Crisis Communication Theory Application: Cheerios' Response to Prince's Death
Overview
This paper analyzes Cheerios' public relations failure following an insensitive social media post about Prince's death. It examines how the company employed apologia and image restoration theories to manage the crisis, arguing that the conciliation approach and swift removal of the post represented the most appropriate response given the sensitive mourning context.
What this coursework covers
- Identification of crisis communication theories applied by Cheerios (apologia and image restoration)
- Analysis of three dimensions of apologia theory (redefinition, dissociation, conciliation) and which was employed
- Evaluation of whether the chosen response was optimal and justification for the company's approach
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- Identity which theories you think co. used to respond to the crisis and why you chose those theories.
After annoying fans of Prince by putting the stamp of the company on the rest in peace message, Cheerios employed both the apologia and the image restoration theory. The application of the apologia theory was to ensure that the company discloses that it was not its intention to exploit the death of the celebrity to advance its marketing strategies. The company communicated to the fans through the social media platform that the intention of the post was to show people that they are as grieved as the rest of the nation for losing an auspicious hero. Notably, there are three dimensions of the apologia theory, namely: redefinition, dissociation and conciliation. Redefinition refers to the approach in which an organization denies posed accusations and affirms its position that the accusations are false. The approach would not suit the strategy which Cheerios employed since the post was visible to the public and some of the viewers took screenshots. As a result, there would not have denied. The other dimension is dissociation, whereby a company explains that whatever it did was not wrong. In this case, the organization does not deny orchestrating a given action. However, the mitigation calls for using persuasion techniques to change the mentality of the customers.