Image Restoration Discourse

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The transgressive intimate self indicates the self motivated by temporary emotion; it is also the kind of information/image that passes throughout cyberspace because of its

“visceral” quality of being closer to the core of the being. For example, Elizabeth Taylor’s Twitter posts revealed her grief-stricken self as a result of Michael Jackson’s death.

Marshall (2006) suggested that the transgressive intimate self travels quickly back into the representative media culture and entertainment reports on celebrities. Thus, it is a faster way to notoriety and attention in the world of on-line culture for all users and for celebrities whose “behavioral transgressions expressed in interpersonal registers move swiftly into the powerful viral on-line juggernaut” (p 45).

2.3.4 Image Restoration Discourse

According to Gotsi and Wilson (2001), image represents the sum of beliefs, attitudes, and impressions that a person or a group of stakeholders has toward an object. Benoit (1997a) argued that image is the perception of a person (or group, or organization) held by the audience, which is shaped by the words and actions of that person, as well as by the discourse and behavior of other relevant actors. Schlenker (1980) also indicated that individuals form an image of the actor involved based on the information made available to them, and certain predicaments can “damage” one’s identity and “adversely affect the relationship with the audience”. In the past, the major channel for audiences to perceive the image of a celebrity was through the traditional media; however, since celebrities have begun to operate their own blogs, they have provided their audience with an extra channel to discover and explore information, and thus, a new space to shape their image.

By combining typologies from previous researchers (Burke, 1970; Scott & Lyman, 1968; Rosenfield, 1968; Ware& Linkugel, 1973), Benoit (1995) developed the image restoration theory, which included five self-defense approaches: denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification. These are

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described in detail below.

Denial

When accused of performing an inappropriate act, one may simply deny that the act took place (Ware & Linkugel, 1973). It is also possible that one may admit to performing the act, but claim that it was far from being harmful (Brinson& Benoit, 1996). Therefore, Burke (1970) proposed the notion of “victimage”, which suggests that the third party actually performed the offensive act.

Evading Responsibility

This strategy has four categories, including provocation, defeasibility, accidents and good intentions. Provocation suggests that the accused can claim that his or her action was performed in response to an offensive act perpetrated by another party (Scott and Lyman, 1968). Defeasibility indicates that the wrongdoing was due to a lack of information or control over the situation (Schonbach, 1980; Semin & Manstead, 1983). It is also possible that the accused will refer to the wrongdoing as being an accident, and insist that he or she should not be reprimanded for it (Scott & Lyman, 1968; Semin & Manstead, 1983). Finally, the accused may state that the offensive behavior was perpetrated with good intentions, and that his or her responsibility should be alleviated (Ware & Linkugel, 1973).

Reducing offensiveness

There are six strategies in this category. Firstly, the accused may use bolstering to enhance a positive image, and thus offset the negative impacts of the wrongful act. Secondly, by minimizing the association between the negative feelings and the offensive act, it is possible that the reputation of the accused can be regained (Schonbach, 1980; Schlenker, 1980; Semin & Manstead, 1983). The differentiation strategy argues that the accused may

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perpetrate another act, which is similar but less harmful toward his or her image in order to shift the focus of the audience (Ware & Linkugel, 1973). The fourth strategy is transcendence (Ware & Linkugel, 1973), which suggests that the accused justify his or her behavior by putting it in a more favorable context, thus reducing the negative impact (Schonbach, 1980; Schlenker, 1980; Tedeschi & Reiss, 1981; Semin & Manstead, 1983).

The fifth strategy is to reduce the credibility of the accuser. If the accused can make his or her audience believe that the accusation is unconvincing, the damage may be somewhat mitigated (Rosenfield, 1968; Scott & Lyman, 1968). Finally, compensation suggests that the accused may make up for the harm caused by the offensive act, and if the audience accepts this reparation, the negative image will be alleviated (Schonbach, 1980).

Corrective action

This strategy attempts to repair the image of the accused and restore it to the state before the offensive event occurred and/or to prevent it from happening again. If the accused is willing to correct or prevent the offensive act, his or her positive image and reputation will be enhanced.

Mortification

Finally, Burke indicated that, if the accused chooses to admit to committing the offensive act and offers an authentic apology, the audience may choose to forgive him or her for perpetrating the act (1970, 1973).

Benoit’s theory is based on the premise “that human beings engage in recurrent patterns of communicative behaviors designed to reduce, redress, or avoid damage to their reputation (or face or image) from perceived wrong-doing” (1995a, p.vii). He (1997) conducted research to investigate the image restoration discourse used by Hugh Grant, the famous British actor, when he was arrested in Hollywood for lewd behavior with a

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prostitute. He discovered that it was easier and usually more effective for entertainers to adopt a mortification strategy compared with politicians and corporations. Benoit (1997) argued that entertainers are less likely to have third parties make or prolong attacks in the media, which is often the predicament faced by politicians and corporations. Also, admitting mistakes in the political or business world is risky because this often arouses the distrust of constituents or the failure of lawsuits.

Huang (2006) explored the effect of crisis communication strategies (CCS) by investigating how politicians’ images are demonstrated in media coverage during a crisis, which is considered to be a crucial factor of the public’s perception of political actors, issues and events. Her research was based on Bradford and Garrett’s (1995) corporative communicative response model, which includes two basic assumptions. Firstly, it is assumed that the accusation is actively transmitted by the accusing actor and/or news media, so that third parties begin to notice the allegations. Secondly, it is assumed that the third parties have the ability to evaluate or consider the validity of the accusation and can reject the allegation if they believe that the accuser has low credibility.

The fundamental attribution error and discounting principle are the two major themes of the theory. Jones and Nisbett (1971) suggested that the fundamental attribution error is the tendency of third parties to attribute the responsibility for negative actions to the personal characteristics of the actor involved (e.g., greed, selfishness), and if the actor does not provide the third parties with sufficient situational information and/or positive dispositional information (i.e., values, standards), they may make the wrong assumption about the actor’s behavior. As for discounting principle, Kelley (1973) argued that a negative disposition may be discounted as being responsible for any action if other convincing explanations are presented. Therefore, if an accused actor can provide third parties with plausible information, they may use the information to re-evaluate their

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judgment.