Are Athletes Suspected of Doping Able to Rebuild a Positive Image?

"Pöppel, K., Strauss, B., Petroczi, A. & Blöbaum, B."

Abstract

In 2006 Floyd Landis won the Tour de France and lost his title shortly afterwards in consequence of a positive doping test. It is one of the most investigated doping cases in science (e.g. Glantz, 2010). To rebuild his reputation and to regain trust, Landis applied different image repair-strategies according to the Theory of Image Repair (Benoit, 1995). Benoit's theory comprises 5 verbal basic strategies, namely denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action and mortification. Most athletes found guilty of doping try to repair their images by communicating directly to their recipients, often by social media like Facebook or Twitter. They try to prevent financial losses (e.g. withdrawal of sponsors) or nonmaterial damage (e.g. distrust)(Glantz, 2010). To date, no empirical studies have been conducted into image repair in doping. In this presentation, results of a literature review concerning image repair, sports and social media will be discussed. An analysis of articles linked by the database "SCOPUS" concerning image repair and/or social media in sports was carried out. An additional forward and backward search resulted in 14 articles, published between 1994 and 2012. Seven of them concerned image repair directly and constituted the final sample for further analysis. All articles were case studies, mostly evaluated by content analysis. Only 2 articles combined the aspects image repair, social media and doping. Most studies (85,7%) applied the Theory of Image Repair (Benoit, 1995). Athletes combined at least 4 different strategies: mostly attacking the accuser (in 6 cases), denial (5 cases), defeasibility of the allegations (4 cases), but also mortification (5 cases). Only 3 studies included verification of the effectiveness of the image repair efforts. Only one athlete out of five has managed to repair his image. In contrast to all other cases, he admitted his transgression immediately and apologized (Walsh, 2011). The lack of experimental designs renders establishing causal relationships impossible, thus results have to be interpreted with caution. One key theme emerged suggests that athletes undertake multifaceted efforts to rebuild their image. Mostly these efforts were not successful and thus the damage remained. Literature evidence shows honesty and apology appear to be the most effective. To date, social media has played only a minor role. As many athletes utilize social media to connect with their fans, resulting in a significantly changed athlete-fan relationship (Kassing & Sanderson, 2010), further research is required to focus on the function of this medium in image repair-strategies. Literature Benoit, W. L. (1995). Accounts, excuses, apologies: A theory of image restoration strategies. New York: State University of New York Press. Glantz, M. (2010). The Floyd Landis doping scandal: Implications for image repair discourse. Public Relations Review, 36(2), 157-163. Kassing, J. W., & Sanderson, J. (2010). Fan-Athlete Interaction and Twitter Tweeting Through the Giro: A Case Study. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(1), 113-128. Walsh, J., McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2011). Analysis of the image repair discourse in the Michael Phelps controversy. Public Relations Review, 37(2), 157-162.