Using image repair strategies based in theoretical frameworks from mass mediated and interpersonal communication, this research examined the verbal behaviors and emotions displayed by public figures apologizing on YouTube and the relationships these had to audience perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness as expressed via YouTube comments. Two studies analyzed 335 segments of video from 32 public apologies on YouTube spanning from 2009 to 2014, and 1971 posted responses. The interpersonal strategies and expression of emotions were largely unrelated to the perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness; and the image repair strategies were limited in their relatedness. However, the content of the comments, a majority of which focused on the reputation of the public figure, was associated with perceptions of sincerity. Reducing offensiveness was associated with perceptions of insincerity, as was the combination of reducing offensiveness, denial and evasion. Negative comments regarding the offender’s reputation were also associated with perceptions of insincerity. Audiences were non-forgiving if the apology was perceived as insincere, but forgiving if they perceived the apology as sincere. Implications of these results in relation to the practice and scholarship of public relations are discussed.     

Analysis of the image repair discourse in the Michael Phelps controversy

The following study reviews the image repair strategies used by Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, his sponsors and the organizations that govern him as an amateur swimmer after a picture of Phelps allegedly smoking from a marijuana pipe appeared in a British tabloid. Additionally, the study reviews media coverage of the controversy to determine whether Phelps was successful in repairing his image. The study concludes that Phelps’ image repair campaign was a success. Implications for public relations practitioners and suggestions for future research also are discussed.     

Image repair in late night comedy: Letterman and the Palin joke controversy

David Letterman, host of The Late Show, told a joke about Sarah Palin's daughter during one of his nightly monologues. During the ensuing controversy, Letterman offered two extended statements about the joke. Approaching Letterman's responses from the perspective of Benoit's image repair typology reveals three primary strategies: denial, mortification, and corrective action. While Letterman's first attempt to resolve the controversy failed, his second attempt was largely successful. Implications for public relations image repair strategies are offered.     

BP initial image repair strategies after the Deepwater Horizon spill

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010 off the coast of Louisiana, and the ensuing oil spill caused substantial economic and environmental damage to states on the U.S. Gulf Coast. British Petroleum received strong public criticism for its role in the disaster and quickly attempted image repair strategies. These strategies centered on describing what they were doing to correct the problem and compensate the victims, but did not include strategies such as shifting the blame to the other companies involved nor admitting their own blame. This study applies Benoit's work in Image Repair to a content analysis of the press releases from British Petroleum in the initial aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill. We also note the difficulty of using this theory to capture the nuances of responses.     

Jon and Kate Plus 8: A case study of social media and image repair tactics

Broadening the application of Benoit's image repair theory, this case study compares and contrasts crisis management strategies of Jon and Kate Gosselin during their 2009 highly publicized divorce. Specifically, it looks at how they presented themselves through personal statements, interviews and social media in two phases: the year before and the year after their divorce. Findings indicate the two used many image repair strategies and experienced varying levels of success. In the end, media outlets utilized traditional cultural narratives in their framing of both celebrities, depicting Kate as a distraught wife/single mother and Jon as an irresponsible and untrustworthy husband/father. Media later transitioned to a more positive portrayal of Jon and a negative portrayal of Kate. Exploring social media added a fresh dimension to previous image repair analyses. Findings indicate social media allow celebrities to publish information fast and efficiently without a gatekeeper; however, they must still follow traditional image repair strategies to succeed.     

Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited

The purpose of this paper is to review and re-examine the concept and practice of public diplomacy in light of the incredible pace of change in global politics and communication, and to discuss implications for future research. It first explains the significance of national reputation and its linkage to public diplomacy. It then surveys and assesses a broad range of literature on public diplomacy, characterized by three basic discourses: public diplomacy as policy-driven rather than relationship-based, the primacy of nation-state governments in the structure and process of public diplomacy, and an emphasis on mass media communication. The paper finally suggests and outlines further research efforts based on the existing literature and the evolving contexts.     

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.     

Getting out of the doghouse: The image repair strategies of Michael Vick

Michael Vick's federal dog-fighting conviction in 2007 made him notorious. Vick spoke publicly about his role in the dog-fighting operation only once before beginning a prison term. Three years after entering prison, he returned to National Football League action. By 2011, some in the media proposed that Vick had successfully rehabilitated his image and redeemed himself in the eyes of the public. This study examines the image repair strategies Vick employed at his August 27, 2007, press conference. It concludes that Vick chose appropriate strategies but did not fully develop one critical strategy: corrective action. The paper also explores Vick's strategic use of the third person and appeals to a supernatural being.     

Dealing with the COVID-19 crisis: Theoretical application of social media analytics in government crisis management

Little theory-grounded research addresses how to use social media strategically in government public relations through machine learning. To fill this gap, we propose a way to optimize social media analytics to manage issues and crises by using the framework of attribution theory to analyze 360,861 tweets. In particular, we examined the attribution of crisis responsibility related to the spread of COVID-19 and its relations to the negative emotions of U.S. citizens on Twitter for six months (from January 20 to June 30, 2020). The results of this study showed that social media analytics is a valid tool to monitor how the spread of COVID-19 evolved from an issue to a crisis for the Trump administration. In addition, the federal government’s lack of response and inability to handle the outbreak led to citizens’ engagement and amplification of negative tweets that blamed the Trump White House. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

From aspiring presidential candidate to accidental racist? An analysis of Senator George Allen's image repair during his 2006 reelection campaign

This study analyzes how Senator Allen responded to the negative public relations incidents that occurred during his 2006 reelection campaign. Through a content analysis of Allen's media releases and interviews with Allen's communication staffers this study identifies Allen's image repair discourse strategies and tactics. This study also evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies and tactics through a content analysis of the newspaper coverage Finally, this study identifies three new image repair tactics.     

President Bush's major post-Katrina speeches: Enhancing image repair discourse theory applied to the public sector

When Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf Coast, President Bush's newly formed Department of Homeland Security received its first test and failed. In Katrina's aftermath, Bush not only had to manage one of the nation's worst natural disasters, but also had to quell political backlash about the federal government's response to Katrina. This study examines: (a) how Bush presented the federal response to Katrina in his speeches; (b) how Bush responded to the public's criticism in his speeches; and (c) how effective Bush's speeches were in repairing his tarnished image.     

PR goes to the movies: The image of public relations improves from 1996 to 2008

This qualitative analysis of public relations in popular Hollywood films from 1996 to 2008 looks at three questions: first, how is the PR practitioner portrayed in recent films? Second, what kind of public relations activities and models of public relations are depicted? Third, how do other scholars’ results in prior studies apply to the portrayal of public relations in current films? Results show that for major films from Mars Attacks! (1996) to Hancock (2008), public relations practitioners are more credible, respected and influential, and PR work is more varied and complex than found in studies of films through 1995.     

Institutionalizing public relations: A case study of Chinese government crisis communication on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

Research is needed on the “institutionalization” of public relations as a strategic-management function. How and why public relations ought to be institutionalized certainly remains highly debatable. This study, thus, engages the current debate on the necessity and advantages of the institutionalization of public relation by taking on Chinese government crisis communication in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake as a test case.This study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, consisting largely of online and textual research, convenient and confidential telephone interviews, content analysis of government communication materials, and intercept surveys in Beijing (China's capital city) and Chengdu (the provincial capital of the Sichuan Province where the earthquake hits).The study finds that the institutionalization of government public relations in China has visible results, especially, in the areas of crisis communication and management, as well as stakeholder-relationship building. Within the Chinese context, it suggests, “institutionalization” of the government public relations tends to render legitimacy to public relations practice and empower the practitioners by according PR practice a strategic function toward the achievement of public-institution effectiveness. Although a preliminary analysis, this study supports the argument on the necessity and advantages for PR practice becoming institutionalized.     

伦敦国际航运中心应对金融危机的经验借鉴及对上海的启示

本次金融危机对国际航运产生了深远的影响,伦敦国际航运中心的航运服务部门就业岗位数量下降幅度接近四分之一,但对伦敦国际航运中心的全球领先地位影响不大。伦敦国际航运中心如何应对金融危机并继续保持全球航运业尤其是全球高端航运服务业的领先地位,对于上海国际航运中心应对目前的航运业不景气环境、增强全球资源配置能力和角逐航运高端服务市场具有明显的借鉴作用。