An attributional analysis of corporate reporting in crisis situations

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use an attributional approach to examine press coverage in Germany dealing with Toyota’s 2010 global product recall due to purportedly defective brakes. The research focuses on the attributions of cause and responsibility and, thereby, the practices of media-brokered selection and interpretation of events. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used is a quantitative content analysis of selected German print media. Corporate reporting is analysed with the help of attribution theory approaches from the field of psychology, which, when applied to public relations themes, thereby enables the identification of latent and manifest risk factors that emerge from the perceived responsibility of the media. Findings – Causal attributions are an essential aspect of coverage in acute crisis situations. The key findings show a dominance of internal attributions of responsibility in which the media interprets the crisis as self inflicted and ascribes a high level of fault on the company. Exonerating attributions according to a self-serving bias find little resonance in the coverage. The responsibility attributed to Toyota by the media coverage to a sustained damage to the company’s reputation. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that attribution theory can be productively applied to questions of communication management. This approach enables an analysis of attribution discourse as well as the potential long-term effects on the company’s reputation. Thus, the original value of this study lies in the psychological foundation of organisational risk and opportunity.

Lessons from a crisis: An analysis of Toyota's handling of the recall crisis

“…Tennert () analyzed news coverage of the Toyota recall crisis in Germany. He discovered that the press concentrated on the internal attributions of the Toyota recall crisis and that the negative reports surrounding the crisis threatened the reputation of Toyota in the long term.…”

“…Andrews et al (2011) also note that the Toyota crisis will provide important lessons to the global auto industry from both an operational and strategic perspective. Tennert (2014) analyzed news coverage of the Toyota recall crisis in Germany. He discovered that the press concentrated on the internal attributions of the Toyota recall crisis and that the negative reports surrounding the crisis threatened the reputation of Toyota in the long term.…”

Small business marketing strategies for physical therapy practice owners

“…Toyota executives have had to earn these positive brand associations back over the past 10 years since surviving a product harm crisis for unintentional accelerating vehicles. During this time the brand association chains may have included dangerous, dishonesty, faulty electronics, and product harm (Tennert, 2014). These associations are not permanently tied to the anchor brand, and the stronger the reputation of the brand the easier these negative associations are to break.…”

Examination of Product Recalls In Terms of Attribution Theory in the Marketing Context: A Qualitative MetaAnalysis

“…After examining 185 product recall announcements in their study, Hsu and Lawrance (2016) expressed that previous crisis history of an organization has a direct negative effect on firm value. Tennert's (2014) content analysis of German print media resulted that media handling of the Toyota 2010 crisis affected how people perceived the situation, and consequently influenced the company image. Carvalho et al, (2015) emphasized the importance of blame attributions on the damage to corporate reputation in their experimental study.…”