Chapter Contents
3. Crisis Communications Theory
3.4 Rhetorical Theory
Rhetoric is commonly considered to have its origins in c. 400 B.C. in ancient Greece and Rome in the theories of Aristotle, Cicero and Plato amongst others. These utilised rhetoric for democratic and judicial purposes and became teachers and scholars of rhetoric with enduring influence to this day. Rhetoric is concerned with the art of communication and how communication can persuade others through language, visuals and symbols. Borchers and Hundley (2018) define rhetoric as: ‘the use of language and other symbolic systems to make sense of our experiences, construct our personal and collective identities, produce meaning and prompt action in the world.’ The role that rhetoric plays in communication and particularly in public relations, is evident from this definition when we understand that the core function of PR is to persuade an audience to change its opinion, to reinforce an existing opinion or to encourage the taking of a course of action.
The story of effective or persuasive communications has its roots in the story of rhetoric and its early theorists. The Sophists were a group of teachers who travelled throughout Greece to teach rhetoric for the purposes of law and politics. The Sophists believed that truth was relative and could be adjusted to suit the beliefs and values of the audience. This viewpoint was opposed by Aristotle and Plato who believed that truth was absolute. Plato in particular was concerned about the dangers of rhetoric and its ability to mislead and deceive an audience.
The ability of rhetoric to mislead and deceive an audience is a common concern in modern times. In 2016, The Economist announced that we had entered an era of ‘post-truth politics.’
The statement was made in relation to the election of Donald Trump as US president and the factless emotive rhetoric that he favoured. Oxford Dictionaries now define ‘post-truth’ as
‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’ (Macnamara, 2018). Rhetoric has and will continue to evolve through the ages as cultural, social and political changes occur.
Technology has and is continuing to play a huge role in the evolution of rhetoric by facilitating communication in being less linear (from speaker to receiver) and more of a continuous process that is easily influenced by cultural and societal factors. Theorists of philosophy proffer that we are now in a contemporary era or the ‘Post-Modernist’ era which commenced in the late 20th Century. This era follows the Modern era, which had its origins in the Industrial
Revolution (17th Century) and is defined by progress, scientific development and technological advancement. The ‘Post-Modernist’ era on the other hand is concerned with localised knowledge, feminism, multi-culturalism and globalism (Borchers & Hundley, 2018, p.321).
Communication and rhetorical theory has evolved in line with the cultural, social and economic changes of the eras. It will no doubt continue on this trajectory as we enter the post-pandemic world following the considerable social and economic shock that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused. Further research will demonstrate how the societal and behavioural changes that were forced upon society during this period will impact on future communications and rhetorical theory.
When discussing crisis communications and rhetoric, it is worth referencing Aristotle’s Five Canons of Rhetoric’, which is a practical model used by communicators to this day. The Five Canons proposes that there are five stages involved in rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, delivery and memory. Invention is where the idea is devised, proof is found and arguments are developed. Arrangement involves the structuring of content into an introduction, a middle and a conclusion for example. Style relates to the style of the rhetor or communicator. For example, does the speaker stop often to let ideas sink in. Does s/he use repetition to make a point? Style can also relate to the style of communications that is communicated visually through powerpoint, video or images for example. Delivery relates to non-verbal communication which plays a huge role in how communicators are perceived by their audience. Albert Mehrabrian’s often quoted research is a demonstration of the power of delivery from modern times. Mehrabrian’s research was centred around the likability of a speaker and found that an audience will make the decision to like a communicator using the following criteria: 55% on non-verbal communications, 38% on tone of voice and only 7% on what you actually say (Mehrabrian & Ferris 1967). The final canon of rhetoric was identified by Aristotle as Memory in terms of what the speaker says and how the audience recalls the speech.
Communications campaigns that have the luxury of time to develop and research will generally take into account all five canons of rhetoric. In crisis communications, when there is often little time to develop a plan from scratch the hope would be that the organisation in crisis would have spent time developing a crisis communications strategy with consideration to the rhetoric that will be used and that can be initiated immediately and effectively in the event of the crisis.
If we look at Tony Hayward’s response to the BP crisis in 2010, we can see how important rhetoric was. Tony Hayward, may have had empathy for the people who had lost loved ones or those who had lost livelihoods but he did not communicate this in his rhetoric. Comments such as ‘I would like my life-back’ served to communicate an out of touch elite businessman who was lacking in empathy for those affected. Rhetoric is hugely important in crisis
communications and in the immediate response, the style and delivery of the rhetoric have the ability to make the communications worse as Tony Hayward demonstrated. Fearn-Banks (2017) looks at responses in crisis communications and how rhetoric theory and theories of the social sciences can help plan for and respond to a crisis. Fearn-Banks identifies four theories of note in this respect: the Apologia Theory, the Image Restoration Theory, Decision Theory and Diffusion Theory. The Apologia Theory and Image Restoration Theory are concerned with the response stage of the crisis, whereas the Decision and Diffusion Theories are relevant to the planning stage.
- The Apologia Theory
The Apologia Theory states that when an accusation is made against an organisation, they have the option of denying the accusation, dissociating themselves from the crisis, explaining what happened and making an attempt to redefine the message or finally apologising for the crisis. Apologia Theory does not suggest that organisations should always apologise for a crisis. The question of whether or not to apologise largely depends on the crisis involved and the context of the crisis, which we will discuss later in this chapter.
- Image Restoration Theory
The Image Restoration Theory builds on the Apologia Theory and brings us back to the point of reputation. In this theory the organisation is required to have researched the potential risks to the organisation and what has the potential to threaten its reputation, a process which we have identified as occurring in the crisis management stage. The organisation in this theory also needs to have a good understanding of public sentiment and how to communicate with its various publics. This theory proffers that this knowledge will help the organisation to identify a response strategy. For example in some instances ‘no comment’ might be preferred and in others it might be preferable for an organisation to control the message and communicate the bad news first.
- Decision Theory
Decision Theory is commonly used by psychologists in studying behaviour, by mathematicians, statisticians, philosophers and politicians. It involves analysing outcomes from various decisions in order to decide on the course of action that is most advantageous for the organisation. This activity would again take place during the crisis management stage.
An example of the Decision Theory in practice in real-life can be seen in the modelling activity that various health bodies would have engaged in during the COVID-19 pandemic. These public health bodies would have created various models taking into account the scientific information on the virus and combining it with behavioural psychology to predict outcomes.
Governments would then make decisions based on these models. Fearn-Banks notes that often organisations may not decide on the outcome that has the maximum benefit but rather on the decision that will satisfy the minimum requirements, a process that is referred to as
‘satisficing’. This is often she states as organisations do not have data at hand to take the ultimate decision.
- Diffusion Theory
The Diffusion Theory is concerned with how ideas spread amongst a population or a public.
Diffusion is explained as the process by which new ideas are adapted over time. The theory identifies five steps in the adaptation process:
1. Awareness – the organisation is exposed to the idea.
2. Interest – the organisation becomes interested in the idea.
3. Evaluation – potential benefits of adapting the idea are analysed.
4. Trial – the idea is trialled for a temporary period.
5. Adaption – the idea is adapted or not.
Adaptation of new ideas, products, services or ideas according to this theory depend on what has happened in the past, who the decision makers are and the idea itself and the level of change a public has to make in order to adapt the idea. This theory again should be referenced at the planning stage of a crisis.
In reality an organisation responding to a crisis will most likely incorporate elements from each of these theories into its crisis communications strategy, combined with knowledge of communications and rhetorical theory and the Theory of Excellence. These theories should form the foundations for all communications campaigns and position an organisation to be prepared for a crisis. A good example of many approaches and theories in play can be seen in the communications strategies used by Governments and organisations throughout the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. An analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic response in terms of crisis communications is contained in this book.