Managing organizational reputation in response to a public shaming campaign

Abstract

Sport has embraced social media, intensifying the (online) coverage of sport organizations and athletes. Until now, the role that social media has played in the renaissance of public shaming in sport has received little attention. To address this gap, the authors present a novel case study of a public, online shaming campaign against an English Premier League football club by one of their own supporters. Data were collected from multiple sources, including online sources and organizational documents that informed both the creation of semi-structured interviews and the development of a process model of public, online shaming. Findings reveal how a supporter query was mishandled by the club. In response, the supporter turned-activist launched a low-scale online shaming campaign about disability discrimination. The campaign escalated in profile to gain national media attention. Within the framework of Online Reputation Management, the authors present the organizational response that sought to bolster the club's reputation by deploying a series of internal and external responses. The authors conclude that to minimize the potentially negative effects of public shaming in sport, sports organizations should implement specific reputation management practices but ones that monitor online sources for potential issues and crises.

Self-promotion and online shaming during COVID-19: A toxic combination

“…Prior research has found that the time has never been more opportune for favourite stars to alleviate the world once again, and unfortunately for those with blue checkmarks on Twitter and Instagram, the age of star-studded thoughts and prayers seems to be over ( Thawani, 2020 ). Despite the risk of unfair shaming if the shamers turn out to be wrong, online shaming campaigns arguably play a part in uncovering alleged social or moral offenses ( Kitchin et al, 2020 ). The risks associated with whether and how information is disclosed on SM have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has led to more conscious relationship building, enjoyment and self-presentation to prevent negative assessments and backlash from communities and networks ( Nabity-Grover et al, 2020 ).…”

Perceptions of the role of traditional and social media in communicating corruption

“…The onset of social media over the last decade has created new opportunities to accelerate how the public processes information. Indeed, social media facilitates the spreading of information about corruption and scandals (Kitchin, Paramio-Salcines & Walters, 2020). Social media users can gain access to more diverse, independent, and foreign media sources (Masters & Graycar, 2015).…”