Rhetorical Perspective and the Image Restoration: A Comparative Analysis of Wells Fargo’s Image Restoration after Cross-Selling Crisis 2016 and Volkswagen Emission Scandal

This paper focused on two crises to study their rhetorical perspective. The crises are cross-selling crisis of Wells Fargo and the emission test crisis of VW. Obviously, both crises damaged the images of the two companies. They struggled to repair their images. However, Wells Fargo did not respond at the beginning of the scandal. Then, when they respond, they shift the blame to their lower-level employees. The board of directors’ investigation criticized the higher management and the sales strategy. VW had a more stable strategy, their plan was clear from the beginning of the crisis. They use all five strategies of the image repair theory. This paper concludes that Wells Fargo’s response to the scandal to restore its image was inappropriate and unprofessional. The response was delayed, they did not admit that the program failed, and some of the statements were not accurate. However, the response of VW to its crisis was more professional than the response of Wells Fargo. It was able to contain the crisis although there were some limitations.