Without trust on both sides of the equation, business is nearly impossible. One of the surest ways to break trust is for one party to act unethically. In the past, unethical companies could get away with their actions because news didn’t break quickly, but that’s no longer the case. After crossing paths with the wrong social influencer, a business’ reputation can be shatter overnight.
A recent high-profile example is a viral video that Faith Ordway, a popular social m ia influencer, post on TikTok. In it, she accus a teeth whitening company, Purely White, of not paying her after she bosnia and herzegovina phone number library ran an ad against them on her page. The backlash was almost imm iate, with Purely White suffering a massive PR scandal and widespread calls for a boycott. At the time of writing, faithordway7’s video has over 481k likes and nearly 5,000 comments, most of which are negative towards Purely White.
Labels indicate it is too late
Even the perception of unethical behavior creates a reputation management crisis, whether or not there is any evidence. Never mind that there is little actual evidence other than screenshots of snippets of alleg conversations between Faith Ordway and the company. In today’s climate, companies don’t have time to try to dig their heels out of trouble. By the time they can react to an attack, the damage has already been done.
What does this mean for companies
Simply trying to manage their online reputation? Simple in how to start selling on google shopping theory, but difficult in practice; it requires avoiding even the perception of wrongdoing. Lightning-fast communication and hordes of people ready to jump to conclusions make reputation management more important than ever. Companies ne to be ready to defend their reputation at all times, and unethical business practices make this even more difficult.
All of this should make it clear why establishing high ethical bulk lead standards, and responding quickly and transparently when those standards are not met, is so important to building a good reputation. After all, the public will find out either way. Avoid crises by insisting on ethical behavior in the first place, and if a scandal does occur, make sure you handle it correctly the first time — and never make the same mistake again.
