The Corporate Web Site as an Image Restoration Tool: The Case of Coca-Cola
http://businesscommunication.org/conventions/Proceedings/2004/PDFs/05ABC04.PDF

Waller, Randall L. and Nicola Graves
Association for Business Communication
2004

Abstract:

In this study, the communication tactics Coca-Cola uses on its Web site to mediate the negative publicity generated by the 1999 Ingram, et al. vs. The Coca-Cola Company lawsuit are examined. Drawing upon Benoit’s theory of image restoration and the metanarration construct of Venette, Sellnow, and Lang (2003), this study analyzes how Coca-Cola uses its Web site to create a secondary narrative that revises the derogatory primary narrative created by the independent media during the lawsuit. The case of Coca-Cola indicates that corporate Web sites can be an especially effective communication tool in the image-restoration phase of a crisis communication campaign.