Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies: Image Repair Theory Extended

Proposes a theory and case studies on repairing a damaged or threatened image or reputation.

In our constantly plugged-in and connected world, image is everything. People, groups, organizations, and countries frequently come under suspicion of wrongdoing and sometimes require defense. Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies describes the image-repair strategies that may be used to help defuse these threats.

The Third Edition of this classic book builds on theories for rehabilitating a damaged reputation by adding two new forms of denial: straw denial (appearing to deny an accusation by sidestepping it) and deflecting attention (trying to get the audience to focus on something other than the accusations against you). Five contexts for image repair are examined: corporate, political, sports/entertainment, international, and third party (when one person or organization tries to repair the image of another). The book's case studies include current instances of reputation repair, including Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and President Joe Biden on Afghanistan; Southwest Airlines on flight cancellations; Kobe Bryant on accusations of rape; and Donald Trump on the January 6 hearings.

Author: William L. Benoit
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 01/01/2024
Pages: 180
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.96lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.56d
ISBN: 9781438496078

About the Author

William L. Benoit is Distinguished Professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He is the author of many books, including (with Pamela J. Benoit) Persuasive Messages: The Process of Influence.

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