Curs 12b_FROM IMAGE TO

ONLINE REPUTATION

Diana-Maria Cismaru,
Ph. D., Professor, NUPSPA
Bucharest
 IMAGE – DEFINITIONS AND FEATURES

Image is the social representation

= the collection of opinions, beliefs, attitudes which a
category of people formed after the direct or mediated
contact with a public person, product, event or
organization
Images are included one in another: image of geographical
area, country image.
Image is built on two ways: distance experience or direct
contact.
 COMPONENTS AND TYPES OF IMAGE

The atom model of image includes:

- center node (key concepts, very visible): functions of
generation, organization and stabilization
- margin elements (weak concepts, less visible):functions
of adaptation, protection, reality-tying
Types of image
a) focused/diversified
b) clear/ambiguos
c) convergent/bipolar
d) positive/negative
 THE PROCESS OF IMAGE BUILDING
 Expressed image [Imaginea indusă]: the image
resulted from own messages (example: own blog);
Method of identification: content analysis
 Released image [Imaginea difuzată]: the image
resulted from media releases (example: press articles,
other blog’s articles, TV news);
Method of identification: content analysis
 Reflected image[Imaginea reflectată ]: the image
formed in various publics as result of media reception
and interpretation (for each public, a various image);
Method of identification: survey
 IMAGE ANALYSIS: dimensions

The usual frame of analysis for institutional actors

includes 5 dimensions (with 2-10 indicators each):
- Human: the personality characteristics;

- Political: the political orientation and actions and

beliefs;
- Public: the public actions, partnerships and orientation

- Institutional: the institutional projects and participation

- Managerial: the decision-making actions,

implementation skills, efficiency, team leader qualities

 IMAGE ANALYSIS: method
Dictionary of evaluation for each theme (sentence or
phrase: positive frame)
0: neutral information
+1: positive humor (“signs of improvement in Victory
Palace”
+2: releases of positive actions (positive events and
partnerships, fundraising support)
+3: the highest grade of attributes: “the most effective
manager of the year”, “the top expert of ….”, prizes
+4: very positive actions for groups (“national hero”)
Cited statement have a point in minus on all scale.
 IMAGE ANALYSIS: method
Dictionary of evaluation for each theme (sentence or
phrase): negative frame
-1: easy negative humor (“Udrea is taking her 3000 euro
purse from the car”)
-2: actions with negative consequences (passive attitude
towards consumers, lazy institutional officers)
-3: actions with highest negative attributes (the laziest
minister, the local baron, the most involved in
scandals);
-4: actions with negative consequences on
group/national level: terrorism, organized crime
Example: reflected image of an institutional actor
(2011)
 Example: institutional actor 2011 (human
dimension)
Dimensiunea umana %
honest
christian

devoted

52.2
moral
15.2 2.2

true negative
positive
6.5 4.3

intelligent
hardworking
2.2
6.5 10.7

beautiful
not_rich

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Example: institutional actor 2011 (political
dimension)
Dimensiunea politica %

13.3
influent_in_party
fine_discourse

22
competent
inspired

3.3
10
promoting party
disciplined

50
independent
negative
3.3

perseverent
positive
political ideas

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Example: institutional actor 2011
(institutional dimension)
Dim ensiunea institutionala %

8.3
1.7
transparent
negativ

3.3 3.3
optim al attributions

5
pozitiv
adequate form ation

28.3
correct

48.3
im portant projects
prom otes country
1.7

crisis m anagem ent

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Example: institutional actor 2011 (managerial dimension)

Dimensiunea manageriala %

20
merit promoted
6.7
experienced 13.3 10

fine results
informs public
6.7

team worker
negativ
3.3 5

decision making
pozitiv
65
winner

0 20 40 60 80
 REPUTATION AND IMAGE
Reputation = the most visible part of the social
representation;
- more simple than image (no dimensions, just one
indicator);
- includes notoriety as a condition;
- has a strong comparative dimension;
Example:
- president Basescu: “the player president”;
- Nadia Comaneci: “the greatest gymnast of all times”
- Gheorghe Hagi: “the greatest Romanian football
player”
 REPUTATION AND IMAGE

The image is the “photo” of the organization, built on the spot in

the mind of publics, while the reputation is the value given by
stakeholders to the organization (Gray & Balmer, 1998)

The image is the internal collective state that stands as the base
of communication efforts (successful or not).
Reputation is a product and a process in the same time and is
independent from the entities represented by it (Bromley, 2001)
 REPUTATION
Two schools in research on reputation:
-based on resources: reputation is an asset that influences the
financial benefits and the organizational performance (Roberts &
Dowling, 2002; Rindova et al. 2005; Boyd, Bergh & Ketchen,
2010)
- the institutional perspective: reputation building is a process
based on social interaction and collective knowledge concerning
an organization (Fischer & Reuber, 2007).

Dimensions of the reputation (axes of research):

(a) Notoriety (“prominence”) or “being known”;
(b) Quality or “being known for something”;
(c) Generalized favorability
 Changes determined by new media
development
• Reputation becomes more important than image,
because of informational redundancy;
• Online reputation generates reputation because of the
new media function of “information recording”;
• Fight of sources: social media as determinants in
reputation
• New media have a direct impacts to the real life:
- professional routes (selection, hiring and firing);
- business success and failure;
- starting point of communication/reputational crisis;