doxa.comunicación | 30, pp. 369-388 | 371

January-June of 2020

Gema Lobillo Mora and Raquel Gallart Moreno

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

2. Methodology

This study has been approached using a methodology of content analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, by examining the different communications through a series of variables of analysis. Therefore, this research aims to analyse scientifically the reputational crisis management of a university and to differentiate the distinct methodologies and practices that must be present in effective reputation management of any kind. For the development of this study, the methodology chosen was content analysis. The content analysis has been carried out in a systematic, objective, replicable, valid way. It is a type of analysis that combines observation and data production with data analysis and their interpretation. As indicated by Bardin (1991: 7), content analysis is a set of methodological tools that are constantly being improved, applied to content and channels of communication. “The common factor of these techniques, ranging from the calculation of supply frequencies of encrypted data to the extraction of structures that are transformed into models, is a controlled hermeneutic based on deduction: inference”, explains the author. Bunge (2000: 195) defines the object of study as “a difficulty that cannot be solved automatically, but instead requires conceptual or empirical investigation”.

Olabuenaga (1996: 205-206) presents a series of rules with which the category system of such content analysis must comply: each series of categories is created according to a unique criterion (although complex categories are also allowed based on these unique criteria), they must be exhaustive, mutually exclusive, comprehensible, significant and replicable. As explained below, within this content analysis we find two typologies: quantitative and qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis is based on quantifying the data, so this analysis is objective, while qualitative analysis focuses on interpreting the content of the messages, so we could say that this view of the text is subjective. Qualitative analysis is defined (Abela, 2002: 23) as a set of techniques for interpreting the hidden meanings of texts. The idea of this procedure is to retain the advantages of quantitative analysis, but to develop new procedures of interpretative analysis. Qualitative analysis has two new approaches: the development of inductive categories and the application of deductive categories (Abela, 2002: 24).

3. Theoretical framework

In order to approach this investigation, a conceptual delimitation was necessary in order to undertake the study in question. Firstly, we speak of identity, understood as the features that define the essence of an organism. Applied to the corporate environment, this is defined as a set of symbols that an organization or entity uses to identify itself for diverse stakeholders (Dowling, 1996: 8). Mínguez (1999: 184-186) once again broadens the definition by dividing it into two perspectives. The first he calls global corporate identity, or corporate identity, and the second he calls internal corporate identity. Overall, corporate identity is determined by four factors: the first is behaviour, defined as the organisation’s actions, its decision-making procedures, and its methods of planning and control; as well as its history, and the way in which the organisation’s past influences its current and future behaviour.

Secondly, there is corporate culture, or a set of values shared by the members of the organization. Thirdly, we mention visual identity, which describes the set of features that present the essence of the organization in a visual way. Finally,