Image restoration theory
Introduced by William Benoit, image restoration theory outlines strategies that can be used to restore one's image in an event where reputation has been damaged. Image restoration theory can be applied as an approach for understanding personal or organizational crisis situations. This theory can be applied to both individual and organizational crisis situations. Image repair theory is a component of crisis communication, which is a sub-specialty of public relations. Its purpose is to protect an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation.
Benoit outlines this theory in Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies: A Theory of Image Restoration Strategies.
Basic concepts of image restoration theory
some components must be present in a given attack to the image of an individual or organization:- The accused is held responsible for an action.
- the act is considered offensive.
- among other things.
- Communication is a goal directed activity. Communicators may have multiple goals that are not collectively compatible, but people try to achieve goals that are most important to them at the time, with reasonable cost.
- Maintaining a favorable reputation is a key goal of communication. Because face, image, or reputation is valued as important, individuals or organizations are motivated to take action when it is compromised.
Some image repair factors include
- Crisis responsibility- how much a company or person is responsible for in a crisis
- Crisis type- what type of crisis is happening
- Organizational reputation- what is the known reputation and behavior of a company or a person
Theoretical framework
Benoit claims that these treatments of image restoration focus on identifying options rather than prescribing solutions. He grounds image restoration theory on a comprehensive literature review of apologia and accounts theories.
Specific influences of image restoration theory include Rosenfield's theory of analog, Ware and Linkugel's theory of apologia; Kenneth Burke's theory of goals and purification; Ryan's kategoria and apologia; Scott and Lyman's analysis of accounts; Goffman’s remedial moves; Schonbach's updated analysis of Scott and Lyman’s theory; and Schlenker’s analysis of impression management and accounts.
Typology of image restoration strategies
| Strategy | Explanation |
| Denial | The accused may simply deny that the act occurred, or shift the blame to the 'real' culprit |
| Evading responsibility | When unable to deny performing the act in question, the accused may attempt to evade responsibility. This strategy has four components. Provocation: the actor may claim that the act was committed in response to another wrongful act. Defeasibility: the actor pleads a lack of knowledge or control about important factors related to the offensive act Make an excuse based on accidents: the actor may make an excuse for factors beyond their control Suggest the action was justified based on good intentions: the actor asks not to be held fully responsible based on their good, rather than evil motives in committing the act. |
| Reducing offensiveness | The accused may attempt to reduce the degree of negative feeling experienced by the audience. This strategy has six components. Bolstering: used to mitigate the negative effects by strengthening the audience's positive idea of the accused. They may remind the audience of previous good acts or good reputation. Minimization: attempts convince the audience that the act in question is less serious as it appears. Differentiation: the act is distinguished from other more offensive acts to lessen the audience's negative feelings by comparison. Transcendence: the act is placed in a broad context to place it in a different, less offensive frame of reference. Attacking accuser: the actor attacks their accusers, to question the credibility of the source of the accusations Compensation: the actor offers to redress the victims of their action to offset negative feelings towards them. |
| Corrective action | The accused claims that they will correct the problem. This can involve restoring the situation to its prior state, or promising to make changes to prevent its reoccurrence. |
| Mortification | The accused admits responsibility and asks for forgiveness. |
Case studies
Case studies by Benoit
Based on several case studies by Benoit and his colleagues, Coombs cited a number of prescriptive recommendations for the use of crisis strategies The dominant recommendation is for an organization to immediately admit fault/accept responsibility, 2) Corrective actions should be taken and an organization need to publicize those actions, 3) Bolstering, which is directly related to the charge, is the most effective strategy, and 4) If the organization was innocent, Denial is an effective strategy. “Image restoration theory is the dominant line of research generating these recommendations. The most common recommendations suggest using the mortification and corrective action crisis response when an organization is guilty.”Here representative case studies by Benoit and his colleagues are introduced.
| Category | Subjects | Summary of crisis | Strategies | Practices | Authors |
| Individual | Queen Elizabeth | The sudden tragic death of Princess Diana | Denial, Bolstering, Defeasibility, Transcendence | Unprecedented speech of the Queen | Benoit & Brinson |
| Hugh Grant | Being arrested in Hollywood for lewd behavior with a prostitute | Mortification, Bolstering, Attacking accuser, Denial | Appeared on "The Tonight Show," "Larry King Live," "The Today Shaw," "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee," and "The Late Show” | Benoit | |
| Tonya Harding | The involvement in the attack on her teammate and rival, Nancy Kerrigan | Bolstering, Denial, Attacking accuser | Interview in the program Eye-to-Eye with Connie Chung | Benoit & Hanczor | |
| Organizational | AT&T | The long distance breakdown in 1991. Followed by governmental investigation | Mortification, Corrective action, Bolstering | Misguided attempt to blame lower level workers Robert Allen published a full-page newspaper advertisement | Benoit & Brinson |
| USAir | The crash of an aircraft in Pittsburgh in 1994 | Bolstering, Denial, Corrective Action | Media coverage | Benoit & Czerwinski | |
| Dow Corning | The safety issue of its silicone breast implants | Denial, Evading responsibility, Corrective action | Simply denied and making a conflict with FDA | Brinson & Benoit | |
| Texaco | The racism issue in a secret tape of an executive meeting referred to African Americans as “black jelly beans” | Bolstering, Corrective action, Mortification, Shifting the blame. | Peter Bijur disseminated six messages | Brinson & Benoit |
Limitation of Image repair theory – Coombs
Even though image restoration theory represented the use of mortification and corrective action, there might be alternative recommendation. For instance, his studies using situational crisis communication theory found no support for always using mortification and corrective action. Also, the mortification and corrective action strategies had no greater effect than a simple bolstering strategy in a criminal violation crisis such as racial discrimination. This theory can not be predicted.Additionally, in terms of the limitation of case studies in image restoration theory, Coombs argued that closer scrutiny with insights should be taken before offering strategies to crisis managers as facts. In order to gaining additional insights into the use of crisis responses, he pointed out many similar crises should be examined for patterns of strategy use and effect and “a large number of cases could be coded and subjected to loglinear analysis in order to identify patterns.”
The Cola Wars
and Pepsi's longstanding competition reached its peak when Coke and Pepsi placed advertisements in Nation's Restaurant News with unmistakable attacks from both sides.Benoit analyses advertisements from both companies from 1990-1992 to address the persuasive strategies of Coke and Pepsi to determine recommendations for image restoration following an attack. He advises that companies should avoid making false claims, provide adequate support for claims, and develop themes throughout a campaign, and avoid arguments that might backfire.