A Recovery Framework for rebuilding Brand Trust following a Public PR Crisis
Keywords:
Brand trust, PR crisis management, Public relations crisis, Reputation resilience, Trust repairAbstract
When the tacit contract between the brand and its customers, employees, partners, and media is broken, an open PR dilemma emerges and starts a questioning cycle, with customers and employees questioning the brand's capabilities, and partners and media questioning even more. This paper analyses recent studies in the field of crisis communication, contributions on brand trust, misinformation correction, social media response, CEO communication, CSR fit, and AI in crisis communication, respectively, and derives strategies to rebuild brand trust in cases of a clear failure in its efforts. The analysis includes conclusions that people rebuild trust through an early admission, taking full responsibility, a fitting corrective action, fair treatment of affected populations, and the ability to provide evidence and communicate in a way that is linked over time - not just by offering apologies. To bring the findings of crisis research into practice, the paper proposes a model of six steps (6Rs) or the ‘(Re)Acting to a Crisis' model for practitioners in the areas of management and communications: Recognize, Respond, Repair, Reassure, Rebuild and Review. The study adds to this by relating recent empirical research with a viable recovery plan, a crisis response matrix, and a trust measurement dashboard, and concludes that the best brands after a crisis aren't simply 'business as usual' brands, but instead ‘more transparent’, ‘more accountable’ and ‘more helpful’ brands.
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