How to Calm the Storm and Recover Reputation? A fsQCA Analysis of Public Relations Effectiveness in Sports Organizations

Abstract

In recent years, the growing frequency of negative events in global sports has made crisis communication a critical issue for maintaining the credibility of sports organizations. Drawing on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and employing fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), this study investigates 25 international sports crises to explore the multidimensional mechanisms influencing the effectiveness of sports public relations. Public relations effectiveness is conceptualized across two dimensions: reputation recovery and attention containment. And six key conditions are identified: crisis type, crisis severity, and prior reputation as crisis situational factors, and crisis response strategies, response speed, and information transparency as crisis communication factors. The findings reveal a multi-path structure: high reputation recovery is achieved through either the Attribution buffer Type or Transparency Repair Type mechanisms, while high attention containment emerges through the Strategy-Transparency Closure Type and Low-Severity Auto-Decay Type mechanisms. Among these, information transparency consistently serves as a core driver, whereas high prior reputation may trigger reputation backfire and sustained public scrutiny in high-responsibility and low-transparency contexts. This study offers a configurational perspective on crisis communication grounded in SCCT and provides empirical and practical insights for public relations in sports organizations.

Keywords

sports organizations public relations SCCT crisis communication reputation recovery

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Al-Rawi

(2019). The fentanyl crisis & the dark side of social media. Telematics and Informatics, 45(10), Article 101280.

Arpan

L. M.

Roskos-Ewoldsen

D. R.

(2005). Stealing thunder: Analysis of the effects of proactive disclosure of crisis information. Public Relations Review, 31(3), 425–433.

Austin

Liu

B. F.

Jin

(2012). How audiences seek out crisis information: Exploring the social-mediated crisis communication model. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 40(3), 188–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2012.654498

Benoit

W. L.

(1997). Image repair discourse and crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 23(2), 177–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0363-8111(97)90023-0

Boichak

Hemsley

Jackson

Tromble

Tanupabrungsun

(2021). Not the bots you are looking for: Patterns and effects of orchestrated interventions in the U.S. and German elections. International Journal of Communication, 15(1), 814–839.

Bradford

J. L.

Garrett

D. E.

(1995). The effectiveness of corporate communicative responses to accusations of unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 14(11), 875–892. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00882067

Brown

K. A.

(2016). Is apology the best policy? An experimental examination of the effectiveness of image repair strategies during criminal and noncriminal athlete transgressions. Communication & Sport, 4(1), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479514544950

Brown

N. A.

Billings

A. C.

(2013). Sports fans as crisis communicators on social media websites. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2012.09.012

Brown

N. A.

Billings

A. C.

Devlin

M. B.

(2016). Crisis communication and sports: A case study of the NFL's response to the Ray Rice scandal. Public Relations Review, 42(5), 815–823.

10.

Bruce

Tini

(2008). Unique crisis response strategies in sports public relations: Rugby league and the case for diversion. Public Relations Review, 34(2), 108–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.015

11.

Bundy

Pfarrer

M. D.

Short

C. E.

Coombs

W. T.

(2017). Crises and crisis management: Integration, interpretation, and research development. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1661–1692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316680030

12.

Carroll

C. E.

McCombs

(2003). Agenda-setting effects of business news on the public’s images and opinions about major corporations. Corporate Reputation Review, 6(1), 36–46. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540188

13.

Cheng

Wang

Kong

(2022). The state of social-mediated crisis communication research through the lens of global scholars: An updated assessment. Public Relations Review, 48(2), Article 102172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102172

14.

Claeys

A. S.

Cauberghe

Vyncke

(2010). Restoring reputations in times of crisis: An experimental study of the situational crisis communication theory and the moderating effects of locus of control. Public Relations Review, 36(3), 256–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.05.004

15.

Coombs

Holladay

(2006). Unpacking the halo effect: Reputation and crisis management. Journal of Communication Management, 10(2), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540610664698

16.

Coombs

W. T.

(1995). Choosing the right words: The development of guidelines for the selection of the “appropriate” crisis response strategies. Management Communication Quarterly, 8(4), 447–476. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318995008004003

17.

Coombs

W. T.

(1998). An analytic framework for crisis situations: Better responses from a better understanding of the situation. Journal of Public Relations Research, 10(3), 177–191. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1003_02

18.

Coombs

W. T.

(2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550049

19.

Coombs

W. T.

(2022). Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). In Coombs

W. T.

Holladay

S. J.

(Eds.), The handbook of crisis communication (2nd ed., Ch. 14). Wiley.

20.

Coombs

W. T.

(2023). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding (6th ed.). Sage.

21.

Coombs

W. T.

Holladay

S. J.

(1996). Communication and attributions in a crisis: An experimental study of crisis communication. Journal of Public Relations Research, 8(4), 279–295. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr0804_04

22.

Coombs

W. T.

Holladay

S. J.

(2001). An extended examination of the crisis situation: A fusion of the relational management and symbolic approaches. Journal of Public Relations Research, 13(4), 321–340. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1304_03

23.

Coombs

W. T.

Holladay

S. J.

(2002). Helping crisis managers protect reputational assets: Initial tests of the situational crisis communication theory. Management Communication Quarterly, 16(2), 165–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/089331802237233

24.

Coombs

W. T.

Holladay

S. J.

(2004). Reasoned action in crisis communication: An attribution theory–based approach to crisis management. In Millar

D. P.

Heath

R. L.

(Eds.), Responding to crisis: A rhetorical approach to crisis communication (pp. 95–115). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

25.

Coombs

W. T.

Tachkova

E. R.

(2023). Integrating moral outrage in situational crisis communication theory: A triadic appraisal model for crises. Management Communication Quarterly, 37(4), 798–820. https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189221151177

26.

Costa

Silva

A. J.

Dias

Marinho

D. A.

Batalha

N. M.

Roque

Aminova

Ferraz

(2025). Integrity and transparency in sports: A survey review. The Open Sports Sciences Journal, 18(1), e1875399X353976. https://doi.org/10.2174/011875399x353976250203045235

27.

Dahlke

Zhang

(2024). Surviving or thriving political defeat on social media: A temporal analysis of how electoral loss exacerbates the gender gap in political expression. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 29(1), zmad051.

28.

Deephouse

D. L.

(2000). Media reputation as a strategic resource: An integration of mass communication and resource-based theories. Journal of Management, 26(6), 1091–1112. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630002600602

29.

Dilenschneider

R. L.

Hyde

R. C.

(1985). Crisis communications: Planning for the unplanned. Business Horizons, 28(1), 35–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(85)90035-7

30.

Dowling

(2002). Creating corporate reputations: Identity, image, and performance. Oxford University Press.

31.

Fearn-Banks

Kawamoto

(2024). Crisis communications: A casebook approach. Routledge.

32.

Fiss

P. C.

(2011). Building better causal theories: A fuzzy set approach to typologies in organization research. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 393–420. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.60263120

33.

Fombrun

Shanley

(1990). What’s in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy. Academy of Management Journal, 33(2), 233–258. https://doi.org/10.2307/256324

34.

Hearit

K. M.

(1994). Apologies and public relations crises at Chrysler, Toshiba, and Volvo. Public Relations Review, 20(2), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-8111(94)90053-1

35.

Holland

Seltzer

Kochigina

(2021). Practicing transparency in a crisis: Examining the combined effects of crisis type, response, and message transparency on organizational perceptions. Public Relations Review, 47(2), Article 102017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102017

36.

Hutto

Gilbert

(2014). Vader: A parsimonious rule-based model for sentiment analysis of social media text. Proceedings of the international AAAI conference on web and social media, 8(1), 216–225. https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v8i1.14550

37.

Kim

Sung

K. H.

(2014). Revisiting the effectiveness of base crisis response strategies in comparison of reputation management crisis responses. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26(1), 62–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2013.795867

38.

Lee

J. Y. Q.

(2021). The role of communication transparency and organizational trust in publics' perceptions, attitudes and social distancing behaviour: A case study of the COVID‐19 outbreak. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 29(4), 368–384. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12354

39.

Meijer

M. M.

(2004). Does success breed success? Effects of news and advertising on corporate reputation. Aksant Academic Publishers.

40.

Meyer

A. D.

Tsui

A. S.

Hinings

C. R.

(1993). Configurational approaches to organizational analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1175–1195. https://doi.org/10.2307/256809

41.

Molina Rodríguez-Navas

Medranda Morales

Muñoz Lalinde

(2021). Transparency for participation through the communication approach. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 10(9), 586.

42.

Murphy

(2017). Game theory as a paradigm for the public relations process. In Botan

Hazleton

(Eds.), Public relations theory (pp. 173–192). Routledge.

43.

Newman

T. P.

(2017). Tracking the release of IPCC AR5 on Twitter: Users, comments, and sources following the release of the working group I summary for policymakers. Public Understanding of Science, 26(7), 815–825. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662516628477

44.

Pappas

I. O.

Woodside

A. G.

(2021). Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA): Guidelines for research practice in information systems and marketing. International Journal of Information Management, 58(3), Article 102310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102310

45.

Ragin

C. C.

(1987). The comparative method: Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies. University of California Press.

46.

Ragin

C. C.

(2009). Redesigning social inquiry: Fuzzy sets and beyond. University of Chicago press.

47.

Rawlins

(2009). Give the emperor a mirror: Toward developing a stakeholder measurement of organizational transparency. Journal of Public Relations Research, 21(1), 71–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627260802153421

48.

Rawlins

B. R.

(2008). Measuring the relationship between organizational transparency and employee trust. Public Relations Journal, 2(2), 1–21.

49.

Rindova

V. P.

Williamson

I. O.

Petkova

A. P.

Sever

J. M

(2005). Being good or being known: An empirical examination of the dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of organizational reputation. Academy of Management Journal, 48(6), 1033–1049.

50.

Rita Men

Neill

M. S.

Yue

C. A.

Verghese

A. K.

(2022). The role of channel selection and communication transparency in enhancing employee commitment to change. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(4), 1077–1098.

51.

Rozin

Royzman

E. B.

(2001). Negativity bias, negativity dominance, and contagion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5(4), 296–320. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0504_2

52.

Schnackenberg

A. K.

Tomlinson

E. C.

(2016). Organizational transparency: A new perspective on managing trust in organization-stakeholder relationships. Journal of Management, 42(7), 1784–1810.

53.

Schneider

C. Q.

Rohlfing

(2016). Case studies nested in fuzzy-set QCA on sufficiency: Formalizing case selection and causal inference. Sociological Methods & Research, 45(3), 526–568. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124114532446

54.

Schneider

C. Q.

Wagemann

(2010). Standards of good practice in qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and fuzzy-sets. Comparative Sociology, 9(3), 397–418. https://doi.org/10.1163/156913210x12493538729793

55.

Tandoc

E. C.

Lim

Z. W.

Ling

(2019). Defining “fake news”: A typology of scholarly definitions. Digital Journalism, 7(3), 349–359.

56.

Ulmer

R. R.

(2012). Increasing the impact of thought leadership in crisis communication. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(4), 523–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318912461907

57.

van der Meer

Verhoeven

(2013). Public framing organizational crisis situations: Social media versus news media. Public Relations Review, 39(3), 229–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2012.12.001

58.

Wei

Diddi

(2022). Morality rules: Understanding the role of prior reputation in consequences of scansis. Public Relations Review, 48(1), Article 102147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102147

59.

Weiner

(2006). Social motivation, justice, and the moral emotions: An attributional approach. Psychology Press.

60.

Williams

D. E.

Treadaway

(1992). Exxon and the Valdez accident: A failure in crisis communication. Communication Studies, 43(1), 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510979209368359

61.

Huberman

B. A.

(2007). Novelty and collective attention. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(45), 17599–17601. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0704916104

62.

Yang

T. T.

Ruan

W. Q.

Y. Q.

Zhang

S. N.

(2025). Make the effort visible: The effect of process transparency on public forgiveness in tourism crisis communication. Journal of Travel Research, 64(3), 649–663. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231221679

63.

Zhou

E. J.

(2018). Does severity matter? An investigation of crisis severity from a defensive attribution theory perspective. Public Relations Review, 44(4), 610–618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.08.008