Image repair discourse of Chilean companies facing a scandal

Abstract

This study examines the construction of a positive corporate image in public statements issued by 12 Chilean companies facing a crisis in the period January 2008 to July 2010. Drawing on repair image theory (Benoit, 1997), narrative theory (Labov and Waletsky, 1967), and argumentation theory (Aristotle), this article aims to investigate which discursive strategies and which linguistic structures have been instrumental in this construction. Three analytical categories were investigated in this study, namely, image repair strategies, construction of ethos, and narratives. In each of these categories, special attention is paid to lexico-grammatical features (e.g. active voice/passive voice, grammatical metaphor, etc.) and socio-pragmatic strategies (e.g. redundancy). The analysis shows that the core image repair strategy is denial, which is accomplished through a highly rhetorical language. It also demonstrates how the public statements create a secondary narrative of the companies’ good sense, good moral character, and goodwill, through the use and abuse of linguistic and pragmatic devices.