Rehabilitating Your Organization’s Image: Public Relations Professionals’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness and Ethicality of Image Repair Strategies in Crisis Situations

Abstract

When crisis hits an organization, public relations professionals are called upon as communication experts to play a key role in mitigating damage to and maintaining stakeholder confidence in the organization. The relevance of crisis and post-crisis communication research to public relations practitioners lies in its utility in identifying factors that influence stakeholders’ perceptions before, during, and after organizational crises, and in identifying processes and strategies that are effective in maintaining or restoring an organization’s reputation and image. These brand and image repair strategies rely on effective use of language, persuasive message strategies, and symbolic actions. This study offers evidence-based decision making from empirical research based on practicing public relations professionals’ reported perceptions and use of specific strategies in different types of crisis situations. The use of crisis communication strategies among public relations professionals, focusing on judgments about which strategies are ethical, which strategies professionals are likely to use and recommend, and which strategies are most effective, is contextualized within three common reputation crisis scenarios (accidents, product safety, and illegal activity).

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