Wells Fargo Bank’s Fake Account Crisis And The Impact Image Restoration Strategies Had On The Company’s Stock Value

<div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Purpose &ndash; This thesis project examined Wells Fargo Bank&rsquo;s fake account crisis to determine if</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">the image restoration communication strategies adopted by the company victimized its</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">shareholders due to a strategy&rsquo;s impact on the company&rsquo;s stock price.</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Methodology &ndash; The methodological approach for this thesis project was a qualitative case-study</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">analysis performed on news articles published from December 2013 through December 2022 that</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">specifically referenced Wells Fargo Bank and its fake account crisis to identify the type of image</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">restoration communication strategy used by the company.</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Findings &ndash; The analysis of news articles published between December 2, 2013, through</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">December 30, 2022, featuring Wells Fargo Bank&rsquo;s fake account crisis found sixty-eight days of</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">articles published that aligned to an image restoration communication strategy deployed by</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Wells Fargo. A thorough review of the strategies confirmed the company&rsquo;s overwhelming</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">preference to utilize the Corrective Action and Mortification strategies as one or both of these</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">strategies were present in 85% of the articles analyzed for this study.</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Practical Implications &ndash; Results of this study suggest banks immersed in a crisis should define</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">the image restoration communication strategy early and remain committed to that strategy. In</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">addition, this study validates that unethical practices and corruption within a financial institution</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">can be detrimental to the company&rsquo;s brand and negatively impactful to its shareholders.</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Originality &ndash; To the best of the authors&rsquo; knowledge, this thesis project is the first to examine</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Wells Fargo Bank&rsquo;s fake account crisis and the impact the company&rsquo;s image restoration</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">communication strategies had on shareholders. This study explored the drivers that can lead to</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">4</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">employees engaging in occupational fraud and how the United States government has enacted</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">laws to help protect bank customers from such acts of misconduct. This research further adds to</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">the current literature on image restoration communication strategies by suggesting banks</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">engaged in crises related to unethical business practices should consider adoption of the</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">Corrective Action and Mortification strategies to minimize the negative fiscal impact on</div> <div class="ewa-rteLine" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve; background-color: #ffffff;">shareholders.</div>