Article summaries

Image Repair Across the Racial Spectrum: Experimentally Exploring Athlete Transgression Responses Kenon A. Brown, Andrew Billings, & Michael Devlin

This study examines the extent to which an athlete’s race impacts the image repair process within media-filtered athlete transgressions by utilizing a 5 (race) × 3 (response strategy) factorial experiment and employing Benoit’s (1995) image repair typology. Reponses from a national sample of 215 participants revealed that, independent of race, the mortification strategy was more effective for repairing an athlete’s image compared to reducing offensiveness and evading responsibility strategies, supporting current image repair studies. This study also revealed that the athlete in the White condition was uniformly viewed as being less successful than four other racial conditions (Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern) in achieving image repair, a new result within this stream of image repair scholarship. Conclusions related to social identity theory and expectancy violation are rendered.

Keywords: Athlete Image Repair; Expectancy Violation Theory; Experiment; Race; Social Identity Theory

The cultural importance and overall societal relevance of modern professional athletes have never been higher (Griffin, 2013). However, condemnation has become increas- ingly permeating in a hypermediated age when athletes are accused of committing various forms of transgressions. The result—pedestaled athletes’ faltering and crum- bling reputational images. The rise and fall of the modern sports hero (see Wenner,

Kenon A. Brown (PhD, The University of Alabama, 2012) is an assistant professor of Public Relations at the University of Alabama. Andrew Billings (PhD, Indiana University, 1999) is the Ronald Regan Chair in Tele- communication and Film at the University of Alabama. Michael Devlin (PhD, The University of Alabama, 2013) is an assistant professor of Advertising and Public Relations at DePaul University. Correspondence: Kenon A. Brown, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Alabama, 440 Reese Phifer Hall, Tusca- loosa, AL 35487. E-mail: brown@apr.ua.edu

Communication Research Reports Vol. 33, No. 1, January–March 2016, pp. 47–53

ISSN 0882-4096 (print)/ISSN 1746-4099 (online) © 2016 Eastern Communication Association DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2015.1117442

2013) has resulted in focus on the image repair response, with athletes having different levels of success in restoring their image depending on a variety of variables (Brown, in press; Brown, Dickhaus, & Long, 2012).

The issue of race has been shown to be a significant underpinning in image repair (Fortunato, 2008). A recent example of race as a keystone in athlete transgressions occurred when Adrian Peterson, a Black NFL MVP running back, was charged with child abuse (and ultimately pleading to a misdemeanor) for the manner in which he disciplined his son. A cascade of media responses percolated the case, with critics arguing that Peterson’s plight should at least partly hinge on what is acceptable within his race and region of the country in which he was raised (White, 2014).

Such an example underscores how race is often a conduit for understanding complex transgressions and the subsequent attempts at image repair unfolding within media. Moreover, issues of race within sport-related contexts have been argued to have ramifications on broadly defined society (see Mastro, Seate, Blecha, & Gallegos, 2012). Thus, the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of image repair strategy within mediated sport representations has ramifications on how one views race throughout societal spheres, as sport often functions as the primary gatekeeper for one to witness people of other races.

This study specifically explores how an athlete’s race and proven image repair strategies influence image repair response, building upon current image repair theory and suggesting practical application. Moving beyond dichotomous Black/White dis- tinctions presented in recent previous scholarship (Hong & Len-Rios, 2015), this study explores how five racial designations (Asian, Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, White), the most prevalent in the U.S. according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2012), influence public attitudes when using various image repair strategies.

Related Literature

Benoit’s (1995) Image Repair Theory (IRT) consists of a five-pronged typology of response categories: (a) denial, (b) evading responsibility, (c) reducing offensiveness, (d) corrective action, and (e) mortification. Earlier rhetorical works focusing on these strategies include sport as a context for examination (Benoit & Hanczor, 1994); more recent works identify avenues in which IRT can be empirically tested. For this study, three of the five strategies (evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, and morti- fication) were chosen as a result of a recent content analysis revealing these as the most frequently used in modern society by athletes in response to selected transgres- sions (Brown, 2012).

Scholars have shown and mainstream media have argued that race can impact the public’s evaluation of an athlete’s attempt at image repair (Griffin, 2013). Black athletes have been argued to receive comparatively harsher public scrutiny of per- ceived transgressions than White athletes, both in terms of quantity and intensity of judgment (Mocarski & Billings, 2014). Furthermore, Rada and Wulfemeyer (2005) suggest that media commentary is inevitably tinged by elements of race, with Black

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athletes receiving increased media scrutiny compared to White athletes (Mastro et al., 2012). Scholarship has explored this dichotomous relationship, yet professionals and scholars know comparatively little about races beyond Black/White binaries, uncover- ing even less about how different response strategies interact within such divisions.

Specifically within the realm of image repair, two studies offer contrasting insights. First, Hong and Len-Rios (2015) utilized scenarios in sporting and product recall, finding no differences within sport but uncovering that a Black spokesman was viewed more favorably than a White spokesman within product recall. However, Brown, Billings, Mastro, and Brown-Devlin (2015) found that Black athletes were consistently rated more positively than their White athletic counterparts within all tested elements of IRT, while noting the need for more complex constructions of race beyond the two mere distinctions (Black/White). Examination of race among several competing repair strategies is warranted, given the increased role of media in the facilitation of image repair attempts (Troester & Johns, 2013). This study does so within a racially nuanced manner, testing five racial dimensions along three different response strategies. The collective prior inconclusive findings pertaining to race-related IRT call for a broader approach for studying its impact, prompting the following research question:

RQ1a–b: Does athlete race influence the athlete’s perceived image after the image repair process (a) regardless of the athlete’s response to the transgression and (b) considering the athlete’s response to the transgression?

Account acceptance is another crucial dimension to the equation, with scholars such as Coombs and Holladay (2008) deciphering the degree in which people are differentially willing to accept one’s attempt at repair depending on the type of strategy employed. Account acceptance was included in this research, as account acceptance could be influenced by the race of the athlete attempting image repair, yet this combination of variables has not yet been formally tested:

RQ2a–b: Does athlete race influence the athlete’s account acceptance after the image repair process (a) regardless of the athlete’s response to the transgression and (b) considering the athlete’s response to the transgression?

Method

A sample of 215 participants were recruited using Qualtrics Panels, an online panel company, at two different time periods in 2014. The sample consisted of 80 males (37.2%) and 135 females (62.8%). A majority of the respondents were between the ages of 35 and 54 (45.1%) or 18–34 (41.4%). The majority of the sample were Caucasian (62.8%) or African-American (23.7%), virtually mirroring U.S. Census data. Although the sample had disproportionately more females, participants’ gender did not have a significant effect on the perceived image of the athlete, F(1, 213) = 0.226, p = 0.63. Similarly, participants’ race did not have a significant effect on the perceived image of the athlete, F(2, 212) = 1.543, p = 0.16).

A 5 (race) x 3 (image repair strategy) factorial experiment was designed to examine the interaction of race and repair strategy on the athlete’s acceptance and credibility

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after the repair process. A mock online news article from The Bleacher Report, the most-visited sports blog Web site in the United States (Alexa.com, 2014), featuring a report of the athlete’s transgression and response (repair strategy) was used to present the manipulations. The athlete was described as a rising male tennis star involved in a fight outside of a Cincinnati nightclub and charged with aggravated assault. In a pretest measuring perceptions and likelihood of several transgressions, nonsexual assault was identified to be a serious transgression that was not racially specific but was more likely to involve younger assailants. Additionally, Mastro et al. (2012) found that tennis was perceived as a sport not currently dominated by a particular single race.

The athlete’s race was conveyed by providing clear mugshots of each athlete along with his name. Five races/ethnicities were manipulated: Asian, Black, Hispanic, Mid- dle Eastern, and White. ANOVAs revealed no significant differences among the five mugshots for and within eight criteria: attractiveness, seriousness, athleticism, body size, degree of facial hair, expression (angry-calm), emotion (sad-happy), and age (young-old).

Athlete response to the transgression was provided in a statement given by the athlete embedded in the online news story. The statements were manipulated as one of three response strategies: mortification (apology), provocation (a variant of evading responsibility), or bolstering (a variant of reducing offensiveness). Brown (2012) conducted a pretest content analysis, finding that these were three of the most prevalent strategies used by athletes when responding to transgressions. While the most-used strategies are not inherently the most effective, testing strategies that are commonly used in practice and scholarly research are more applicable to current societal use.

Athlete image was measured using a five-item, 7-point Likert scale modified from McCroskey’s (1966) scale for credibility measurement, a structure similar to what Coombs and Holladay (1996) used to measure organization reputation (α = 0.79). Higher scores indicated more favorable responses. Account acceptance was measured using a five-item, 7-point Likert scale modified from Blumstein et al. (1974), a structure similar to what Coombs and Holladay (2008) use to measure account acceptance (α = 0.89). Higher scores indicate more appropriate responses. Neither gender, F(1, 213) = 0.002, p = 0.96, nor race, F(2, 212) = 0.924, p = 0.47, had a significant effect on the acceptance of the athlete’s account.

Results

To address each research question, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted. If results were significant, a Tukey’s HSD post hoc analysis was conducted, as it appears the most applicable pairwise multiple comparison test when conducting a fixed effects, between-subjects experimental design (Jaccard, Becker, & Wood, 1984).

For RQ1a, there was a significant difference among the mean perceived image scores for the five racial/ethnic manipulations, F(4, 210) = 3.92, p = 0.004, ηp

2 = 0.07.

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Post hoc results showed that the Black athletes (M = 5.01, SD = 1.05) were perceived more positively than the White (M = 4.44, SD = 0.95) and Asian athletes (M = 4.59, SD = 0.92) regardless of the response. For RQ1b, there was a main effect for response strategy, F(2, 212) = 2.89, p = 0.03, ηp

2 = 0.03, indicating that the mean for the mortification strategy (M = 5.01, SD = 1.00) was significantly higher than for provocation (M = 4.59, SD = 0.79) and bolstering strategies (M = 4.58, SD = 1.08). However, a significant interaction between race and response strategy, F(7, 207) = 0.914, p = ns, did not emerge.

For RQ2a, there was a significant difference among the mean perceived image scores for the five racial/ethnic manipulations, F(4, 210) = 3.97, p = 0.004, ηp

2 = 0.07. Post hoc results showed that statements from Hispanic athletes (M = 4.38, SD = 1.14) and Middle Eastern athletes (M = 4.43, SD = 1.3) were perceived as more acceptable than those from White athletes (M = 3.64, SD = 1.09) regardless of the response. For RQ2b, there was a main effect for response strategy, F(2, 212) = 5.28, p = 0.006, ηp

2 = 0.05, such that the mortification strategy (M = 4.49, SD = 1.11) was significantly more acceptable than the provocation (M = 3.81, SD = 1.09) and bolstering strategies (M = 3.9, SD = 1.36). However, a significant interaction between race and response strategy, F(7, 207) = 0.866, p = ns, did not emerge.

Discussion

Taken collectively, the results of this study offer contradictory elements to more traditional perceptions of an American public being more likely to harshly condemn public figures representing a racial minority. As such, sport becomes a mechanism for understanding how race unfolds differentially within the image repair process. If one’s views of the success or failure of image repair strategies are influenced by race within the sporting context, it is likely similar trends are indicative of other segments of societal life.

When considering that a White athlete was the least likely to achieve image repair for each of the three strategies employed, ramifications abound not just for athletes but for all aspects of public relations, as race impinges on any similar situation. Independent of an athlete’s race, mortification was revealed to be the most effective of the three tested strategies, consistent with previous work (Brown, in press; Brown et al., 2015). There were no significant interactions between the two variables, race and image repair strategy. It is important to note that the perceived image of the athlete was consistently positive overall, but while findings were significant, effect sizes were low. This could be a result of using of a fictitious athlete. The absence of reputational history may have skewed the results more positively and lessened the variances in mean scores, similar to results found in Brown et al. (2015).

Considering that nearly two-thirds of the participants in the study self-identified as White, the results present an interesting read in regard to conceptions of social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Research in social identification finds that

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one is more likely to privilege the perceived in-group at the expense of the perceived out-group (Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002). In-group bias is maintained even when information provided that a group member has failed (Dietz-Uhler, 1999); however, this study revealed a predominantly White subsample judging the White athlete (perceived racial in-group) significantly less favorably than the Asian, Black, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern conditions. From the perspective of the theoretical sibling of social identity theory, self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987), these results collectively highlight an “us” and “them” emerging, yet the “them” in this case was less likely to be scrutinized than the “us.”

Many interpretations of these results could be articulated, yet most are beyond the realm of this specific study, instead providing plentiful avenues for future scholarly investigation. For instance, one could explore such findings through the lens of an expectancy violation (Burgoon & Jones, 1976); doing so could reveal whether subjects expected to see a minority athlete involved in this form of transgression, making the White condition less expected and, potentially, perceived to be comparatively more inflammatory. In a similar vein, future work could explore the designation of racial minorities within different realms of the public landscape and across different sports. Many professional American sports largely consist of non-White athletes; however, in this case, tennis is not one of those sports. Examining the potential influence of sport (and the racial demographics of the athletes involved) could yield more robust understandings of these types of findings.

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