Proceedings: Conference on Corporate Communication 2012 Page 1

Repairing an Organization’s Image in times of Crises
What Strategies to Use When?
Augustine Pang, Ph.D., Benjamin Meng-Keng Ho & Nuraini Malik
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
augustine.pang@ntu.edu.sg, Benjyho@gmail.com & nuraini.malik@gmail.com
The image repair theory has been described as the “dominant paradigm for examining corporate
communication in times of crises” (Dardis & Haigh, 2009, p. 101). While the theory, which posits
five major strategies and 14 sub-strategies, has been applied extensively, a fundamental question
remains: What strategies should be used when? Through meta-analysis of the image repair
studies, we examine the persuasiveness/effectiveness in the use of different strategies. This study
addresses the call by Haigh and Brubaker (2010) to conduct more studies to understand the use of
strategies across different crisis types with a view to providing a template to equip practitioners
on what strategies to use during crises.
Keywords: Image repair, Crisis, strategy, Reputation
Paper type: General review
Abstracts of <strong>Conference</strong> <strong>Proceedings</strong>: <strong>Conference</strong> on Corporate Communication 2012
Page 48