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Table of contents
1. Introduction (Tina/Marianne)…………………………………………………………………………………………………2
1.1. Problem statement…………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
1.2. Method…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
1.3. Delimitation……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6
1.4. Source criticism………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6
2. Theory…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
2.1. Definition of a crisis (Tina)…………………..……………………………………………………………………8
2.2. Crisis communication in general (Marianne)…….…………………………………………………….10
2.3. William Benoit’s Theory of Image Restoration Strategies (Tina/Marianne)……………..12
2.4. Criticism of William Benoit’s theory (Tina/Marianne)……………….…………………………….17
3. Analysis of Toyota Motor Corporation………………………………………………………………………………….18
3.1. Analysis of the Toyota incidents – crisis or not? (Marianne).......................................18
3.2. Analysis of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress (Marianne)………………………….20
3.3. Analysis of the speech by Jim Lentz (Tina)……………………………………………………………….24
3.4. Analysis of Toyota press release (Tina)…………………………………………………………………….26
3.5. Conclusion of the analysis of Toyota (Tina /Marianne)…………………………………………….28
4. Analysis of Tiger Woods…………………………………………………………………………………………………………29
4.1. Analysis of the Tiger Woods incidents – crisis or not? (Tina)......................................29
4.2. Analysis of Tiger Woods’ apology speech (Tina)………………………………………………………31
4.3. Analysis of Tiger Woods’ press releases (Marianne)………………………………………………..35
4.4. Conclusion of the analysis of Tiger Woods (Tina/Marianne)…………………………………….38
5. Comparative analysis of Toyota and Tiger Woods (Tina/Marianne)………….………………………….39
6. Effective crisis communication or not? (Tina/Marianne)……………………………………………………….40
7. Conclusion (Tina/Marianne)…………………………………………………………………………………………………..43
8. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..46
Appendices 1- 6
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1. Introduction
What is it that Toyota and Tiger Woods have in common? At first sight, there may
not be much of a resemblance between the two, however; this is a question we intend to clarify
throughout this following introduction, where we will be presenting both parties, beginning with
Toyota:
Toyota Motor Corporation, also known as Toyota, is a multinational corporation with
headquarters in Toyota City and in Tokyo, Japan. Toyota is one of the world’s largest automobile
makers and employs approximately 320,000 people worldwide.1 The company was founded
August 28, 1937, by Kiichiro Toyoda, who dedicated his life to the manufacturing of cars. In 1935,
after years of hard work, he finally succeeded in creating the A1 prototype passenger car, an
achievement which marked the beginning of the company.2
Since their foundation, Toyota has continuously worked to contribute to the
sustainable development of society through innovative and high-quality products. Thus, one of the
guiding principles of Toyota is to “create and develop advanced technologies and provide
outstanding products and services that fulfill the needs of customers worldwide.”3 Furthermore,
according to the company’s website, Toyota seeks to “dedicate ourselves to providing clean and
safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities.”4
However; since last summer, 2009, Toyota has experienced some very unfortunate
incidents concerning some of their vehicles. The problem surfaced after the first accident that
took place in Santee, California. The accident was caused by a pedal entrapment which made the
vehicle in question accelerate to an incredibly high speed. Ultimately, the persons in the car were
all killed.5 This was only the beginning of a long row of similar more or less serious incidents, all
apparently caused by a “sticking” effect on the pedal in a large number of Toyota’s vehicles. After
various investigations of the problem causing these very unfortunate events, Toyota, in October
2009, decided to recall several of their vehicles in the United States. In January 2010, the number
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota
http://www.toyota.com/about/our_business/our_history/timeline.html
3
http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/philosophy/index.html
4
http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/philosophy/index.html
5
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61M0IT20100223
2
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of recalls reached more than 5 million different types of Toyota cars.6 These series of events have
received massive media attention since the very beginning and have turned out to be the largest
recall in the history of Toyota. It has become a huge issue for the Toyota Motor Corporation,
concerning both the image and the results of the company.7
As for the second party in our assignment, we have chosen to work with Tiger
Woods. He is an American professional golf player, born in Cypress, California, in 1975. In 1996,
Tiger Woods became a professional and since then, his success has gone remarkably upwards.
Today, Woods ranks as the World’s number one golf player with several victories in several of the
largest golf tournaments in the bag. Thus, in 2008, Woods was no less than the highest paid
athlete in the world, due to his winnings and endorsements.8 Among the various number of Tiger
Woods’ sponsors we can mention EA Sports, Gillette and Nike.9
Besides his career as a professional golf player, Tiger Woods also engages in charity
work. In 1996, Woods and his father established The Tiger Woods Foundation, whose focus lies on
projects for children, such as golf clinics, grant programs and university scholarships. Furthermore,
Tiger Woods engages in the Tiger Woods Learning Center, which is an educational facility in
Anaheim, California, and the main purpose of the center is to teach golf to children.10
However; within the past months, Tiger Woods has not been the target of media
attention because of his golf talent. In November 2009 it was revealed to the public that Tiger
Woods had had several affairs with different women on the side of his marriage to the Swedish
model Elin Nordegren. The situation took another down-turn for Woods a few days after these
revelations, when he was involved in a single car accident in his own SUV right outside his home in
Orlando, Florida.11 From here on, an avalanche of events set off and Woods was repeatedly
connected with several women with whom he apparently had been involved with. This caused a
major reaction among the public, including Tiger Woods’ sponsors. Where the professional golf
player used to be seen as a highly reliable brand in sports, his image had now been damaged
6
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61M0IT20100223
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61M0IT20100223
8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods and http://web.tigerwoods.com/aboutTiger/bio
9
http://web.tigerwoods.com/sponsors/sponsors
10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods#Charity_and_youth_projects
11
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/11/28/tiger-woods-car-crash-came-explosive-story-claiming-affair/
7
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among the public, due to his behavior – something that resulted in an actual fall in prices for some
of Woods’ sponsors.12 According to an article found on the online-edition of Time Magazine, the
circumstances has placed Tiger Woods’ sponsors in a rather difficult position, facing the choice of
whether to continue cooperating with Woods or not.13
Thus, in order to answer the question in the very beginning of this introduction, it
can be argued that both Toyota and Tiger Woods have been exposed to a great amount of
negative media attention due to the respective unfortunate incidents mentioned above. What
they have had in common the past months has been the growing mistrust of the public and the
threat to their image, based on these exact incidents. Opinion polls have shown that the
popularity, and thus the trust, of both Toyota and Tiger Woods fell significantly after the
revelation of the respective events.14 These drops in the ratings have had serious consequences
for both parties.
1.1. Problem statement
Therefore, this assignment will deal with the crisis communication of both Toyota
and Tiger Woods concerning these recent happenings. Thus, our problem statement is as follows:
We will analyze whether both Toyota Motor Corporation and Tiger
Woods are experiencing a crisis or not according the theory of Ulmer,
Sellnow and Seeger. Furthermore, we will analyze how both parties
have dealt with their respective image restoration according to
William Benoit’s Theory of Image Restoration Strategies. We will
investigate which strategies they have employed in their verbal and
written defense and what this tells us. As a sub-question, we will
make a brief comparative analysis of how Toyota, as a company, has
12
http://www.business.dk/medier-reklamer/tiger-woods-utroskab-koster-sponsorer-op-til-62-milliarder-kr
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1948181,00.html
14
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/02/opinion/polls/main6258120.shtml and
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/07/2009-1207_tiger_woods_popularity_dropping_since_revelation_of_alleged_mistresses_shows_new.html
13
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dealt with their recent events and how Tiger Woods, as an individual,
has dealt with his recent events. This will be done in order to see if
there is any resemblance between a company and an individual when
making use of William Benoit’s theory. Finally, we will make a brief
comment on whether their respective crisis communication may have
had an effect, based on statistics.
1.2. Method
Firstly, we will provide an analysis of the current situation of both Toyota and Tiger
Woods, which means an analysis of whether they are in fact experiencing a crisis or not, according
to the theory of Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger. Furthermore, our analysis of the image restoration of
both Toyota and Tiger Woods will be based on speeches and press releases from each party. The
analysis will solely be based on William Benoit’s model: The Theory of Image Restoration
Strategies. After having analyzed our material, we intend to make a brief comparative analysis of
the two parties, in order to discuss if they have made use of the same strategies, again according
to Benoit. The strategies employed in this assignment will be further described in our section of
theory, section 2.3.
Our list of sources contains books as well as various articles, web-articles and webpages and we will base our analysis on a few selected press releases and speeches from each
party. Regarding the speeches, we have them transcribed ourselves. Furthermore, we have chosen
to include some statistics in our assignment, in order to discuss whether the parties’ respective
crisis communication may have had an effect.
For the sake of clarity we will mention, that we, throughout our complete
assignment, will refer to Toyota as both Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation and as the company.
Furthermore, regarding Akio Toyoda, he will be referred to as both Akio Toyoda and Mr. Toyoda.
As for Tiger Woods, he will be referred to as both Tiger Woods and Woods. We have chosen to do
so in order not to make too many repetitions and thus obtain a more fluent language in our
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assignment. Finally, when comparing Toyota and Tiger Woods, they will at times be referred to as
the parties/each party.
1.3. Delimitation
For the sake of clarity we have chosen to make use of only one theorist, namely
William Benoit, and his Theory of Image Restoration Strategies, since this model can be applied to
both companies as well as individuals. We realize that there are a large number of theories on
crisis communication and image restoration, however; we have chosen to use Benoit’s model
since he has been a large contributor to the studies of crisis communication.
Despite the fact that our analysis comprises two parties from different countries and
cultures, we will not be dealing with cultural differences whatsoever. Furthermore, since the area
of crisis communication is rather extensive, we will only concentrate on the parties’ behavior after
having experienced an eventual crisis and this according to William Benoit’s model, as mentioned
before. Thus, we will not go into aspects such as issue management etc. – we will only deal with
the aspect of image restoration. Our analysis will solely be based on a few selected press releases
and speeches, published by each party.
Furthermore, as for Toyota, our assignment will only deal with the company’s recalls
in the United States. Therefore, the press release we will analyze also solely comprises information
about the situation in the U.S.
1.4. Source Criticism
In order to write this assignment, we have made use of several different sources to
support our theory and analysis. We are aware of the importance to remain critical towards any
source used and therefore we will briefly explain why we have chosen our exact sources.
According to the book written by William Benoit, Accounts, Excuses and Apologies,
we must assume that this exact source is rather trustworthy, since it is William Benoit’s theory we
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are using. It can be argued whether Benoit himself is critical towards his own theories, however;
we have included a criticism of his models in the theoretical section of this assignment. Therefore,
we are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of Benoit’s theories, but it can only be
assumed that Benoit’s own book is the best source to use when seeking an explanation of his
theories.
Regarding the two other books used, we have chosen these sources due to the fact
that both W. Timothy Coombs as well as Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger are respected theorists within
the field of crisis communication. Therefore, it must be assumed that both books are to trust
regarding useful information. We see no reason for questioning the content of these materials.
As for the articles written by Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen, these two are also
known theorists within the field of crisis communication. When searching the internet for articles
written by these two authors, several hits appears on well-known web-sites such as the Danish
Kommunikationsforum.dk as well as links to the Aarhus School of Business, where both individuals
are in fact employed as lecturers. Therefore, we see no reason to doubt the credibility of the
materials written by Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen.
Regarding the speeches and press releases used for our analysis, these have been
found on both the respective web-pages of Toyota and Tiger Woods and on Youtube, in order to
see and listen to the exact verbal defense. It must be assumed, that when our press releases are
accessible on the web-sites of the two parties, they are somewhat reliable since they are not
affected by any other factor. They comprise first-hand information from each of our analyze
objects. As for the speeches, which we have located on Youtube, these must also be assumed to
be trustworthy, since they all in fact show Jim Lentz, Akio Toyoda and Tiger Woods respectively
giving their speech to the public. Furthermore, since we have transcribed the speeches ourselves,
no other factor has been able to manipulate with the content of the speech. Nevertheless,
regarding the transcripts, it is important to mention that we experienced some minor difficulties
when writing down what was said by Akio Toyoda, Jim Lentz and Tiger Woods. It was not always
possible to hear the exact words, which is why we have chosen to post the links to the different
speeches on each of their appendices. However; we have only chosen to analyze the quotations of
which we are sure to have understood what was uttered, in order not to analyze erroneously.
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As for the web-pages Fox News, Gallup, Time Magazine and Reuters, we will
categorize these sources as being somewhat reliable, since all of them are well-known and
respected communicators. Therefore, we see no reason for questioning the information received
from these pages.
Finally, regarding the rest of our web-page sources, such as Wikipedia and Google, it
can be argued if these sources are sufficiently credible. However; the particular web-articles have
solely been used for the sake of background knowledge, and thus they do not have a crucial
significance in our analysis. Therefore we have chosen to include these sources in our assignment,
while remaining critical towards them throughout the entire process.
1. Theory
In the following section we will make a brief definition of a crisis and of crisis
communication in general. The definition of a crisis will exclusively be according to Ulmer, Sellnow
and Seeger. As for the theory on crisis communication in general, we have decided to include
some of the most prominent theorists, in order to give a broad perspective on the perception of
crisis communication. However; we will not make use of all theorists in our analysis, which solely
will be based on the theory by William Benoit, introduced in section 2.3.
2.1. Definition of a crisis
When defining the term crisis communication, we initially need to explain what is
meant by a crisis. The word crisis is used at random today when we for an example describe
routine problems such as when the favorite soccer team loses, when we experience boyfriend
troubles or when an organization faces low sales. However; these problems can not necessarily be
categorized as crises but more as difficult times or bad experiences15. Thus, not all unfortunate
events are to be categorized as a crisis.
15
Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger; Effective Crisis Communication; page 5.
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The authors of the book Effective Crisis Communication, Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger,
introduce a description of a working definition of an organizational crisis: “An organizational crisis
is a specific, unexpected, and nonroutine event or series of events that create high levels of
uncertainty and threaten or are perceived to threaten an organization’s high-priority goals”.16
This definition explains that an event or situation must contain the four highlighted characteristics
to be categorized as a crisis.
When going further into details with the crisis definition of Ulmer, Sellnow and
Seeger, it shows that the four key components that define a crisis are linked closely together and
depend on each other. If an event is unexpected it has to be a surprise for the organization. Thus,
it has to be a situation the company can not anticipate nor plan. This leads to the event being a
non-routine. If the event is a surprise the organization cannot handle it with routine procedures.
Thus, the problems must not occur daily but rather be a unique moment within the organization.
Furthermore, when an organization experiences an unexpected event which never has occurred in
their history it can be argued that it produces some uncertainty within the company which finally
threatens their high-priority goals. Thus, a crisis introduces a certain level of threat to the
organization and its goals and if not handled in the correct way the crisis can destroy a whole
company.17
To sum up the definition of crisis according to Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger it can be
stated that an event has to be both unexpected, non-routine, produce uncertainty and threaten
high-priority goals to be categorized as a crisis. It can also be stated that these four components
are linked together. Thus, if the event comes as a surprise, the company has no routine with which
they can manage this situation. This may cause uncertainty which possibly can threaten the goals
of the company.
16
17
Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger; Effective Crisis Communication; page 7
Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger; Effective Crisis Communication; table 1.1.
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2.2. Theory of crisis communication in general
Now that we have presented a definition of a crisis, it seems relevant to define and
clarify the concept of crisis communication as well. The profession is often categorized as a subcategory to Public Relations18 and, as the name implies, crisis communication is a communicative
tool used when a person or a company is facing a crisis which ultimately may damage the image of
the person or company in question. Thus, the term ‘crisis communication’ is also spoken of as
‘damage control’ or maybe even as ‘limitation of damage’. The purpose is to protect, restore or
improve the image of a company.
However; crisis communication is not only used after the crisis has become a reality.
This tool does not only function as a ‘treatment’ but can also be used as a preventive tool,
preparing for example a company for an eventual crisis. This preventive measure includes issue
management, which deals with the supervision of certain events that may be dangerous for the
image of the company.19 However; since we will not be dealing with issue management in this
assignment, we will not go further into this area.
Until the 1990’s, crisis communication was a relatively unknown and unexplored area
within the Public Relations. However; the interest started to grow immediately hereafter and new
models and approaches began to appear rather quickly. Today, the interest in crisis
communication is extremely high and a large number of different researchers have presented
various interesting theories and models concerning this exact matter.20 This may be due to the fact
that it is more and more common to experience a crisis. According to an article in a recent edition
of The Economist: “Brand-threatening scandals are becoming a regular feature of the corporate
landscape, thanks to a toxic mixture of globalization, which scatters corporate activities hither and
yon, and the internet, which allows bad news to spread like wildfire.”21 Therefore it can be argued
that crisis communication has become a much needed defense mechanism, due to the apparent
inflation in crises. However; as mentioned earlier, there are various ways in which one can view
18
Public Relations (PR) is a field concerned with maintaining public image for high-profile people, organizations, or
programs. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations)
19
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krisekommunikation
20
Johansen and Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
21
Schumpeter; Brand Rehab; The Economist; April 8th 2010
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the field of crisis communication and how to handle a crisis. For the sake of clarity in this
assignment, we have chosen only to explain a few of the existing theories, in order to receive
some perspective on the matter. It is however important to state, that the two following
perspectives on crisis communication are only present in this assignment in order to provide the
reader with an idea of how this area within communication can be interpreted. Only one of these
following theories will furthermore be used in our analysis of Toyota’s and Tiger Woods’ crisis
communication, namely the theory put forward by William Benoit, which is explained further in
section 2.3.
Before, there was a tendency to see crisis communication as something that solely
existed during a crisis. However; according to the view of Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen, two
Danish researchers in the field, “crisis communication is a complex and dynamic configuration of
communication process – before, during and after a crisis – where various actors, contexts and
discourses (manifested in texts) are related to each other (instructing, adjusting and
internalizing.)”22 Thus, Frandsen and Johansen believe that a crisis contains a life cycle and
therefore also different stages. They believe that crisis communication is both considered
proactive and interactive and furthermore, it is perceived as both sender- and receiver-oriented.
According to another researcher, W. Timothy Coombs, no organization is immune to
crises. Therefore he believes that all organizations should learn as much as possible about crisis
communication. In his belief, there are four basic factors involved in crisis communication and the
management of a crisis: prevention, preparation, performance and learning. Thus, crisis
communication serves to “prevent or lessen the negative outcomes of a crisis and thereby protect
the organization, stakeholders and/or industry from damage”. 23 Like Frandsen and Johansen,
Coombs seems to believe that a crisis consists of different stages, hence the prevention- and
preparation-factor. Thus, he is also of the opinion that it is possible to prevent a crisis from
happening and that it is in fact possible to have a set of guidelines prepared in the worst case
scenario.24
22
Johansen and Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
Coombs; Ongoing Crisis Communication; page 1 and 2
24
Coombs; Ongoing Crisis Communication; page 4
23
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2.3. William L. Benoit’s Theory of Image Restoration Strategies
When talking about crisis communication and image restoration, it is hard to avoid
mentioning William Benoit. Benoit is a North American scholar from University of MissouriColombia. Since the beginning of the 1980’s he has studied the rhetoric of primarily North
American companies and politicians. However; his studies also include actors, athletes and other
celebrities who have been involved in some kind of crisis. In 1991, Benoit firstly presented his
general theory on image restoration, The Theory of Image Restoration Strategies, which is based
on the studies mentioned before. The purpose of this theory is to explain to us how companies or
individuals tend to communicate when facing a threat or an attack on their image or reputation.25
Based on his thorough studies, it is Benoit’s belief that “despite differences in how image
restoration strategies might be selected, combined or employed, however, the basic image
restoration options are the same for both individual and corporate image repair efforts.”26 Thus,
he basically states that when individuals or companies try to defend themselves, they make use of
the same, limited strategies of image restoration.
Benoit considers himself a rhetorician and thus he concentrates his studies on verbal
and textual defense strategies. Thus, his model deals with verbal defense, attacks on image, ethos
and image restoration or image repair discourse. He focuses on what people actually say and write
when facing an accusation or an attack. Therefore, he is also mainly interested in the sender’s
point of view – a perspective that is important to consider when making use of Benoit’s model.27
The Theory of Image Restoration Strategies is based on two main assumptions.
Primarily, it is assumed that communication is a goal-directed activity, and secondly, the main goal
of communication is to maintain a good reputation.28 Thus, Benoit himself has created his own set
of criteria that serve to clarify when an image is threatened. Firstly, this may occur when an
undesirable or offensive act has occurred, and secondly, when somebody is holding the accused
responsible for that action.29 These two criteria are co-dependent and thus both must be fulfilled
25
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena;
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena;
27
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena;
28
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; page 63
29
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; page 71
26
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in order for Benoit to categorize the image as threatened. However; there is an edge to these
criteria: “Whether the act is in fact offensive and the accused is in fact responsible is not important
as long as the act is believed to be offensive and the accused is thought to be responsible.” 30 This
means that the event itself is of no further importance as long as it is believed to be true and as
long as someone is actually being accused of the wrong-doing.
According to William Benoit, when facing such an attack, the accused will usually
respond verbally or textually, and based on his studies, Benoit has created a model comprising a
basic repertoire of image restoration strategies which the accused normally makes use of. The
model contains five main strategies and 12 sub-strategies that can be seen in table 1. Each
strategy will be further dealt with later on in this theoretical part of the assignment.
Table 1.: Crisis Communication Strategies according to Benoit31
Type of strategy
Explanation of strategy
Denial:
-
Simple denial
-
Did not perform act
-
Shift the blame
-
Another performed act
Evasion of responsibility:
30
31
-
Provocation
-
Responded to act of another
-
Defeasibility
-
Lack of information or ability
-
Accident
-
Mishap
-
Good intentions
-
Meant well
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
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Reducing Offensiveness of Event:
-
Bolstering
-
Stress good traits
-
Minimization
-
Act not serious
-
Differentiation
-
Act less offensive than similar ones
-
Transcendence
-
More important considerations
-
Attack accuser
-
Reduce credibility of accuser
-
Compensation
-
Reimburse victim
Corrective Action:
-
Plan
to
recurrence
Mortification:
-
Apologize
solve
problem/prevent
The first main strategy, Denial, consists of two sub-strategies, Simple denial and Shift
the blame. As for Simple denial, this strategy basically explains itself, since the sender simply
denies having performed the unfortunate act and thus abdicates all responsibility. As for the Shift
the blame-strategy, the name implies that the accused tries to blame another for the event. As
mentioned earlier, Benoit does not differ between real or fictive accusations – as long as someone
believes them to be true and the accused is believed to be responsible.
The second main strategy is Evasion of Responsibility, which contains four different
sub-strategies. As for the first one, Provocation, this strategy refers to a behavior where the
sender responded to the act of another (e.g. another company). A random, descriptive example of
this strategy could be that a company is provoked by another party and thus it sees no other
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option than acting in a certain way, which ultimately has a negative outcome. Moving on to the
second sub-strategy, Defeasibility, this strategy refers to the lack of information that the accused
has been given. Thus, the sender of the strategy tries to reduce the responsibility because,
ultimately, it was not entirely his fault.32 The third strategy, Accident, basically suggests that the
event was in fact an accident. Again, this strategy serves to reduce the responsibility of the
accused. The fourth and final sub-strategy is Good Intentions, which suggests that the accused
performed the act with good intentions, even though the outcome was of negative character.
To sum up this second main strategy, the overall purpose is for the accused to
mitigate the damage33, for example by indicating that the event was not deliberately negative or
that other events caused the accused to act the way he/she did. However; despite intending to
reduce the damage, the accused is not abdicating the accountability.
The third main strategy, Reducing Offensiveness of Event, comprises six substrategies. The first one, Bolstering, suggests that the accused tries to move focus from the
negative event by emphasizing positive qualities. Thus, this strategy serves to stress good traits
and make sure that the accused not only is to be linked to negative acts.34 As for Minimization, this
strategy serves to decrease the seriousness of the event, thus it is an attempt to reduce the
offensiveness of the act. Moving on to Differentiation, this strategy is to focus on how the event in
question is not as serious as other, similar events. The fourth sub-strategy is Transcendence, which
seems quite similar to the Differentiation-strategy. However; where Differentiation serves to
compare the event in question with other, similar events, Transcendence places the particular
event in a different context,35 which ultimately serves to place focus on other, more important
issues, such as the environment and so on. The next sub-strategy in line is Attack Accuser, which is
used in order to undermine the credibility of the accuser. Thus, the accused questions the
reliability of the accuser and the purpose of this strategy is to place the accuser in a bad light. The
sixth and final sub-strategy, Compensation, is a strategy where the accused plans to reimburse the
32
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; 1995; page 73
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; 1995; page 73
34
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; 1995; page 77
35
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; 1995; page 77
33
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victims. It is an offering of compensation to the persons involuntarily implied in the unfortunate
event.
To sum up this third main strategy, this generally is used in order to reduce the
seriousness of the wrongful event or to emphasize positive behavior of the accused, for example
by pointing out good traits. However; it is important to state that when making use of this main
strategy and its several sub-strategies, the accused does not abdicate the responsibility, but may
try to modify it.
The fourth main strategy, Corrective Action, has no sub-strategies. Overall, this
strategy describes how the accused intends to solve the current problem or prevent it from
happening again.36 These Corrective Actions usually imply taking responsibility for the wrongdoing.
However; the interesting aspect of this strategy is that it is possible for the accused to carry out
the corrective action without actually taking responsibility for the event itself.37
Finally, the last main strategy is Mortification. Simply explained, this strategy is made
use of when the accused admits having acted wrongfully; asks for forgiveness and apologizes. 38
When making use of this strategy, the accused is taking the full responsibility for the incidents.
One strategy that is lacking in Benoit’s model is silence and ignoring the accusations.
Nevertheless, silence is a strategy which is rather frequently used when experiencing a crisis.
However; as mentioned before, Benoit focuses on verbal and textual defense and to him, silence
and ignorance are non-verbal strategies and therefore it is not included in his Image Restoration
model. According to Benoit’s studies, these have shown that both individuals and companies make
use of several of these verbal strategies introduced above when attempting to restore their image.
He stresses that his model can be used both prescriptive, as a guideline to companies or
individuals who are facing a crisis, or descriptive, in order to analyze how the crisis communication
has been after a crisis.39 Furthermore, Benoit claims that it is often suitable to combine the
strategies. He also stresses that some strategies are more appropriate in certain situations than
others – and obviously it depends on the event in question. However; in some crises, the damage
36
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; page 79
Johansen og Frandsen; Retorik og Krisekommunikation; page 54
38
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; page 74
39
Benoit; Accounts, Excuses and Apologies; page 81
37
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may be of such a large dimension that there is nothing left for the accused to do than to wait until
the public society has forgotten all about the unfortunate incident.40
2.4. Criticism of Benoit’s theory
William Benoit actually admits himself that his model may lack various aspects and
that it of course can be developed further. He is aware that it is a rather simple model without too
many details, however; this can both be a strength and a weakness.41 Seen from a positive
perspective, the strength of the model is its simplicity. However; as Benoit himself is aware of, the
simplicity, and thus the lack of further details, makes it harder to go into depths when using his
model.
According to Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen, Benoit’s model does not pay
enough attention to the level of complexity and the dynamics which may characterize a crisis.
Furthermore, Benoit does not consider the context in which the crisis takes place and
furthermore, he is solely sender-oriented. He does not listen to the reaction of the receiver or
other persons/factors employed in the crisis, such as stakeholders, angry consumers, the media
etc.42 In addition to this, according to Frandsen and Johansen, Benoit is lacking the aspect of genre
in his model. Genre is considered to be of great importance, since the various types of genres each
possess a specific characteristic which ultimately plays a great part in the analysis of the crisis
communication.43 In connection with the lacking of genre, Benoit also lacks the aspect of the mass
media – a factor which plays a crucial part in the crisis communication of a company, since they
interpret the crisis communication in their own way. The mass media is no longer considered just
a bearer of the messages, but a communicator itself.44
Finally, Benoit’s model has also been criticized by Burns and Bruner for the same
reasons as Frandsen and Johansen, regarding the neglecting of the receiver’s active participation.
40
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
Johansen og Frandsen; Retorik og Krisekommunikation; page 58
42
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
43
Johansen og Frandsen; Retorik og Krisekommunikation; page 58-59
44
Johansen og Frandsen; Retorik og Krisekommunikation; page 59
41
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Furthermore; Burns and Bruner also state than an image is not unitary and homogeneous but
instead dynamic, heterogeneous and pluralistic. They also argue that it may not be possible to
return to the exact same image as before the crisis, even though making use of the right
strategies. Nevertheless, it is possible to recreate a new and positive image for the accused.45
In order to sum up this paragraph, it is evident that there exists a large amount of
criticism on William Benoit’s model of Image Restoration. However; as already mentioned, we
found the model to be rather relevant for our assignment. Furthermore, Benoit is one of the most
important contributors to the study of crisis communication,46 which is why we have chosen to
make use of his theory.
2. Analysis of Toyota Motor Corporation
In the following section we will provide our complete analysis of Toyota in this
assignment. Initially, we will analyze whether Toyota is in fact facing a crisis or not. Afterwards, we
will then continue with the analysis of the company’s image restoration according to Benoit.
3.1. Analysis of the Toyota incidents – crisis or not?
Before initiating our actual analysis of the speeches and press releases of Toyota, we
intend to clarify why we believe that Toyota Motor Corporation is in fact experiencing a crisis. This
short analysis will be based upon the theory presented by Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger, which is
explained more thoroughly in section 2.1. Nonetheless, for the sake of total clarity we will briefly
sum up that, according to the three authors and theorists, a crisis occurs when an event is
unexpected; is a non-routine; produces uncertainty and last but not least threatens high-priority
goals. A crisis needs to consist of all four of these key components.
Firstly, we need to conclude whether it has come as a surprise to Toyota Motor
Corporation that their cars have faced such major technical problems. It is rather difficult to prove
45
46
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
Johansen og Frandsen; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena
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whether this is in fact the situation, however; it is to be assumed that these must have been
unexpected events, since it seems rather unusual that a company beforehand knows that their
products contain such large and life threatening errors and still puts them on the market.
Secondly, we need to discuss whether this type of incident has happened frequently
to Toyota or if this is a unique moment. Based on the result of this, it can then be argued whether
the company has a routine procedure to manage these kinds of situations or not. Due to the fact
that Toyota has faced such large media attention since the beginning of these incidents, it can be
argued, that it is a unique situation for Toyota. If these incidents had occurred on a frequent basis,
it is questionable that the media would have paid this amount of attention to it. Furthermore, it
can be argued that a company as large as Toyota would still exist or at least experience progress as
they do, had they experienced these kinds of problems frequently. Since these unfortunate
situations have been rather serious it must be assumed that a company, both economically and
image wise, would not survive in the long run if having experienced such negative events
frequently. Therefore, it can be highly argued that the situation Toyota Motor Corporation is
facing now is a non-routine situation and that the company most likely does not have a routine
procedure for this kind of event at its disposal.
The third key component is in a way depended on the previous two. Thus, since the
actual situation has come as a surprise for Toyota, and since the company therefore most likely
does not possess a routine procedure managing the problem, it can be argued that these factors
alone produce some sort of uncertainty within the company. Furthermore, since this type of
situation is new to Toyota and since the company is not able to predict the outcome, this may also
add uncertainty.
Finally, what must be fulfilled in order for Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger to define a
situation as a crisis, is that it must threaten high-priority goals of the company or its affiliates. In
order to analyze this last component, we can sum up the previous three: when experiencing an
unexpected situation, which may be rather difficult to cope with due to the fact that it is new and
unique, and which ultimately produces uncertainty within the company, it can only be assumed
that the situation also contains a certain level of threat to the organization/company.
Furthermore, since Toyota Motor Corporation places safety and high quality as some of their top
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priorities47, the many problems with their vehicles and not least the large number of recalls must
create a certain threat to the core values of the company and thus question what Toyota as a
brand stands for.
Based on the analysis in the previous paragraphs we are able to conclude that the
current situation that Toyota is facing is actually fulfilling all the requirements stated by Ulmer,
Sellnow and Seeger. Therefore, the situation can be categorized as being a crisis. When a company
experiences a crisis, it may need the right crisis communication in order to exit the crisis in the
best possible way and in order to restore its image. Therefore, our following analysis is based on
some of the crisis communication used by Toyota and deals with how the company has tried to
restore their image so far according to Benoit.
3.2. Analysis of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress
When using William Benoit’s model to analyze Akio Toyoda’s speech, we find various
examples of the strategies throughout the speech. When going into details, we quickly come
across obvious examples of the Mortification-strategy. “However; in the past few months, our
customers have started to feel uncertain about the safety of Toyota’s vehicles and I take full
responsibility for that.”48 By uttering this, Akio Toyoda, shortly and directly, takes blame for any
inconvenience the customers of Toyota may have experienced with their vehicles. He basically
utters that he regrets that so many people have been affected by the apparent poor safety of
many of Toyota’s vehicles and does not hesitate to take on full responsibility for this.
When moving further into the speech, we find another obvious example of
Mortification, which supports the above-mentioned quote. “And I am deeply sorry for any accident
that Toyota drivers have experienced. Especially, I would like to express my condolences to the
Saylor-family, for the accident in San Diego.”49 Here, Akio Toyoda not only generalizes his
apologies to all the influenced customers in the U.S., but actually makes his speech somewhat
47
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, in which he states that safety and high quality
are some of Toyota’s top priorities.
48
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress
49
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress
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personal when speaking directly to the family in San Diego, that was involved in a brutal accident
in their Toyota vehicle, which unfortunately cost the lives of no less than four family members.
The fact that Mr. Toyoda directs some of his speech to these individuals makes him appear more
human, which may cause the listeners to perceive Mr. Toyoda as being a person possessing good
qualities as well.
In fact, Akio Toyoda’s speech is overwhelmingly marked by apologies, and thus the
so-called Mortification-strategy, according to Benoit. However; the speech contains other
perspectives as well, and this brings us to another of Benoit’s strategies, namely the Evasion of
Responsibility-strategy. This strategy contains various sub-strategies, among others the Accidentstrategy. Although Akio Toyoda initially utters that he takes full responsibility for the uncertainty
of the safety of Toyota’s vehicles, this following quote may give another perspective: “I myself, as
well as Toyota, am not perfect”.50 It can be argued that Mr. Toyoda wants to point out, that it is
only human to make mistakes and that mistakes are made everywhere. Referring to the theory
explained in section 2.3., it can be argued that Akio Toyoda is still taking responsibility for the
events however intending to modify it.
In order to remove focus from the accidents and other unfortunate situations with
the various Toyota vehicles, Akio Toyoda makes use of strategies which, according to Benoit, can
be categorized as Reducing Offensiveness of Events. This category contains sub-strategies, among
others the Bolstering-strategy that serves to stress good traits instead of focusing on unfortunate
situations, which again serves to create/maintain a positive opinion towards the accused. There
are various examples of this exact strategy throughout the speech, among others: “We have been
actively engaged in developing people who share and can execute on this core value. It has been
over 50 years since we began selling in this great country and over 25 years since we started
production here. And in the process, we have been able to share this core value with the 200,000
people at Toyota Corporation; dealers and suppliers in this country. That is what I am most proud
of!”51 Here, Akio Toyoda calls attention to the work that Toyota Motor Corporation has done in
the United States. He emphasizes that the U.S. is a great country and it can be argued that he uses
such positive words in order for the public to have a less aggressive opinion about Toyota.
50
51
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress
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Furthermore, it can be argued that Mr. Toyoda intends to remind the American population of the
great amount of jobs that Toyota has created for a large number of Americans (Toyota employs
approximately 200,000 people – both directly and indirectly – in the U.S. today).52
Another example of the Bolstering-strategy occurs as we move further into the
speech: “By making improvements, we aim to continue offering even better products for society.
This is a core value that we have kept closest to our hearts since the founding days of our
company.”53 Here, Akio Toyoda wants to focus on what the company Toyota stands for – its core
values. This may be in order for the consumers to not forget that Toyota gives a high priority to
the making of high-quality vehicles and thus, they want to call attention to positive values of the
company.
In fact, regarding the Bolstering-strategy, it is striking how often Akio Toyoda
emphasizes the core values of the Toyota Motor Corporation. Several times he mentions that
safety is their first priority, hence the following quotes: “I would like to point out here that
Toyota’s priority has traditionally been the following: First: safety. Second: quality. Third:
volume”54 and “…I would like to reaffirm our value of placing safety and quality the highest on our
list of priorities.”55 When emphasizing the values and highest priorities of the Toyota Motor
Corporation this strongly, it can be argued that Mr. Toyoda seeks to convince the American
population that these unfortunate incidents were in fact accidents. Therefore, we can actually
make a connection between the Bolstering-strategy and the Accident-strategy, since Toyota, when
stressing their core values, also in a way emphasizes that we are dealing with accidents, since they
were not intentionally caused by Toyota.
Finally, Akio Toyoda’s speech contains several examples of what Benoit characterizes
as the Corrective Action-strategy. By using this kind of strategy, the sender (in this case Akio
Toyota and thus the Toyota Motor Corporation) wants to show the public that they are doing
everything they can to solve this problem or prevent it from reoccurring. Thus, the following quote
52
http://www.toyota.com/about/our_business/our_numbers/ Indirect employees refers to dealers and suppliers of
Toyota
53
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 1
54
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 2
55
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 3
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can be classified as a result of this strategy: “Since last June, I have personally placed the highest
priority on improving quality over quantity.”
56
Akio Toyoda indicates that he has made it a
personal commitment to ensure that quality will be the highest priority. It can be argued that
when a person this high in the Toyota Motor Corporation hierarchy makes this kind of statement,
it shows a great amount of credibility, which, assumingly, is what Toyota wishes to express.
Further into the speech we find a rather large paragraph consisting of a Corrective
Action-strategy. In this part of the speech, Mr. Toyoda speaks about the conducting of recalls of
vehicles and says among other things that: “When recall decisions are made, a step will be added
in the process to ensure that the management will make responsible decisions from the perspective
of customer safety first.”57 Here, Toyota emphasizes, that the customer safety is of absolute
importance and that the corporation will focus even more on safety in the future. This point of
view can easily be supported by other quotes in the speech, where Akio Toyoda, among other,
states that: “I, more than anyone, wish for Toyota’s cars to be safe and for our customers to feel
safe when they use our vehicles.” 58 This underlines the importance of safety and how high Toyota
gives priority to this.
Moving further on, Akio Toyoda mentions how Toyota Motor Corporation plans to
manage quality control in the future in the U.S. and how the company plans to handle any decision
regarding recalls: “Further, we will form a Quality Advisory Group, composed of respected outside
experts from North America and around the World, to ensure that we do not make misguided
decisions,” and: “Finally, we will invest heavily in the quality in the U.S. through the establishment
of an automobile center of quality excellence; the introduction of new positions; product safety
executive and a sharing of more information and responsibility within the company, for product
quality decisions, including defects and recalls. Even more importantly, I will ensure that members
of the management team actually drive the cars and that they check for themselves where the
problem lies as well as its severity.”59 Both these quotes make it clear that Toyota is ready to do
what they can in order to make up for any mistake they have made in the past. They have already
56
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 2
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 3
58
Appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 2 and 3
59
Both quotes can be found in appendix 1: Transcript of Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, page 3
57
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created a plan of how to proceed in the U.S. after the accidents and it is obvious that the company
is ready to invest a great amount of both money and time in this project, in order to restore their
image in the United States. The fact that they intend to employ experts to make recall-decisions
and that they are willing to invest heavily in the quality in the U.S. shows us that only the best is
good enough for this country. Therefore, these previous two quotations can be categorized as
being Corrective Action-strategies, according to Benoit.
After having analyzed Akio Toyoda’s speech to the U.S. Congress, it is clear that the
majority of this verbal defense can be categorized under only some strategies in William Benoit’s
Image Restoration Model. Thus, the most common strategies found in Akio Toyoda’s speech are
the Bolstering-, Mortification- and Corrective Action-strategies. This tells us that Toyota here tries
to restore the company’s image by apologizing, taking responsibility and not least by reassuring
that these circumstances will not be of any issue in the future.
3.3. Analysis of the speech by Jim Lentz
The president and COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Jim
Lentz, speaks to all Toyota owners regarding the recalls of their vehicles, how Toyota wants to fix
the situation and the company’s apology for the break in trust.
To analyse how Jim Lentz tries to restore the company’s image according to William
Benoit’s image restoration model and which of Benoit’s defence strategies he makes use of to do
so, it is essential to look at Lentz’ verbal responses to the crisis he, and thus Toyota Motor
Corporation, is undergoing.
In the beginning of the speech we find the phrase: “But first, I want to sincerely
apologize to Toyota owners.60”. This quotation is a clear example of William Benoit’s Mortificationstrategy since Jim Lentz apologizes to all Toyota owners. Another example of this strategy is to be
found in one of the last sentences: “Once again I apologize for this situation and I hope you will
give us a chance to earn back your trust”61. That Jim Lentz apologizes twice in his relatively short
60
61
Appendix 2: Transcript of Jim Lentz’ speech
Appendix 2: Transcript of Jim Lentz’ speech
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speech shows that Toyota Motor Corporation takes full responsibility for the problems the owners
of Toyota vehicles might have experienced and that the company is sorry for the inconvenience
these recalls may have had. Furthermore, that Jim Lentz is sorry for the unfortunate situation can
also be seen in the following sentence: “...for that I am truly sorry62”. This phrase is another
Mortification-strategy used since Jim Lentz expresses his truly regrets.
It can be argued that the reason why Jim Lentz makes use of the Mortificationstrategy is to show the Toyota owners that Toyota Motor Corporation is truly sorry for the
accidents which the sticking pedal problems have caused and for all the recalls Toyota has been
forced to make. Thus, it can be argued that Jim Lentz tries, by using this strategy, to earn back the
trust of the Toyota owners and to restore the company’s image.
When going further into the speech, we find that it also comprises several phrases
regarding how Toyota wants to solve the problems Toyota owners experience with their vehicles.
An exampel of this can be seen in the sentence: “...we have developed a comprehensive plan to fix
this sticking pedal situation in recalled Toyota vehicles63”. This quotation can be categorized as
William Benoit’s Corrective Action-strategy. When using this strategy, Jim Lentz expresses that
Toyota is eager to help fixing the recalled vehicles and that they have taken several initiatives to
handle this unfortunate situation. The phrase: “I want you to know that all 172,000 Toyota and
dealership employees across North America will work hard to fix your vehicle properly and regain
your trust. In fact many of our dealers will have extended hours and some will remain open 24
hours per day to get this job done64” is also a result of the before mentioned Corrective Actionstrategy, due to the fact that it explains that Toyota and their dealerships are working hard to fix
the recalled vehicles and regaining Toyota owners’s trust. Furthermore, the two quotations
express that Toyota really makes a great effort to help and correct their own mistakes. The phrase:
“...and we are redoubling our efforts to ensure that this does not happen again 65” is another
example of Benoit’s Corrective Action-strategy. However; where the two previous examples are
62
Appendix 2: Transcript of Jim Lentz’ speech
Appendix 2: Transcript of Jim Lentz’ speech
64
Appendix 2: Transcript of Jim Lentz’ speech
65
Appendix 2: Transcript of Jim Lentz’ speech
63
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stressing what the company intends to do, this example stresses that the unfortunate events will
not happen again.
It can be discussed that Jim Lentz, and thus Toyota Motor Corporation, uses the
Corrective Action-strategy in the speech to explain to the consumers that Toyota really does make
an effort to resolve this crisis and that many initiatives have been made to help Toyota owners
with their vehicles. Furthermore, it can be argued that it gives the consumers the impression that
Toyota regrets the situation and therefore has made a comprehensive plan to help and to prevent
the situation happening again.
To sum up, it can be argued that this speech by Jim Lentz contains both the
Mortification-strategy and the Corrective Action-strategy mentioned by William Benoit in his crisis
communication model - The Theory Of Image Restoration Strategies. This tells us that Toyota is
trying to restore its image and regain trust by apologizing and making corrective actions.
3.4. Analysis of Toyota press release
The press release “Toyota Statement on Harrison, N.Y. Incident” from March 22nd
2010 is a statement from Toyota to the public regarding the accidents and problems that have
occurred involving Toyota vehicles.
Going into details with the press release we find an example of the Corrective
Action-strategy: “We are making an all-out effort to ensure our vehicles are safe and are making
substantial progress towards completing our recalls with effective and durable solution66”. It can
be argued that using this strategy shows that Toyota wants the public to know that they are doing
their best to solve the problems Toyota owners experience with their vehicles and that Toyota is
making a great effort to ensure the safety of their future cars. Furthermore, it can be argued that
it may give the public the impression that Toyota really cares about this issue; all something that
may help the company to restore their image and to regain consumer trust.
66
Appendix 3: Toyota press release
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To move focus from the incident in Harrison, N.Y. involving a Toyota vehicle, it can be
seen in the press release that Toyota Motor Corporation makes use of another strategy included in
Benoit’s model; Reducing Offensiveness of Event. This strategy comprises several sub-strategies,
and among these the Attack Accuser-strategy, which serves to reduce the credibility of the
accuser. When reducing the credibility of the accuser the sender (in this case Toyota motor
Corporation) puts himself (the company) in a better position due to the fact that the sender
questions the reliability of the accuser and thereby undermines him/her. Thus, by using this
strategy, it can be argued that Toyota Motor Corporation tries to reduce the offensiveness of their
wrongful act. This exact strategy can be seen in the second paragraph of the press release: “As
always, it is important to remember that many of the complaints in the NHTSA database, for any
manufacturer, lack sufficient detail that could help identify the cause of an accident or, in some
cases, even the specific vehicle involved67”. In this quotation it can be argued that Toyota tries to
attack the accuser by explaining to the public that the accuser’s complaints in the NHTSA (National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration) database are not always correct. Toyota points out that the
accuser, when complaining, does not explain the accident sufficiently and may be wrong about the
types of the involved vehicles. When using the Attack Accuser-strategy it can be argued that
Toyota tries to put the accuser in a bad light and thereby make the public believe that the
problem/incident may not be as serious as first believed. Thus, it can be argued that Toyota tries
to reduce the offensiveness of their wrongdoing.
Finally, when looking further into the press release, a third of Benoit’s strategies is
seen; the Shift the blame-strategy, a sub-strategy to the Denial-strategy. When using the Shift the
blame-strategy the sender (in this case Toyota Motor Corporation) tries to move the blame of an
accident/incident to another performed act and thereby convince the receiver (the public) that
the sender is not to blame and that he/she is not the one to be held responsible for the event. An
example of this exact strategy is to be found in the last paragraph of the press release:
“Furthermore, instances of unintended acceleration can be caused by many factors and they are
not all sudden or sustained. The category is very broad, affects all major automakers, and can
include issues involving pedal entrapment, pedal misapplication, transmission surges and driver
67
Appendix 3: Toyota press release
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reaction to normal engine speed control variations when cruise control or air conditioning systems
are in use68”.
It can be argued that Toyota uses the shift the blame-strategy to explain to the public
that they are not to be held responsible for every incident due to the fact that some of these may
have been caused by other factors such as them mentioned in the quotation above. It explains
that some of the incidents may have been caused by actions which Toyota has had no control over
and could not prevent. Thus, it can be argued that Toyota literally shifts the blame to others and
thereby disclaims responsibility for some of the incidents.
To sum up, it can be argued that the press release “Toyota Statement on Harrison,
N.Y. Incident” contains both the Corrective Action-strategy, the Attack Accuser-strategy and the
Shift the blame-strategy presented by William Benoit. This tells us that Toyota is trying to restore
their image, both by making corrective actions, but also by modifying their accountability, at least
according to this press release.
3.5. Conclusion of the analysis of Toyota
This conclusion is to be seen as a part conclusion only. The ultimate conclusion of the
entire assignment is to be found in section 7.
Firstly, it can be concluded that Toyota is in fact facing a crisis and thus also a threat
to their image. In dealing with this crisis, Toyota has, according to the theory of William Benoit,
employed several of the strategies found in his model of Image Restoration. Thus it can be
concluded that Toyota is trying to restore their image by making overwhelmingly use of
Mortification-strategies as well as the Corrective Action-strategy. Thus it can be argued that
Toyota is indeed feeling highly responsible for the unfortunate incidents which have caused this
crisis to arise. However; it also seems evident, that even though Toyota may take responsibility for
the accidents, they do not want to be linked to situations which they are not for certain to blame
for.
68
Appendix 3: Toyota press release
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4. Analysis of Tiger Woods
In the following section we will illuminate how Tiger Woods has dealt with his image
restoration according to William Benoit’s model. However; initially, we will again provide an
analysis of whether Woods is in fact experiencing a crisis or not. Afterwards, we will continue with
the analysis of his speech and of two press releases.
4.1. Analysis of the Tiger Woods incidents – crisis or not?
Before commencing our second analysis, that of the crisis communication of Tiger
Woods, we intend to elucidate whether he is in fact experiencing a crisis or not, based on the
theory by Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger, which is further introduced in section 2.1. of this
assignment. Nevertheless, in order to clarify the theory we will shortly sum up that, according to
the three authors and theorists, a crisis occurs when an event is unexpected, a non-routine,
produces uncertainty and last but not least threatens high-priority goals. An event needs to consist
of all four of these key components in order to be categorized as being a crisis. Even though
Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger only seem to define what they call an organizational crisis, it can be
highly argued that Tiger Woods, despite being an individual, also can be categorized as some sort
of organization, due to the fact that he alone constitutes a brand.69 Additionally, Tiger Woods has
several employees, something which furthermore indicates that he can be seen as a company.
The first component or characteristic consists of the surprise-factor of the event.
Thus, we must discuss whether the current situation has come as a surprise for Tiger Woods or
not. It is rather hard to argue against the fact that Tiger Woods must have known that he was
having several affairs and therefore this cannot possibly come as a surprise to him. However; it can
be discussed that the fact that his actions were revealed to the public must have been
unexpected. Furthermore, the negative reaction of the public70 may also have been somewhat
sudden and unforeseen. Therefore, it is to believe that this entire situation and its extent must
have come as a surprise for Tiger Woods, even though he was well aware of his affairs.
69
70
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403199.html
We refer to our section 6 in the assignment, which includes statistics
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The second component is to illuminate the frequency of the event and whether it is a
non-routine situation. That means we have to discuss whether this type of event has happened
repeatedly to Tiger Woods or not. Since it is rather difficult to clarify whether he has had affairs
previously, this is something we cannot confirm. However; due to the extent of this current event
and the fact that this particular situation has become target of such large media attention 71, it can
be argued that this may not necessarily be an everyday occurrence. Furthermore, it is
questionable that the media would be interested in a story like this if it had happened on a regular
basis. Therefore, it can be assumed that Tiger Woods is experiencing a rather unique situation and
a non-routine event.
Thirdly, we have to discuss the uncertainty of the event. This component is rather
dependable on the previous two, due to the fact that it must be assumed that an event, which
comes as a surprise and is a previously non-experienced situation, may create some amount of
uncertainty. Since it may be complicated for Tiger Woods to predict the outcome of this current
situation, this alone can be a factor of uncertainty.
Finally, we must discuss whether the current circumstances are a threat to the image
or goals of the accused. In order to do so, we can sum up the previous three key components: due
to the fact that the event and its extent must have come as a surprise for Tiger Woods and
furthermore produces some kind of uncertainty regarding the outcome of the circumstances, it
can be argued that this implies a certain threat to his image and goals72. Additionally, in the case of
Woods, another possible threat could be the reaction of his family. Based on articles found on the
internet, the wife of Tiger Woods is currently considering whether to divorce him or not73. Thus,
71
A random example of the volume of articles on this matter:
http://www.google.dk/imgres?imgurl=http://topnews.in/light/files/Tiger-Woods-ElinNordegren.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/light/people/elinnordegren&h=608&w=450&sz=36&tbnid=1AAUwUVTfNf4RM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Delin%2
Bnordegren&hl=da&usg=__CVDrbYWUcaH2jxQcyFliP-JL5dk=&ei=KOjXS4j5DZCCOP--awG&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CA0Q9QEwAQ
72
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/07/2009-1207_tiger_woods_popularity_dropping_since_revelation_of_alleged_mistresses_shows_new.html
73
A random example of an article containing information about an eventual divorce between Tiger Woods and his
wife: http://www.google.dk/imgres?imgurl=http://topnews.in/light/files/Tiger-Woods-ElinNordegren.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/light/people/elinnordegren&h=608&w=450&sz=36&tbnid=1AAUwUVTfNf4RM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Delin%2
Bnordegren&hl=da&usg=__CVDrbYWUcaH2jxQcyFliP-JL5dk=&ei=KOjXS4j5DZCCOP--awG&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CA0Q9QEwAQ
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this current situation not only threats his image to the public and his goals as a professional golf
player, but Tiger Woods is also facing threats to his personal life. Finally, as mentioned in the
introduction, various of Tiger Woods’ sponsors have faced a loss of market value since he
admitted his infidelity and some of them have faced a choice between continuing to corporate
with Woods or not.74 This may also be seen as a threat to Tiger Woods, since his endorsements
constitute a large amount of his income.75
To sum up the previous analysis in this section, we are able to conclude that Tiger
Woods is in fact facing a crisis, and thus a threat to his image, since the circumstances are fulfilling
the criteria stated by Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger. Therefore, our following analysis is based on
some of the crisis communication strategies used by Tiger Woods, referring to William Benoit’s
model of Image Restoration Strategies, in order to account for the way in which he has attempted
to restore his image.
4.2. An analysis of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
February 19th 2010, the professional golf player Tiger Woods apologized in a press
conference to the public and to his friends and family because of his affairs with other women
despite him being married and having 2 children. A lot of people have been disappointed with his
actions and both Tiger Woods’ image, business relations and private life have been damaged by
his wrongful act.
In this analysis we will look into which strategies, according to Benoit’s model, Tiger
Woods makes use of in his speech in order to try to restore his image and regain trust from both
the public, his fans and family.
When going into details with the speech we find several examples of the
Mortification-strategy, which according to William Benoit serves to apologize to the receiver (in
this case fans, friends, family etc.). The first example where Tiger Woods, according to Benoit’s
74
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1948181,00.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/07/2009-1207_tiger_woods_popularity_dropping_since_revelation_of_alleged_mistresses_shows_new.html
75
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theory, makes use of the Mortification-strategy can be seen in the following sentence: “I want to
say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behaviour
I engaged in76”. It can be argued that when using this Mortification-strategy and thereby
apologize, shows that Tiger Woods admits having acted wrongfully and takes full responsibility for
his actions. This can also be supported by a statement further into the speech: “... I am the only
person to blame”.77 Thus, Tiger Woods knows no other is to blame for this unfortunate situation
but him alone. Furthermore, the first quotation, which shows an example of the Mortificationstrategy, also expresses that Tiger Woods is truly sorry for his wrongdoings and that he regrets the
whole situation.
Tiger Woods also expresses his truly regrets and apologizes further into his speech:
“Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids. I owe all those families a special
apology. I want to say to them that I am truly sorry 78”. In this quotation Tiger Woods makes a
special apology to the parents who have considered him a role model for their children. This
shows that Tiger Woods once again takes full responsibility for his actions and furthermore, that
he is extremely sorry and embarrassed for having let down his young fans and their parents due to
his wrongful behaviour.
The speech comprises several other examples where Tiger Woods, according to
Benoit’s model, makes use of the Mortification-strategy. However; these other examples have the
same effect as the ones already pointed out in the analysis and will not be further introduced. To
sum up, it can be argued that Tiger Woods by using this strategy according to Benoit takes full
responsibility for the crisis he and his family experience caused by his selfish and irresponsible
behaviour. Furthermore, it shows that Tiger Woods truly regrets his actions due to the fact that he
several times apologizes to the public, his friends etc. Thus, it can be argued that Tiger Woods this
way tries to restore his damaged image.
Looking further into the speech another strategy according to William Benoit’s model
has been used several times by Tiger Woods; the Corrective Action-strategy, which describes how
the accused (in this case Tiger Woods) intends to solve the current problem and to prevent it for
76
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
78
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
77
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happening again. Firstly, we have an example regarding an initiative Tiger Woods already has
taken to solve his unfortunate problem: “For 45 days from the end of December to early February,
I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I am facing79”. This statement explains
that Tiger Woods already has been to therapy since December 2009 and therefore already has
acknowledged that he has a problem. Furthermore, the speech comprises another example of the
Corrective Action-strategy; “As I move forward, I will continue to receive help because I have
learned that is how people really do change. Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment
and more therapy80”. In this quotation Tiger Woods states that he in the future will continue to
seek help and therefore, it can be argued that Tiger Woods really attempts to restore his image by
expressing that he will do everything he can to be a better man and everything to solve the
unfortunate situation he is in. This can also be supported by the following sentence: “It is now up
to me to make amends and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I have made. It is up to me
to start living a life of integrity81”, where Tiger Woods explains to the public that he makes a great
effort to prevent recurrence of the circumstances.
To sum up, it can be argued that Tiger Woods several times throughout his public
statement uses the before mentioned strategy to express that he strives to correct his wrongful
acts and saving his marriage. Thus, it can be argued that Tiger Woods attempts to restore his
image.
Even though Tiger Woods takes full responsibility for his actions regarding his affairs
with other women, it can be argued that he one time during his speech makes use of the Simple
Denial-strategy. When using this strategy the sender, which in this case is Tiger Woods, denies the
whole act or denies taking part in it. The example of the Simple denial-strategy in the speech can
be seen in the following quotation: “Some people have made up things that never happened. They
said I used performance-enhancing drugs. This is completely and utterly false82”. It can be argued
that when using this exact strategy, Tiger Woods clearly states that the public’s accusation is
indeed not true. Thus, he denies taking part in any act regarding performance-enhancing drugs.
79
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
81
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
82
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
80
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However, he does not at all deny the real issue of the day; his infidelity. It can be argued, that
Tiger Woods chooses to include this in his press conference to clarify to his fans, his sponsors etc.,
that even though his infidelity has damaged his reputation he has always been a trustworthy
sportsman. Thus, it can be argued that Tiger Woods attempts to restore his image as a reliable and
honest golfer.
Finally, when moving further into Tiger Woods’ speech we find a fourth strategy
which according to Benoit’s model can be categorized as the Reducing Offensiveness of Eventstrategy. This strategy comprises various sub-strategies and among these the Bolstering-strategy,
which serves to stress good traits. Thus; the strategy serves to move focus from the unfortunate
situation and to create a more positive impression of the accused. An example of this exact
strategy can be seen in the following quotation: “Thirteen years ago, my dad and I envisioned
helping young people achieve their dreams through education. This work remains unchanged and
will continue to grow. From the Learning Center students in Southern California to the Earl Woods
scholars in Washington, D.C., millions of kids have changed their lives, and I am dedicated to
making sure that continues83.” Here, Tiger Woods emphasizes that he has done several good
things for many young students during the last 13 years. Furthermore, he states that this help will
continue regardless the crisis he is facing right now. By stressing his good traits to the public, it can
be argued that Tiger Woods attempts to move focus from his infidelity towards one of his positive
and good deeds in life.
To sum up the analysis of Tiger Woods’ public apology, it can be stated that he,
according to William Benoit, makes use of several strategies; the Mortification-strategy, the
Corrective Action-strategy and finally the Bolstering-strategy. He uses these according to Benoit in
his attempt to restore his image and to regain the public’s trust. Furthermore, it can be stated that
Tiger Woods makes use of the Simple Denial-strategy in order to clarify that he has never used any
kind of performance-enhancing drugs. Thus; it can be argued that Tiger Woods attempts to show
the public that he despite his current situation is a credible golf player.
83
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
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4.3. Analysis of Tiger Woods’ press releases
When visiting the website of Tiger Woods, it is possible to find a few press releases
on the circumstances in which he has found himself during the past months. In order to support
the analysis of the speech that Tiger Woods gave on February 19 th 2010, and thus in order to find
out how Tiger Woods has handled the crisis according to the strategies of Benoit, we have chosen
to analyze two of the written press releases that can be found on his website.
When using William Benoit’s theory on Image Restoration Strategies we find that the
texts written by Tiger Woods contain several of the strategies involved in the model. When
examining the content of the first press release, Tiger Comments on Current Events,84published on
December 2nd 2009, we quickly come across a Mortification-strategy in the very first sentence: “I
have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”85 Even though
Tiger Woods does not directly use the words ‘I apologize’ here, he obviously feels a certain
amount of guilty conscience. He realizes that he has been a huge disappointment to his family and
by using the word regret, he hereby apologizes for whatever bad behavior he may have had in
connection to these unfortunate circumstances. Another clearer example of the Mortificationstrategy is found at the very bottom of the comment, in the very last sentence: “For all of those
who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.”86 Woods seems to feel guilty
for having acted thoughtlessly and when analyzing this sentence alone, it can be argued that
Woods feels bad for having disappointed those who believe in him and trusted him to be a
credible person.
When moving further into the text, Woods utters that: “I am not without faults and I
am far short of perfect.”87 Although he does not directly claim that his actions were accidents and
mishaps, he tries to clarify that he himself, too, makes mistakes. Therefore it can be argued that
this quotation can be qualified as an Accident-strategy, which is a sub-category to the main
category Evasion of responsibility. Although Woods does not directly try to evade his responsibility
in this matter, it can be discussed that he attempts to modify it.
84
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
86
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
87
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
85
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As for the next quotation included, when well argued for, it may be categorized as an
Attack Accuser-strategy. “…there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to
some simple, human measures of privacy. I realize there are some who don’t share my view on
that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate
and within one’s own family. Personal sins should not require having press releases and problems
within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.” 88 Even though Tiger Woods still does
not try to reduce his own responsibility here, he is nonetheless strongly expressing his
dissatisfaction with the media’s interference. There are no signs of attempts to reduce the
credibility of the accuser, however; it can be argued that Woods is trying to place the media in a
bad light for scrutinizing the private life of him and his family.
Finally, the comment by Tiger Woods also includes a few examples of the Corrective
Action-strategy. The first one is found in the beginning of the text, where Woods states that: “I am
dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family.” 89 Very shortly,
this quotation tells us that Woods, first of all, realizes that he has failed, but also that he is now in
the process of evaluating his own behavior. Even though he does not directly tell us that he is
doing something to prevent recurrence, the fact that he is dealing with his behavior must be
assumed as a corrective action and an attempt to solve the problem, regardless of how he intends
to deal with it. Furthermore, the fact that he is coping with his situation ‘behind closed doors’ may
also be interpreted as a signal to the public to let him and his family cope with the situation
without any interference.
The second quotation which can be categorized as a Corrective Action says: “I will
strive to be a better person and the husband and the father that my family deserves.” 90 Here, it
must be assumed that Tiger Woods has realized that he in fact has not been the husband and
father his family deserves. Again, it seems as if he has evaluated his own behavior during the past
months and now it is clear to him that he has let his family down. Furthermore, when saying that
his family deserves a better husband and father, it can be discussed that his family has nothing to
do with his affairs. It can be argued that there has not been any larger problem within his private
88
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
90
Appendix 5: Tiger Woods press release
89
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life that has caused Tiger Woods to behave the way he did. This assumption can be supported by
several quotes in his speech (see section 4.2.) where Woods, among other, says: “What I did is not
acceptable and I am the only person to blame.”91 The Corrective Action-strategy mentioned above
can also be supported by another one of Tiger Woods’ statements, which can be found on his
web-site. Here, Woods himself claims that his biggest challenge is to become a better person
tomorrow92.
As for the second press release found on Tiger Woods’ web-site, Tiger Woods taking
hiatus from golf,93 published on December 11th 2009, this text also includes various different
strategies found in the model made by Benoit. At first sight, it can be argued whether it contains
other and new strategies compared to the one analyzed above, however; even though this press
release may comprise same types of strategies, some of them are made out of different and rather
interesting quotations.
Thus, alone the title, Tiger Woods taking hiatus from golf, can be categorized as
being a Corrective Action-strategy. Even though Woods does not directly, in the heading, tell us
with which purpose he is taking hiatus from golf, this sentence can easily be connected with a
quotation which is found later on in the text: “After much soul searching, I have decided to take an
indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband,
father and person.”94 Here, Woods explains why he feels the need to take a pause from his job as
a professional golf-player. It can be argued that the fact alone that he is willing to, indefinitely,
take a break from his job shows a great deal of regret. Thus, it can be argued that Woods is
sincerely sorry for his behavior and not least very intent on improving the situation for himself and
not least for his family when deciding to take a pause from golf. Apparently, he is willing to do his
best to exit this uncomfortable situation, an assumption supported by another Corrective Actionstrategy in this press release: “It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to
do my best to try.”95
91
Appendix 4: Transcript of Tiger Woods’ Public Apology Statement
http://web.tigerwoods.com/aboutTiger/didYouKnow
93
Appendix 6: Tiger Woods press release
94
Appendix 6: Tiger Woods press release
95
Appendix 6: Tiger Woods press release
92
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Finally, we come across a very clear example of a Mortification-strategy in this press
release: “I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness”.96
This reaffirms that Tiger Woods is significantly regretting his actions and he is actually hoping for
the public to forgive him. This obvious Mortification can be connected to the above-mentioned
Corrective Action-strategy, first of all since they appear in the same, rather short press release, but
secondly, since it can be argued that Tiger Woods is in fact deeply sorry (Mortification) and thus
he intends on making up for his mistakes (Corrective Action).
To sum up the previous two analyzed press releases, it is evident that some of
William Benoit’s strategies are repeated throughout both texts. Thus, it can be argued that even
though we have only chosen to analyze two press releases, they are in a way mutually confirming
since they comprise many of the same strategies. Those mostly included are the Corrective Actionstrategy and the Mortification-strategy, which tell us that Tiger Woods is attempting to restore his
image, mainly by apologizing and reassuring that this kind of behavior will not happen again.
4.4. Conclusion of the analysis of Tiger Woods
This conclusion is only to be seen as a part conclusion to the analysis of Tiger Woods.
The ultimate conclusion of this entire assignment can be read in section 7.
Initially, according to Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger, it can be stated that Tiger Woods is
in fact experiencing a crisis due to his revealed affairs. When using the theory of William Benoit it
can be stated, that a large amount of Tiger Woods’ verbal and textual defense comprises several
of the strategies in Benoit’s model of Image Restoration. When analyzing both his speech and his
two press releases, it is clear that Woods has made significantly use of Benoit’s Mortificationstrategy as well as the Corrective Action-strategy and by that it can be concluded that Tiger Woods
in fact regrets this entire situation and that he sincerely feels guilty for having initiated such
behavior.
96
Appendix 6: Tiger Woods press release
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5. Comparative analysis of Toyota and Tiger Woods
After having analyzed both the crisis communication of Toyota and Tiger Woods, we
can now compare how the two parties have addressed their crisis. The reason for this brief
comparative analysis is the fact that William Benoit’s theory of Image Restoration Strategies can
be applied to both a company as well as an individual, according to Benoit himself. Therefore, we
will investigate if there exists any resemblance in the use of the various strategies between a
company and an individual.
As for the company Toyota, we realize that we have only made use of a small part of
their entire amount of crisis communication, however; we have nonetheless found various
similarities in both speeches as well as the press releases used in this assignment.
When going through the different speeches and texts of Toyota, the analysis has
indicated that the company has not made use of all of Benoit’s strategies in his model. In fact, it is
evident that the majority of the verbal and textual defense can be categorized under the following
strategies: Mortification-strategy, Corrective Action-strategy and the Bolstering-strategy, which is
a sub-strategy to the Reducing Offensiveness of Event- strategy. According to the theory explained
in section 2.3., this tells us that Toyota is not trying to abdicate their responsibility in this matter.
Otherwise, they would have made use of other strategies. On the contrary, they take full
responsibility, express their true regrets and not least they are making a great effort to solve this
problem and thus prevent it from recurring.
As for the individual Tiger Woods, we are well aware of the fact that we here, too,
only have made use of some part of his crisis communication regarding this situation. However;
we have come across various similarities in both his speech as well as the two employed press
releases found on Tiger Woods’ own web-site. Thus it can be argued that despite the use of only a
few analyze-objects, they are mutually confirming the content of one another, since they contain
the same types of strategies.
When examining the speech and press releases published by Tiger Woods, it has
become clear that he, just like Toyota, not has made use of all of William Benoit’s strategies.
Furthermore, there is also an unequal dispersion of the used strategies. This means that the ones
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used are not all used in the same amount. To be more precise, there is an overwhelmingly use of
the following three strategies: Mortification-strategy, Corrective Action-strategy and the
Bolstering-strategy. This tells us that Tiger Woods does not, in any way, try to escape his
responsibility in this matter. In fact, Woods is very apologizing throughout both speech and press
releases and he is very eager to explain to the public how sorry he is for his behavior.
Furthermore, when making use of the above-mentioned three strategies, it can be argued that
Tiger Woods is making a huge effort to solve this unfortunate situation and reassure his
surroundings that such circumstances will never occur again.
Now, after having stated which ones of William Benoit’s strategies that are most
dominant throughout the analyzed crisis communication of both Toyota and Tiger Woods, we are
able to compare them in order to see if there are similarities in the way the two parties have
addressed their crisis. As already explained, there are three strategies which dominate both the
verbal and textual defense of both Toyota and Tiger Woods. Thus, based on the use of these exact
strategies, it can be argued that Toyota and Tiger Woods are finding themselves in a somewhat
similar crisis, since they are both responsible for the incidents and in this situation it may be hard
to abdicate their accountability and blame another party. This may be the reason why they are
making use of the same strategies, according to Benoit’s model.
Based on our analysis it can be concluded that William Benoit is right when stating
that his model can be used by companies as well as individuals when needing to defend or restore
their image. It is very clear that his model can be applied to the verbal and textual defense used by
both Toyota and Tiger Woods. Furthermore, it seems as if the strategies are utilized the same way,
no matter if the accused is a company or an individual. This difference does not seem to have any
kind of importance when dealing with his theories.
6. Effective crisis communication or not?
In this section we will investigate whether the crisis communication of both Toyota
and Tiger Woods may have had any positive effect, thus, whether the two parties have managed
to restore their image after their crises.
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Initiating with Toyota, their crisis is assumed to have had a negative impact on their
sales in the U.S. According to various articles, the sale of Toyota vehicles experienced a 16 percent
drop in the U.S. in January 2010, compared to same month in the year 2009.97 However; a Gallup
poll published on March 2nd 2010 has shown very positive results concerning the Americans’
opinion towards Toyota and the safety of their vehicles.98 Thus, 61 percent of all Americans,
regardless of being a Toyota-owner or not, have not lost confidence in the company despite the
recent safety issues. In addition to this, a total of 74 percent of current Toyota-owners are even
more positive and a total of 82 percent of the owners still believe Toyota vehicles to be safe for
transportation. In fact, approximately three-quarters of those who would have considered a
Toyota before the recalls are still considering either buying or leasing one. 99 Furthermore,
according to a web-article published on www.reuters.com on April 1st 2010, figures tell us that the
U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles increased by 24 percent in March – the best sales figure since August
2009.100
Based on this survey, it is possible for us to make a small timeline, in order to
investigate if the crisis communication by Toyota may have encouraged this positive impact on the
Americans. As mentioned before, the two articles showed us a drop in the U.S. sales of Toyota
vehicles in January. This drop may be caused by the recalls of several of the Toyota vehicles,
although; we cannot say for certain that this is the only reason for the drop. However; when taking
a look at the dates for the analyzed speeches by Jim Lentz and Akio Toyoda, which took place on
respectively February 1st and February 24th 2010, it can be argued that these may have had a
positive effect on the numbers published in the Gallup poll from March 2 nd.
To sum up; the U.S. sale of Toyota vehicles faced a drop in January 2010. However;
after both Akio Toyoda and Jim Lentz held their respective speeches and apologized to the public,
the figures seemed to increase and according to the before-mentioned article published by
Reuters, Toyota faced a rise in their U.S. sales in March 2010. Therefore it can be argued that
97
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123283959 and
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-02/toyota-sales-drop-may-mean-tough-months-ahead-on-recallcrisis.html
98
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126236/Americans-Toyota-Owners-Confident-Toyota-Vehicles.aspx
99
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126236/Americans-Toyota-Owners-Confident-Toyota-Vehicles.aspx
100
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6302CG20100402
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Toyota’s crisis communication may have had a positive effect on both the Americans’ confidence
in the company and thus also on the number of sold vehicles afterwards. However; it is important
to state that it cannot be concluded that Toyota’s crisis communication has been the only factor
for this improvement, even though it must be assumed that is has played an important role.
As for the circumstances concerning Tiger Woods, his revealed affairs also appeared
to have had a negative impact on his popularity as a professional sportsman. In fact, according to a
web-article published on the NY Daily News on December 7th 2009, based on a Gallup poll, Tiger
Woods’ rating among the public dropped approximately 24 percent since June last year.101 As a
respond to the increasing public interest in his affairs, Woods went public on February 19 th 2010,
in order to explain himself and not least in order to apologize.
On March 26th 2010, another article was published in the same, above-mentioned
online-newspaper, NY Daily News, stating that Woods’ popularity among the public was again
rising. In fact, a total of 59 percent of the questioned in the opinion poll want to see him win the
Master Tournament, while 20 percent of the questioned are rooting against him. It can of course
be discussed whether this has anything to do with his affairs and following apology, or if it is just
common interest in sport.
To sum up, the popularity of Woods fell rapidly since it was revealed that he had had
affairs with several different women in 2009. However; after Woods went public and apologized in
February 2010, it seems as if his popularity again rose. It may still not be the same as before, but
better than the before-mentioned opinion poll published in December 2009. Therefore, it can be
argued that Tiger Woods’ crisis communication has had a positive effect on his image restoration.
However; it is important to state that it may not necessarily be the crisis communication itself that
may have caused the increased popularity, although it must be assumed to have played a certain
role.
101
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/07/2009-1207_tiger_woods_popularity_dropping_since_revelation_of_alleged_mistresses_shows_new.html
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7. Conclusion
After having analyzed the textual content of different press releases from both
Toyota and Tiger Woods, and additionally analyzed the verbal content of different speeches from
each party, we are now able to conclude whether we have achieved our intended purpose of this
assignment.
Initiating with Toyota, we firstly wanted to investigate whether or not the company
was in fact experiencing a crisis. Based on the theory by Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger, we discovered
that an event must comprise four key components in order to be categorized as being a crisis.
According to our analysis of the unfortunate situation concerning the Toyota Motor Corporation,
we discovered that the event was actually fulfilling the requirements stated by the three previous
mentioned theorists: Toyota thus has experienced an unexpected, non-routine situation, which
ultimately has caused uncertainty and not least a threat to the goals of the company. Therefore,
we can conclude that Toyota has experienced a crisis.
Continuing with the crisis communication of Toyota, and the company’s attempt to
restore their image, we chose to make various analyses of both speeches and a press release, in
the light of William Benoit’s Theory of Image Restoration Strategies. According to his model, we
discovered and can thus conclude that Toyota has made overwhelmingly use of three strategies in
particular, namely the Mortification-strategy, the Corrective Action-strategy and finally the
Bolstering-strategy. However; in the analyzed press release, we came across a deviation from this
pattern, since it comprised other strategies (the Attack Accuser-strategy and the Shift in blamestrategy) than the ones mentioned above. We chose to include this press release in order to
support Benoit’s idea that when trying to restore an image, several strategies are usually selected
and combined.
According to the theory of Benoit, it can then be further concluded that Toyota, due
to the used strategies, is not trying to abdicate their accountability in this crisis. In fact, they are,
throughout both speeches taking full responsibility for those incidents for which they know they
are to blame and they are very intent on making up for their errors, hence the overwhelmingly
use of Mortification and Corrective Action. However; on the other side, according to our analysis of
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Tina Bech Svoldgaard and Marianne Johnsen Gøgsig
the one press release, Toyota does not want to take blame for incidents not caused by them
directly, hence the use of the Shift in blame and Attack Accuser.
Moving on to the analysis of Tiger Woods, we again wanted to investigate whether
or not he in fact was experiencing a crisis. Based on the theory and thus the four key components
presented by Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger, we found that Tiger Woods’ situation comprises both
the requirement of being unexpected and a non-routine event, which eventually has caused
uncertainty and threats to his goals. Thus, we are able to conclude that Tiger Woods’ situation is in
fact a crisis.
As for his crisis communication and attempt to restore his image, we chose to
analyze his apology speech and two press releases. This was also done in the light of William
Benoit’s Theory of Image Restoration Strategies. As was the case with the crisis communication of
Toyota, Tiger Woods’ speech and press releases both overwhelmingly comprise a use of three
strategies in particular: the Mortification-strategy, Corrective Action-strategy and the Bolsteringstrategy. However, in one of the analyzed press releases, we have nevertheless discovered the use
of another strategy, namely the Attack Accuser-strategy. Again, this shows us that several
strategies are usually selected and combined when attempting to restore an image, according to
Benoit.
When the verbal and textual defense can be categorized as being the three beforementioned strategies, we can hereby conclude that Tiger Woods is sincerely regretting his
behavior and furthermore takes full responsibility for his actions. In fact, he is apologizing several
times and not least he explains to the public how he intends to improve himself as a person, in
order to restore his image and regain the trust among the public. When making use of the
Bolstering-strategy, this tells us that Tiger Woods wants to show the public that despite his recent
behavior, he still engages in helping others. This is in order for the public to have a less aggressive
opinion of him.
As for the comparative analysis between Toyota and Tiger Woods’ crisis
communication and attempt to restore their images, this was done in order to see if there is any
resemblance between a company and an individual when employing Benoit’s strategies. After
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having compared the two parties, we discovered that there was a certain similarity between the
company and the individual. The two parties have, more or less, made use of the exact same
strategies and therefore we are able to conclude that, when facing a similar crisis (both Toyota
and Tiger Woods are both taking responsibility for their actions) it does not matter whether you
are a company or an individual – the strategies are employed the same way.
Finally, we intended to investigate whether or not the crisis communication of
Toyota and Tiger Woods respectively may have had any effect. In our section regarding statistics,
we have been able to see, that opinion polls and public ratings have been rather positive after the
publishing dates of the different speeches and press releases from both Toyota and Tiger Woods.
Therefore it can be argued that the crisis communication has had a positive effect. However; it is
not possible to conclude for certain that the crisis communication is the only reason for the
positive figures. Other factors may also have played a role, however; it can be highly argued that
the crisis communication from both parties has not made matters worse.
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8. Bibliography
Books:



Benoit, William L.; Accounts, Excuses and apologies – A theory of Image Restoration
Strategies; 1995; State University of New York Press
Coombs, W. Timothy; Ongoing Crisis Communication – Planning, Managing and
Responding; 1999; SAGE Publications
Ulmer, Robert R; Sellnow, Timothy L; Seeger, Matthew W; Effective Crisis Communication –
Moving from Crisis to Opportunity; 2007; SAGE Publications
Articles:
 Frandsen, Finn and Johansen, Winni; Crisis Communication and the Rhetorical Arena – A
Multi-vocal approach; 2005; Conference on Corporate Communication
 Frandsen, Finn and Johansen, Winni; Retorik og Krisekommunikation; May 2004; Rhetorica
Scandinavia no. 14
Web-pages:
 www.toyota.com
o http://www.toyota.com/about/our_business/our_history/timeline.html
o http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/philosophy/index.html

www.tigerwoods.com
o http://web.tigerwoods.com/aboutTiger/bio
o http://web.tigerwoods.com/sponsors/sponsors
o http://www.tigerwoods.com/news/article/200912027740572/news
o http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/200912117801012/news/
o http://web.tigerwoods.com/aboutTiger/didYouKnow

www.reuters.com
o http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61M0IT20100223
o http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6302CG20100402

www.wikipedia.com
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o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods#Charity_and_youth_projects
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota
o http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krisekommunikation

www.foxnews.com
o http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/11/28/tiger-woods-car-crash-came-explosive-storyclaiming-affair/

www.npr.org (National Public Radio)
o http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123283959

www.businessweek.com (Bloomberg Businessweek)
o http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-02/toyota-sales-drop-may-meantough-months-ahead-on-recall-crisis.html

www.gallup.com
o http://www.gallup.com/poll/126236/Americans-Toyota-Owners-Confident-ToyotaVehicles.aspx

www.business.dk
o http://www.business.dk/medier-reklamer/tiger-woods-utroskab-koster-sponsorerop-til-62-milliarder-kr

www.times.com
o http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1948181,00.html

www.google.dk
o http://www.google.dk/imgres?imgurl=http://topnews.in/light/files/Tiger-Woods-ElinNordegren.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/light/people/elin-47-
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nordegren&h=608&w=450&sz=36&tbnid=1AAUwUVTfNf4RM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=101&pre
v=/images%3Fq%3Delin%2Bnordegren&hl=da&usg=__CVDrbYWUcaH2jxQcyFliPJL5dk=&ei=KOjXS4j5DZCCOP--awG&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CA0Q9QEwAQ

www.youtube.com (speeches)
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA7ty2LQwc0&feature=fvst (Tiger Woods)
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCb2dEFBq7I (Jim Lentz)
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6tXq6YF8SQ (Akio Toyoda, part 1)
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJvp5YdacWY&feature=related (Akio Toyoda,
part 2)

www.washingtonpost.com
o http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403199.html
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