Journal Review: 135120207121014

Attribution Theory as a guide for post-crisis communication research”

by W. Timothy Combs

and

Apologies and Public Relations Crises at Chrysler, Toshiba, and Volvo

by Keith Michael Hearit

Reviewed by I Made Alit Diatmika Putra

135120207121014

This paper is contained with the review of two journals. The first journal titled “Attribution Theory as a guide for post-crisis communication research” by W. Timothy Combs and the second is “Apologies and Public Relations Crises at Chrysler, Toshiba, and Volvo” by Keith Michael Hearit.

The first journal is about the examination of the communication strategies that corporations utilize in their attempts to create compelling persuasive accounts. The focus is on the apologetic advertisements that seek to bypass media gatekeepers and take the company’s case directly to the American people. The first strategy is apologetic crisis. In this strategy the primary way to counter charges is to issue an apologia. It functions to situate alleged organizational wrongdoing in a more favorable context than the initial charges suggest. The second is communicative strategies. There are three objectives the organization has to accomplish. First is provide a convincing description of the circumstances of the wrongdoing, the second is mollified by a statement of regret and minimal responsibility, and the last is remove the linkage of the organization with the wrongdoing. The writer explain these three objects in more detail.

            The first is persuasive accounts. An apologetic response uses a persuasive account in an attempt to reassert terminological control over the interpretation of the act with a counter-interpretation of events. The second is statement and regret. These statements simultaneously express sorrow for what has happened yet minimize corporate responsibility for wrongdoing. Such an attempt is made because the threat of lawsuits has a tangible effect on stock value. A third communicative strategy that corporations accused of wrongdoing utilize is a strategy of dissociation in which they attempt to distance themselves from the wrongdoing. The implication is that once the general public understands the facts, they will view organizational actions favorably. Next strategy is opinion/knowledge. The aim of this strategy is change to change the perception that the disengaging of odometers was part of an executive perk to one whereby the unhooking was done. Then when the charge is not in question, some organizations expatiate their guilt by attempting to scapegoat others. One way corporations do this is by using an individual/group dissociation to claim that individuals who acted without organizational sanction are responsible for the wrongdoing. The last strategy the writer mention in this analysis is act/essence. In this approach, corporations admit that some wrongdoing has occurred, but assert that the act is not representative of the “essence” or “true nature” of the organization. Over all the writer briefly explain about the strategies and it’s clearly understood.

            Next the second journal is about the role Attribution Theory has played and can continue to play in building scientifically tested evidence for crisis managers as well as providing an integrative mechanism for the diverse crisis research that spans a variety of disciplines. First thing first the writer says that Attribution Theory is a guide. It is logical to connect crises and Attribution Theory because stakeholders will make attributions about the cause of a crisis and they will assess crisis responsibility. In this journal the writer has brief explanation about how the early application of Attribution Theory to crisis and the situational crisis of the communication theory. The second is the writer explain about the integrative nature of Attribution Theory. It provides a common set of concepts and shared methods that allow for easier integration of research findings from different researchers. Attribution Theory also provides a mechanism for integrating the various studies of crisis communication to build a set of principles for evidence-based crisis communication. The last the writer state that there is a broad research agenda to pursue based upon Attribution Theory. With Attribution Theory as a connecting point, diverse streams of research can converge into to a river of post-crisis communication knowledge that provides a mechanism for evidence-based crisis communication. This journal is recommended to be read by the next researcher to develop the communication theory by doing research based on this Attribution Theory.

References:

Hearit, K. M. (1994). Apologies and public relations crises at Chrysler, Toshiba, and Volvo. Public Relation Review, 20(2), 113-125

Coombs, W. T. (2006). Attribution theory as a guide for post-crisis communication research. Public Relation Review, 33. 135-139