A categorical reframing approach to crisis communications

In this article, we argue that crisis communication studies can be developed by considering the self-categories speakers use in response to their behaviour being scrutinised. The use of such categories in response to reputational threat enables individuals and organisations to draw on associations and meanings to reframe actions that audiences perceived to be offensive. Analysing statements from sporting personalities accused of complicity in sportswashing by Western Media outlets, we use discursive social psychology to animate how crisis communication rhetoric can draw on specific identities; an approach we label categorical reframing. Specifically, speakers articulated distance from diminished categories (e.g., sportswashers) to reduce responsibility and accentuated closeness to other categories (e.g., parent) to reduce offensiveness complementing distinct crisis communication strategies. Based on our analysis, we provide propositions relating to the congruence between identity and rhetoric for observational and experimental analysis to better understand when and why social categories might be deployed during crisis communication to enhance their effectiveness.