Examining how image restoration strategy impacts perceptions of corporate social responsibility, organization‐public relationships, and source credibility

Purpose The paper aims to test Benoit's five image restoration strategies to examine how each strategy impacts perceptions of the organization‐public relationship (OPR) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). It also examines how the strategy used impacts the credibility of the source cited in the crisis response message. Design/methodology/approach An experiment measures stakeholders' reactions to the different crisis messages and the messages' impact on perceptions of the OPR, CSR, and source credibility measures. Findings Results indicate the reducing the offensiveness strategy led to higher perceptions of the OPR and CSR. The image restoration strategy employed does impact stakeholders' perceptions of the credibility of the source. Practical implications The paper indicates organizations should try to bolster, minimize, transcend, and differentiate when preparing crisis messages during a product recall crisis. These types of messages protect the OPR and perceptions of CSR. Originality/value It adds to the experimental literature (whereas previous research uses cases studies). It expands Dardis and Haigh by examining the impact image restoration strategies have on OPR and CSR. It also extends current literature by examining the source of the message and how the image restoration strategy employed impacts the credibility of the source.