A representation of the online communication strategies of Volkswagen on Facebook and the user engagement around VW’s online content, during the emission scandal and after the resignation from CEO Winterkorn.
Corporate identity, risk reputation management, corporate governance, social media as a social construction and user engagement are analysed within this research.
Master Thesis: New Media & Digital Culture Celine van Asbeck
celinevanasbeck@gmail.com
06-51968776
Student number: 6371655
University of Amsterdam, 2015-1016
Thesis supervisor: Mr. dr. P.L.M. Vasterman
ABSTRACT & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research will focus on Facebook posts, comments and likes during the emission scandal of Volkswagen. The scandal became public on the 18th of September 2015. Volkswagen had
fraud the emission tests on eleven million vehicles. Online users are sharing their thoughts about the scandal, VW in general and other corporate scandals on Facebook. This research focuses on expressions and the social activity of online users around VW related content. The aim of this research is not only to succeed my master, but also to analyse the user engagement during corporate scandals and in addition to this, corporates might use this as a contribution that will provide knowledge on crisis communication on social media. At last, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Peter Vasterman for his engagement on this research.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction p.4
2. Theoretical Framework p.8
2.1 How did the scandal lead to user engagement on Facebook? p.8
2.1.1 Corporate Scandals p.9
2.1.2 User Engagement p.10
2.1.3 Brand Loyalty p.11
2.2 What is the dominant image of VW online? p.12
2.2.1 Corporate identity and corporate image p.12
2.2.2 Social media as a social construction p.13
2.2.3 Corporate capitalism p.14
2.2.4 Cultural differences p.15
2.3 What is the influence of the reactions of online users
in regard to the resignation of CEO Winterkorn in September of 2015? p.16
2.3.1 Corporate governance p.16
2.4 What was the response of VW on Facebook? p.17
2.4.1 Reputation at risk p.17
3. Methodology p.19
3.1 Facebook as a data source p.19
3.2 Social media content analysis p.20
3.3 Data p.22
4. Findings p.23
4.1 The Volkswagen Facebook page p.23
4.2 The New York Times Facebook page p.31
5. Discussion p.45
6. Conclusion p.50
1. INTRODUCTION
Global brands play an important role in our economy and society, and Volkswagen (VW) is a popular global brand. For example, the VW Transporter and the VW Beetle are true icons, famous to this day. The brand commands a strong connection among customers, meaning that scandals could have serious consequences for the company and its customers alike. In the midst of a recent scandal, for example, the company’s CEO, Winterkorn, eventually resigned from his function, on the September 23, 2015. Similar to Enron and Worldcom, VW Group became the object of attention, and as a result, VW’s stock price fell in value by a third (Kresge and Weiss 1).
Such potential consequences are the reason that the media pays much attention to corporations and their proceedings—both traditional media and social media bring corporations into view. This research centres on the latter, and it analyses two Facebook pages, The VW Facebook page and the New York Times Facebook page. This research consists of a content analysis that has been realised with the digital ‘Netvizz’ tool and represents the identity of VW on Facebook during the emissions scandal.
The VW emissions scandal became public on the September 18, 2015. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had discovered a violation of the Clean Air Act by the German automaker VW Group. The EPA had received information that VW intentionally programmed diesel engines to meet U.S. standards. These diesel engines were programmed to meet U.S. standards during the emission tests, but in practice they did not meet them. A couple of days after the announcement of the scandal, it became clear that 11 million cars worldwide, model years 2009 through 2015, were manipulated with software and emitted much more Nitrogen oxide (NOx) than was allowed. The fact that 11 million diesel cars were equipped with software that was able to cheat the emissions test, means that more than 20 times the number of cars preciously disclosed (Ewing 1). This manipulation was scandalous because NOx causes smog and encourages the formation of ozone, and it is thus harmful to the environment and human health (Van der Groot 1).
Meanwhile, VW presented their diesel engines as good for the environment.
Therefore, VW Group had broken the trust that customers and the public had placed in them. An analysis of Facebook content around the identity of VW during the emissions scandal contributes to the scientific field, since an enormous amount of literature has been written about corporate identity, or corporate image, but mainly by the corporations
that helps companies to improve their PR strategies. Less research is available, however, on imaging large corporations in social media, although Facebook might play a crucial role in determining the identity of organizations.
Furthermore, this research has practical value. The power of social media becomes relevant when looking at corporate scandals that have been in the spotlight of different online platforms. For example, accounting scandals at Enron, Worldcom and other corporations have resulted in many media messages on social platforms and much user engagement as well; this kind of mass social media engagement is relevant for the economy, since all this social media content might even have resulted in a sharp decline in the U.S. stock market because of the resulting lack of confidence in the U.S. business (Thomas L. Carson 389). With the
consequences of such a social media feedback loop in mind, corporations are aware of the need for social media, and therefore every corporation needs a new media department for creating online content and connecting with customers. This research benefits to media departments in corporations to handle crisis situations online.
This research investigates whether online engagement concerning the VW scandal, specifically, is noticeable on Facebook. The research question of this thesis is as follows:
Research Question: How did social media users respond to the VW scandal, and to VW’s
Facebook communication strategy, and what were the consequences for the identity of VW? To answer this question, social media messages and user engagement have been analysed on Facebook. Several theories were represented within the Facebook content that derives from user engagement. To define and elaborate relevant theories that were represented within the user engagement, relevant literature has been researched within the theoretical framework. The theoretical framework draws on the following terms and theories: user engagement, scandals, corporate identity and corporate image, corporate governance, cultural differences, risk reputation management and brand loyalty.
‘Social media engagement’, or user engagement, is defined as the interaction between people and brands on social media networks (MacGurk 2014). Users are able to engage by
commenting, liking and sharing on social media platforms (MacGurk 2014). These modes of interaction could concern engagement with corporate scandals, such as sharing thoughts and opinions on the VW scandal. Through these modes of engagement, social media is able to create, influence and change the identity of a corporation, and this research focusses on the
influence of such social media content, specifically of Facebook, during the VW emissions scandal.
Corporate identity, or the identity of a corporation, is described as the way in which
the company thinks of its own identity and how the company would like to be seen by the public (Rosson & Brooks 183). Corporate identity is not shaped without intention, but mainly by PR departments, which are responsible for creating a certain corporate identity. The PR departments of corporations try to resolve negative content in the news to control the image of their corporation. Nevertheless, they are not always able to control corporate identity, since journalists have the power to shape the identity or reputation of the organization. Nowadays, every online user is able to play the role of a journalist, and therefore it is relevant for
corporations to be aware of the consequences of social media engagement and its power (Van Dijck and Nieborg 861).
The empowering of all online users through their ability to express themselves (Hanna, Roh, Crittenden 265) means that social media is fundamentally changing the interaction between corporations and consumers. Nowadays, consumers are playing an important role through the social networks of corporations (McDonald, Cheratony and Harris 335). In turn, corporations are searching for social media strategies and campaigns to reach consumers and to figure out more about consumers’ online user activity, since they are facing problems with the power of social media.
After the theoretical framework (Chapter 2), the methods (Chapter 3) will give a clear understanding of this content analysis, which was realised through the digital ‘Netvizz’ tool. The VW Facebook page and the New York Times Facebook page were analysed to research social media users’ reactions to the emissions scandal and to research VW’s identity on Facebook during the emissions scandal. All user engagement (posts, comments and likes) has been analysed on both Facebook pages, from the 18th of September until the 30th of
September.
The findings (Chapter 4) will represent the content through the eyes of the relevant literature and theories that have been discussed in the theoretical framework. Focus will lay on answering the following sub-questions: What was the reaction of VW online? How did the scandal lead to user engagement on Facebook (were fans, consumers, or antagonists prevalent in the social media attention)? What is the dominant image of VW online? What is the influence of the reactions of online users in regard to the resignation of CEO Winterkorn?
These questions will be further elaborated and answered within the discussion (Chapter 5). This chapter provides a comparison between the findings of similar content analysis from ‘BrandBastion’ and the findings of this thesis. The conclusion (Chapter 6) will answer the research question and draw upon further research. The representation of Facebook during and after the VW scandal is central in this research, mainly because of the noteworthy
consequences for the popular global brand. Due to the ban on sales of various models, sales decreased by 24.7%, compared to November, 2014. Therefore, this research focusses on whether people are still loyal to their brand, and it focusses on what the right way would be to save a corporation’s reputation and handle crisis situations online.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The research question, ‘How did social media users respond to the VW scandal, and to VW’s Facebook communication strategy, and what where the consequences for the identity of VW?’, will be answered through several sub-questions. These sub-questions will be
introduced within this chapter in regards to different relevant theories that were represented within the representation on Facebook.
At first, analysis within new media focussed on representation online. This analysis could be done by analysing someone’s Facebook friend network (Rieder 2013). Nowadays, focus has shifted towards matters of concern. Examples of these more recent analyses are disasters, elections, revolutions, and so forth (Rieder et al. 2015). New media and social media are used to realize analysis of these matters of concern. Examination of how users engage or interfere with these matters of concern is an example of study in this new field of focus, which is in line with new insights into online engagement. A new field of focus has been established within social media analysis.
The aim of the theoretical framework is to give a clear understanding of different theories that are represented within the analysed posts and comments on Facebook and will be further applied within the findings chapter.
2.1 How did the scandal lead to user engagement on Facebook?
Facebook has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or sometimes even thousands of other online users about any topic that has their interest. Since corporate scandals could have serious consequences for those involved, including employees,
customers, fans or antagonists of the brand, but also online users who feel engaged with the topic (for example, because of economic environmental consequences). This leads to the fact that the public has the urge to interfere with the VW scandal.
The article: ‘Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix’, claims that the content, timing and frequency are outside a corporation’s control (Mangold & Faulds 357). This is why, online users use Facebook to communicate with each other. Besides, Facebook enables online users to communicate with the corporation itself. This is why Facebook is attractive for the public and user engagement exists around scandals that already are highly represented within traditional media. Therefore, corporations must learn to shape consumer discussions and need to learn to handle online crisis situations such as the VW emission scandal.
2.1.1 Corporate scandals
The definition of a corporate scandal is being defined in the business dictionary as:
Set of questionable, unethical, and/or illegal actions that a person or persons within a corporation engage in. This often becomes a wide public incident. Typically there are questions about the corporation's actions, which are either allegedly illegal or actually proven to be illegal. Corporate scandals are therefore brought
from allegations about ethicalpractices or behaviors, by legal action or decisions, or
a combination of the two. They may also be due to persons within a corporation acting on his or her own behalf with or without regard for the company. (Businessdictionary.com)
As mentioned in the quotation above, a corporate scandal often results in a wide public incident and Facebook is partly responsible for this. The popularity of Facebook makes it a social platform that cannot be ignored. When a crisis breaks within a corporation, it needs to act quickly before the damage gets even worse (Babbington, Larrinaga, Moreva 340). Contemporary scandals spread very quickly on social media platforms, since social media is an interactive platform through which every user is able to send, receive and produce content. ‘Going viral’ is a used term for Internet content which can be passed though electronic mail or social network sites, such as Facebook. Meaning that, an image, video, link or post spreads rapidly through online communities by being frequently shared. The VW scandal is an example of a corporate scandal that has been ‘going viral’.
Social media services include social networking, producing content and distributing content. All this content is collectively constructed by online users. Examples of content that has been collectively constructed are Wikipedia, Facebook (video and photo sharing
platforms), Second Life and blogs.
2.1.2 User engagement
Jenn Deering Davis has written the online article ‘The implosion of a brand: A social media analysis of the VW emissions scandal’. According to Davis, engagement is one of the most important areas to measure in social media (Davis 2015). Engagement represents how the conversation is happening, and also it reflects what side people choose within the scandal, along with how people are participating and in what way do they engage with online content about the topic (Davis 2015).
Social media engagement is defined as the interaction between people and brands on social media networks (MacGurk 2014). Nowadays, consumers are accustomed to the internet. As discussed before, corporations cannot ignore social media and are therefore developing online communities. Facebook is popular as a social platform for users to engage through sharing their opinions about brands or corporations with their online friends or other online contacts (Cheung and Lee, 2012; Trusov et al., 2009). Facebook is the most popular social media network for corporations, mainly because these platforms allow users to send out short messages (Aula 44).
Users can have different reasons for liking a post, for example, socially responsible liking, emotional liking, information liking, social performative liking, low-cost liking and routine liking (Brandtzaeg and Haugstveit 2014). Users can like a Facebook post from a corporation to show their support or engagement towards the matter of concern addressed in the post. The ‘Like’ button is described by Facebook as a way to give positive feedback. The ‘like’ button enables online users to connect with pages. After ‘liking’ a Facebook page, the content of the page will be shown in the user’s news feed or main page. Not only Facebook pages, but also comments, photos, groups and links are examples of features that can be ‘liked’ on Facebook. As a result, user engagement can represent the side a user chooses to take within a matter of concern.
VW has an official Facebook page, where consumers are able to ask questions, and in return VW’s online team responds to them. This Facebook page is called ‘an online brand community’, a term denoting a non-geographically bound community and an interaction between fans of the brand, in this case VW, in cyberspace. Zheng et al. have authored a paper, ‘Building brand loyalty through user engagement in online brand communities in social networking sites’ (2015), about user engagement in online communities. According to their research, brand loyalty is also developed through user engagement, meaning that VW is able to build upon their identity through Facebook. It is most likely that companies are willing to invest much money in the role of social networking services (SNSs) to build customer relationship and to work on their corporate identity. Recent reports have indicated that companies will spend 3.1 billion dollars annually on social media (Mashable, 2009).
Tools on Facebook have provided members with available communication channels to facilitate the sharing and distribution of information by interactively collaborating with other online users within, for example, the VW Facebook page. Online users are able to follow their favourite brands online and engage within these online communities through an ongoing flow
of communication processes. Liking VW’s fan page on Facebook is an example of online user engagement.
Not only commercial corporations but also professional consulting firms have invested in developing various communication strategies or reputation risk management plans, related to user engagement in online brand communities, meaning that much attention goes to the operational issues of online engagement. Ultimately, understanding why and how individuals participate and engage in new social platforms can help businesses to stay competitive in the global market. This research focusses on the posts, comments and likes of Facebook pages.
2.1.3 Brand loyalty
It seems that user engagement on Facebook is higher in times of scandal. The types of users are analysed within the findings, and ‘brand loyalty’ is a relevant term to emphasise this analysis.
Most relevant for marketing plans might be the development and maintenance of consumer brand loyalty, especially within highly competitive markets, such as VW’s market ( Delgado-Ballester 2). Brand loyalty can be divided into two types of loyalty. The first is called
‘spurious brand loyalty’, which means repeat purchasing behaviour, the rebuying of the same brand. ‘Spurious brand loyalty’ is not focussed on the personal commitment that the buyer or consumer has with the brand, however. The second type of brand loyalty is called ‘true brand loyalty’; this type is based on brand commitment, and because of this commitment the
consumer will insist on buying this brand again. This insistence is not the case for ‘spurious brand loyalty’, since the latter brand-loyal consumers might change brand (Bloemer 313).
Car consumers have probably thought through the decision to buy one, so the brand of a car is very important, being almost a part of one’s own identity. This close relationship arises because a car is a product that could say something about one’s social class, since it is related to one’s income, taste and identity. VW is not cheap, and therefore people who consume these cars have the power to choose between different brands, meaning that consumers were likely conscientious about their choice. These aspects of buying a car make brand loyalty a relevant theory to analyse online user engagement. Therefore, there is a powerful connection between a consumer and brand (Fournier 461).
2.2 What is the dominant image of VW online?
The second sub-question clarifies the representation of VW’s image online. Social media users and the corporation itself put forward a certain identity of VW during the emission scandal. To understand how VW was represented, theories of identity and reputation are further elaborated within this section.
2.2.1 Corporate identity and corporate image
There is a significant difference between corporate identity and corporate image. Several aspects are needed to build a corporate identity: visuals, norms and values, vision and ideology. All these aspects shape a corporation; a corporate logo is an example of a visual aspect that is needed to create an identity. The brand’s name or the design can also determine a corporation’s identity, and all aspects together help the corporation to distinguish itself from other corporations (Wirtz et al. 187). Furthermore, the product itself has a notable impact, since it is a combination of material and symbolic elements that can determine a corporation’s identity.
Not only does the corporation itself determine its identity, but the consumer’s perspective is also relevant to deciding and shaping an identity. This relevance means that corporate identity is shaped by the public as well, and can be seen as a public domain. It could be that the perspective of consumers differs from the perspective of the corporation itself. Marketing activities, such as uploading content on social media platforms, are part of shaping a corporate identity (Wirtz et al. 244).
Corporate image, on the other hand, enhances how the public thinks about the corporation (Rosson & Brooks 183). Corporations themselves are in control of their corporate identity, and are responsible of its creation. Corporate identity, unlike the corporate image, however, is determined through the eyes of the public. Corporate identity is a result of communication strategies (Riel and Balmer 341), and VW has built an identity around a car by creating a logo and having a German brand name translates into ‘people’s car’ or ‘people’s automobile’. VW is at the moment the top-selling and namesake of the VW Group and is one of the largest automaker’s in the world.
De Chernatony and Dallolmo Riley (1998) take both the company’s and consumer’s perspectives on brands, defining brands such as VW as a relationship that exists between the
consumer and the corporation. First, it is relevant that the corporation has an identity that allows consumers to engage in a relationship (Wirtz et al. 224). VW has built an identity, and online users who are engaged in this relationship attach a certain value to this engagement with both the corporation and other consumer’s or online users who are engaged with the VW brand. The meaning of the brand makes people already feel addressed by, it suggests that this car could be anyone’s and not only for the elite or ‘high class society’. One way of building an identity is through social media.
If Facebook were a nation, it would even be the world’s third most populous one, with more than 1.19 billion users, after China and India, according to the Economist Magazine (Aula 44). This online community is a place to develop corporate identities, and online communities can be seen as a replication of long-established geographical communities. Corporations cannot ignore this development and need to be sure not to lose their members within their online communities. Users are able to switch or share allegiances with competing brands (Wirtz et al. 224).
It is important to be aware of the fact that it is impossible for social media to be regulated and controlled by corporations themselves (Aula 4). Social media is characterised by interactive online users, who participate freely to send, receive to produce content for use by others (Aula 3). These actions of online users are impossible to control in advance, since online users are able to produce content whenever they want. This feature of social media makes analysing the user engagement on the two Facebook pages more interesting, since it’s messaging is not controlled by empowered companies.
2.2.2 Social media as a social construction
Every online user has a framework because of traditional media, but online users can give feedback on different platforms even though they will be affected by the traditional media. It is a participative culture online, meaning that social media is a social construction. This social construction also applies to corporate identity, which is created through the flow of
interactions from internal and external factors (Mavin and Grandy 769). Reality is constructed through interaction between individuals and corporations, and social media plays an important role within this interaction. Corporations constantly receive feedback about their identity, and according to Mavin and Grandy (social) media does play an important part of this feedback (768-769). As such, every post uploaded by VW on Facebook comes with feedback in the form of comments from online users. The post becomes real when user engagement has been
created around this post. The interaction of the corporate and the online users together decides what kind of identity the brand has. Social media is characterised by fast and easy searching, and users are participants, social media can therefore be considered as a minimal publishing threshold with a broad spread of content through a wide range of feedback (Aula 44). These characteristics can result in a lack of control by corporations or cannot be controlled at all in advance, and the content is difficult to manage. This last feature of social media makes it different than other, more traditional forms of media, for example the newspaper. It is almost impossible for a corporation to manage social media content and to control any conversation about the corporation. Corporate identity is therefore at stake; with the introduction of social media, corporate identity is no longer in hands of the corporation itself (Aula 45).
All images and information that people retrieve are media-generated (Gramson et al. 374). These media-generated images and information help people to construct meaningful experiences of this world. Each person has a unique perspective, built upon media-generated images and experiences. There is no neutral perspective, since every person retrieves different kinds of information and different media-generated images. Some of the images get more attention than other types of images.
Corporate image is not created by the communication derived from the corporation itself and its receivers. Social media plays an important role by contributing to the
corporation’s image, especially when a scandal comes into view. Social media provides access through which collective groups can play a role in creating corporate identity
(Greenberg & Knigh 154-156). This influence is confirmed by Hellgren et al., who describe the media as a sense-maker and at the same time a sense-giver. Sense-makers are able to shape a frame for the receiver to understand reality. This framing is often done by giving the public information and at the same time creating a point of reference for the public to
understand actualities. Sense-givers are able to give the public a certain perspective on actualities, meaning that every type of media can shape the consumer by highlighting certain aspects of a topic or actuality.
2.2.3 Corporate capitalism
Hierarchical power structures within corporations are not the only power structures around an organization such as VW. Much power exists outside of corporations as well. Examples of external sources of power are public opinion, ideologies and values (Perrow 6). Corporations are not fully in charge of exercising power, because of the state and its legal power, but also
because of non-organizational forces such as public opinion or impression (Perrow 8). Social media is a representation of a public impression, and, because of technology, power can nowadays be derived from different sources (Perrow 8). Facebook users can also exercise power over a corporation. Users are able to critique decisions of VW online, for example, and because of the potential of online content (e.g. going viral), this user influence could lead to powerful content.
The term “corporate capitalism” denotes a capitalist marketplace. The United States is often related to this term, since much of the economy of the U.S. falls within corporate control. Corporations dominate this capitalist marketplace, and as mentioned before they have less regulations than businesses that are not corporations. Among others, Blair has critiqued the fact that these corporations have much influence on government policy. Besides Blair, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt have given the same critique (Blair 62). These critiques suggest that corporations in the economic marketplace do not value democracy in the U.S., mainly because power relations are not equal between businesses and definitely not between individuals in society.
2.2.4 Cultural differences
In 2006, Facebook became open to everyone, and by 2010 it had made its online platform available in more than 70 languages. This expansion reflects growing international uptake, and studies have resulted in the fact that it is a plus that Facebook furnishes the ability for people to communicate with each other having never met offline (Vasalou et al. 19). As such, people from all over the world are able to communicate with each other, which also can result in conflicts between different cultures, values and perspectives.
Facebook has a community, an online page on which people can ask for deletion of certain content or pages. It is possible to block discriminating content, but people have to address Facebook about this content. If they do not, the content will not be deleted. Facebook has some restrictions, but will not be aware of threatening content if this it is not mentioned by other users. Social media is from this point of view transparent, and therefore analysis of user engagement on Facebook can be informative. Mainly, because online users from different cultures and different perspectives are empowered to like and post content about whatever they want.
2.3 What is the influence of the reactions of online users in regard to the resignation of CEO Winterkorn in September of 2015?
CEO Winterkorn, who was known for his interest for automobile design and construction, became chief executive in 2007 of VW. This was two years before the manipulative software was introduced with the 2009 model year. Five days after the scandal became public, CEO Winterkorn faced pressure and took responsibility for the scandal by resigning on the 23rd of
September 2015. At first, Winterkorn seemed to intent on fixing the blame on others but eventually he created a video that he uploaded on the website of the VW corporation where he claimed that the scandal was a result of just a few employees. In addition to this, the 68-year-old CEO has promised in the video that he would cooperate with officials on a “ruthless examination” of how vehicles were programmed to manipulate the U.S. emissions tests (Ewing 1). Analysing online user’s reactions after the announcement of the resignation of CEO Winterkorn might represent the influence of online users. To answer this sub-question within the findings, the following theories needs further explanation.
2.3.1 Corporate governance
Lately, CEOs have been criticised for the level of compensation and the extent of pay-for-performance. In both academic and business communities, some critics of CEO compensation argue that the CEO has influenced his own compensation, since he is part of the board of directors (Core et al. 372). One could say that Winterkorn’s resignation is an act of taking responsibility. One could also say, that he took ‘the easy way’, since he has not solved any problems with his resignation. The fact that the CEO still gets millions of dollars after his resignation could lead to mixed feelings in the public. Facebook has also announced the CEO’s resignation, and within the findings the public impression is further analysed. For this analysis, it is relevant to be aware of the fact that every corporation has hierarchical power structures. The CEO is the one running the corporation via a hierarchical chain of power, and Winterkorn is therefore responsible for the company. This responsibility is encompassed within the term ‘corporate governance’. Users of Facebook refer to this corporate governance. Every firm, including VW, has a power structure that determines who allocates money and jobs and who decides on research and development, or hiring and firing CEOs. Corporate governance is also about accountability, meaning that it is about who takes the blame for corruption or, in this case, fraud on emissions tests (Gourevitch and Shinn 2).
Besides these hierarchical power structures, there is also a different legal approach relevant to corporate governance, which holds the protection of the law for employees, investors or suppliers based on their continued usefulness to a firm (La Porta et al. 4). The CEO could be criticised for this protection by law, since every other person would be in prison for fraud. In Margaret M. Blair’s review, ‘Ownership and control: Rethinking the Corporate Governance for the Twenty-First Century’, she criticizes the protection of corporations and the fact that CEOs leave their companies, taking millions of dollars (Blair 62). Power structures and this protection of the law are also related to the term ‘corporate capitalism’, which is further elaborated in the next section.
2.4 What was the response of VW on Facebook?
This sub-question is being answered within the first part of the findings and focus lays on several theories. The corporate identity of VW is being analysed through online user engagement in regard to the company’s reputation risk management.
2.4.1 Reputation at risk
Communications strategies are almost impossible when it comes to social media, mainly because of the open access and interactive characteristics of Web 2.0. This openness results in the possibility or risk for a corporation of losing its former identity. Social media may
therefore a threat to corporations. The VW scandal has gone viral, and this dispersion of the scandal may result in a decline of the trust and the loyalty that their customers placed in them. Besides, Aula suggests that: ‘the loss of reputation affects competitiveness, local positioning, the trust and loyalty of stakeholders, media relations, and the legitimacy of operations, even the existence of the company’s business license’ (45). On the other hand, one could also say that social media is a weapon for corporations to empower themselves, and VW could make use of the platforms to communicate with everyone involved. This potential of social media means that VW can definitely benefit from social media, with the right communication strategy. Nevertheless, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), research has indicated that reputation risk is the primary threat for corporations and their market value. It is remarkable that corporations neglect reputation risk management strategies or do not enhance them entirely, despite its threat. This lack of active engagement on reputation risk
management results in a lack of research about how to deal with reputation risks. Corporations must take this threat very seriously, especially with the existence of social media, with which this threat becomes greater. VW must take risks to their identity very seriously, and reputation risk can affect not only individual corporations but, according to
Aula, an entire industry (45). As mentioned before, serious consequences can result from scandals. A lack of trust can result in a sharp decline in the U.S. stock market (Thomas L. Carson 389), for example. Additionally, the economy, society and online users seemed damaged after the announcement of the stock market scandal.
According to Aula, social media expands the spectrum of reputation risks and boosts risk dynamics (46). The accountant scandals in large corporations such as Enron have led to several reputation-damaging consequences. In addition to the financial implications, loss of identity might result in a lack of loyalty, and this decline might lead to the lack of availability of an organization’s employees and also to lack of loyalty in customers. Still, the emissions scandal has at least led to the resignation of CEO Winterkorn. Customers are most relevant for a corporation such as VW, and therefore this research will focus on the loyalty of customers and the content of their social media messages.
As Aula describes:
Even the existence of the risk is interpreted as a threat. The consequences of loss of reputation and the realization of reputation risk are described as being either direct or indirect. The consequences may be legal or financial and can significantly weaken operating conditions. (46)
In addition to the VW scandal, it is noteworthy that of significance is not only real functional problems (e.g. the resignation of CEO Winterkorn) but also the public impression of the situation (e.g. social media user’s expressions). Because of this relevance, expression through social media and public impression will be further elaborated in the method section.
3. METHODOLOGY
In this research, it will be clear that VW got much attention on Facebook and has retrieved much user engagement as well. VW-related content is a result of power structures and the point of view of political and economic elites who operate this content. All images and the process behind them seem natural, which means that social construction is invisible (Gamson et al. 374).
This thesis will focus on which side online users chose after the matter of concern, the scandal of VW, became public. The aim of this thesis is to determine what types of messages or social media content has been spread, in addition to VW’s own content, during and after the scandal. This goal must be met to answer the research question. Social media content about VW will represent how the corporation is identified through the public or social media users. Social media content will reflect the corporate image.
3.1 Facebook as a data source
This research made use of Facebook content because online users play an important role in a corporate identity. Online users are able to determine the status of a corporation, whether it is negative or positive, and as discussed within the theoretical framework, corporate identity is a social construction shaped by the interaction between individuals and corporations. This online interaction was the focus of this research.
The data, social media interactions, were gathered from the social media platform Facebook. Facebook is the most popular online site in the world, with 1 billion page views, mainly because Facebook allows users to send out short messages (Aula 44).
All social media content on Facebook was analysed between the time the scandal became public and one week after the resignation of CEO Winterkorn, which is to say September18 through 30, 2015. This certain selected data range was chosen to analyse whether the content changed after the resignation of CEO Winterkorn. This resignation was one of the main consequences of the VW scandal, so whether the online content has changed after the announcement of his resignation may be an indication of the public view to VW’s communication strategy and corporate governance.
Social media posts were scraped with digital method tools. NetVizz is a tool that scrapes data from Facebook. The tool provides practical data: amount of posts, amount of likes, amount of comments, links and the content.
This research analysed the popular Facebook pages: The VW Facebook page and the New York Times Facebook page. The VW Facebook page is an international page, so only people who would like to gather information about VW are engaged on this page. One could say that these are fans of VW, but this is not necessarily always the case. Although, people who follow Facebook pages of a certain brand are probably more engaged with the brand than others. Also, all the online users who have liked the VW Facebook page are able to see the content automatically on their main page. Meaning, that these online users (Volkswagen Facebook page followers) are automatically keeping up to date of every announcement or news that has been uploaded on the VW Facebook page. The content that has been uploaded on the
Volkswagen Facebook page can derive from the corporation itself (VW), followers of the Volkswagen Facebook page or other online Facebook users.
Secondly, the Facebook page of the popular American News source, The New York Times, was analysed. Of the two pages, this popular news page saw more user engagement around the VW emission scandal and has uploaded twelve posts within two weeks about VW. The reason for choosing an American news page was that the emissions test cheating
happened in the U.S. The reason for choosing this particular American news page was that it’s in the top 5 most popular online news pages. Besides, it has the most online content on
Facebook around the VW emission scandal. The content that has been uploaded on the New York Times Facebook page can derive from the New York Times, followers of the New York Times Facebook page or other online Facebook users.
The fact that the emission test cheating happened in the U.S., means that U.S. citizens might feel more involved than other countries with this scandal. The dual focus of the study on these two different pages was decided upon because they represent different perspectives. The VW page has more user engagement from both fans and from people who probably have more knowledge about the brand or about ‘cars’ in general. The news page represents a different perspective since news pages engage every online user interested in the news in general, so even users who are not particularly interested in cars comment on the news articles like those about the VW scandal. These two Facebook pages have posted more than 10 articles on the VW scandal between September 18–30, 2015. Both pages have millions of likes, which gives them great reach and noteworthy user engagement.
3.2 Social media content analysis
Many online blogs and new sites have researched user engagement and online content during and after the VW scandal. Most online articles say that VW has a well-thought-out reputation
risk management plan; VW put much effort into online news articles and other online content to provide information about the scandal to customers and the general public.
This thesis provides more detailed research by analysing all posts, comments and likes on Facebook. The study focussed first on the content of VW Facebook page itself to analyse and to answer the following sub-question: What was the response of VW on Facebook? To answer this question, the VW Facebook page was analysed in regard to VW’s reputation risk management and corporate identity. At first, a distinction has been made between the posts of VW and other online users on the VW Facebook page. To analyse the response of VW on Facebook separately from other online content. All of VW’s own posts uploaded on the official VW Facebook page in the specified timeframe were analysed with the NetVizz digital method tool. All posts were categorized based on their content. Examples of categories are: ‘negative content towards VW in general’, ‘negative content towards the communication of VW’, negative content towards the emission scandal’, ‘positive content towards VW in general’.
The second sub-question, ‘What is the dominant image of VW online?’, was answered by analysing all posts on both Facebook pages, the VW Facebook page and the New York Times Facebook page. This analysis was realised with the NetVizz digital method tool as well, focussing on all of the uploaded content in the specified timeframe. All posts were analysed and focus lays on the content that was produced (posts and comments) by the public or online users in general. The content that was being uploaded by VW has also being
analysed, but doesn’t represent the dominant image of VW online. Mainly because, the public shapes the corporate image and not the corporation itself. In addition to this, all posts were categorized based on their content. Examples of categories are: ‘brand loyalty’, ‘negative content towards VW in general’, ‘negative content towards the emission scandal’.
To answer the third sub-question, ‘What is the influence on reactions of online users in regards to the resignation of CEO Winterkorn?’, all posts were analysed separately after the announcement of the resignation on the September 23, 2015. All content was categorised in terms of corporate governance and corporate capitalism, based on all the content that came across on both Facebook pages. Within the findings, multiple categorization systems were created, since categories were determined based on what content came across. Examples of categories are: ‘negative content towards the CEO’, ‘positive content towards the CEO’, ‘anti-capitalism content’.
In addition, both Facebook pages were analysed separately, mainly to research whether there exist different types of content between the Facebook pages. As stated before, the New York Times Facebook page has a different group of users than the official VW Facebook group. One could say that the users on the official VW Facebook page might be more loyal to their brand. Mainly because, these online users have chosen to follow the VW Facebook page. This means that these online users can be seen as fans of VW, which initially might lead to more positive content (brand loyalty) than the content on the New York Times Facebook page. Therefore, it was important to get a clear understanding of the perspectives of different online users engaged on the two Facebook pages. These differences were analysed in terms of brand loyalty and cultural differences.
3.3 Data
This research focussed on the users’ engagement on Facebook concerning their opinion on the VW scandal. The sum of likes and comments were considered the main and most-used forms of engagement on Facebook. Therefore, data was arranged based on the amount of likes. This arrangement enabled the analysis of which posts received the most engagement and therefore of which posts received the most support. In total, 96 posts, between September 18–30, 2015, were analysed.
Different types of content were found in the course of analysing all comments from the international official VW Facebook page and also the New York Times Facebook page. While analysing the VW Facebook page, we placed more focus on the type of content, whether it was positive or negative, and what this content said about the corporate identity or the corporate image. Also, relevant to analyse was the communication strategy of VW to their consumers, to find out about VW’s reputation risk management. While analysing the New York Times Facebook page, it was interesting to analyse who people were blaming and how the corporate governance and the power structures within VW were being represented to the public. Those theories will be further elaborated within the discussion section, but first the actual findings are represented in the following chapter.
4. FINDINGS
4.1 The Volkswagen Facebook Page
After collecting data from the official Volkswagen Facebook page between 18 and 30 September 2015, several noteworthy findings were analyzed. The retrieved data within this time range exist out of 84 posts, with 1966 users liking or commenting 2594 times.
The official Volkswagen Facebook page has 25.644.524 likes and this means that all those users are following the brand VW and even if they will not actively search on Facebook for this particular page, they will receive content on their main page of VW. A small group of these 25 million likes are actively participating online, through commenting or posting content. Every post of VW will be automatically visible for all online users who have liked the page and the content will be automatically shown on their main page. Besides, users who haven’t liked the page are also able to see the posts of VW, for example whenever online users are visiting the Facebook page or when an online friend has liked, shared or respond to a certain post of the Volkswagen Facebook Page. Relevant to know is that this Facebook page is the international account of the brand VW itself.
This means that the communication on the page derived from the PR/communication
department or VW. These findings answer the following sub-question: What was the response of VW on Facebook? To realise this, it’s relevant to be aware of the fact that online users are able to post content on the page as well. Nonetheless, VW is in charge of all the content and is able to delete content from other parties or users. This means that these pages represent the corporate identity of VW. Therefore, it’s relevant to analyze whether the brand itself or online users has posted content.
Table 1. Categorization system of the posts that was retrieved from the official Volkswagen Facebook page.
Online Content Represented in %
Posts of online users 96,40% Posts of Volkswagen 3,60%
Remarkable is that VW has only posted content three times. The first post of VW was on the 18th of September 2015, the day that the emission scandal has gone public. Remarkable is that
‘Share your biggest blooper with your car and you might win a VW Golf’. The second post was uploaded at the 22nd of September 2015, represented content about the top ten car
bloopers from VW’s online users who have shared bloopers with VW. Remarkable is that VW social media department had not adjusted it’s content, since the scandal became public. The post had shown a top ten of bloopers of other people who had shared funny stories online about their cars. This has resulted in comments of users who are rejecting this post and also making fun of VW by messaging that VW itself is the biggest blooper. At first, it seems that the reputation risk management of VW has no clue of dealing with this scandal, since it’s uploading ‘a top ten car bloopers’. Analysing all comments, this doen’t seem to be the right way to manage the reputation of VW after the scandal has already gone public.
As mentioned before, Corporate identity, or the identity of a corporation, is being described as how the company thinks of its own identity and how the company would like to be seen by the public (Rosson & Brooks 183). Corporate identity is not shaped by itself, but mainly by PR departments, which are responsible of creating a certain corporate identity. This means, that all posts of VW are representing how VW would like to be seen by their followers or online users. At first, it seems that VW would like to pretend that there is no scandal, since VW itself have not posted content (until the 30th of September 2015) on their Facebook page
that provides information about the scandal.
It’s noteworthy that VW itself has only posted one message with content about the emission scandal on the 30th of September 2015. This post exists out of a link, where VW provides
more information and where online users are also able to ask questions. This post has retrieved 666 likes, 119 shares and 258 comments.
What also is remarkable, that there are online users who are still positive about the brand VW and who are commenting on posts on the VW pages to share their positive feelings about VW. The users are loyal to their brand, no matter what. Still, most of the content is negative. Besides analysing the posts of VW itself, other posts have also been analysed. These findings answer the following sub-question: ‘What is the dominant image of VW online?’.
Table 5 represents that there are 81 posts uploaded by online users. These posts have been analyzed more specifically to see how they feel about the emission scandal and VW as a brand after their fraud. Multiple labels can be checked within the categorization system per post.
Graphic 1. Representation of categories based on the posts (in absolute numbers) on the official Volkswagen Facebook page.
Consumer complaints about VW in general Negative content on emission scandal Sarcastic content on emission scandal Negative content because VW still produce advertising on the FB Negative content on CEO Brand Loyalty – Positive Advertising Random
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Categories of online content on the Volkswagen Facebook Page
In total, 59 posts have posted negative content about the emission scandal. Online users were frustrated that VW posted content about advertising during this scandal instead of providing online users more information. The CEO was also mentioned at only two posts, one of them was referring to the second war, where Winterkorn was represented with the following text:
Image 1. Posted on the 23rd of September 2015, on the official VW page after the resignation
CEO Winterkorn gets critique, but there are also 7 posts that represents positive feelings towards VW as a brand. These are VW consumers who are a hundred percent fan of the brand. An example of this type of post is the following:
Image 2. Posted on the 25th of September 2015 on the official Volkswagen Page.
These fans are loyal to their brand.
This image presents an online user who is very loyal towards VW, despite its crisis, he or she loves the brand and is fully supportive of VW.
Besides all the posts that have been analysed, user engagement is also shown in the comments. Therefore, all 1027 comments have been analysed.
At first, all 566 comments that have been posted are analysed. These comments were posted before VW had provided information within their post on the 30th of September 2015
on their official Facebook page.
Again, multiple labels can be checked within the categorization system per comment.
Graphic 2. Representation of categories based on the comments (in absolute numbers) on the official Volkswagen Facebook page.
Negative because of the VW Scandal Positive about VW in general (brand loyalty) Questions from consumers about the scandal ‘Everyone does it, no only VW’ VW comments on Consumer complaints/questions ‘VW is the biggest blooper’ Name Tag
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Categories of online comments on the Volkswagen Facebook Page
Interesting is that the first two posts we’re uploaded by VW itself, all comments are based on these two posts about the bloopers that people had shared on this Facebook page. Only 32 online users were genuine commenting on this post of VW and have shared their stories, in the hope that they could win a VW car. Meaning that people would still want this. On the other hand, most of the online users commented with texts about the fact that it was ironic that VW asked online users to share their bloopers, since VW had just made the biggest blooper with the emission scandal. There were 92 comments on these two Facebook posts of VW with critique on this social media approach. Most of them responded with the text: ‘VW is the biggest blooper’, but also people were doubting if VW actually cared about the scandal since no content was posted about this.
Table 2. These statistics show the user engagement of the Official Volkswagen Facebook page within this certain data range.
Day Posts Likes Comments Shares
18-09-15 4 36 39 7 19-09-15 2 16 4 0 20-09-15 3 3 0 0 21-09-15 2 1 3 0 22-09-15 17 272 278 59 23-09-15 10 13 9 0 24-09-15 16 18 12 5 25-09-15 6 12 2 1 26-09-15 4 9 5 0 27-09-15 5 5 1 0
28-09-15 4 213 119 1
29-09-15 3 287 137 0
30-09-15 7 705 461 124
Graphic 3. These statistics show the user engagement of the official Volkswagen Facebook page within this certain data range.
9/18/15 9/19/15 9/20/15 9/21/15 9/22/15 9/23/15 9/24/15 9/25/15 9/26/15 9/27/15 9/28/15 9/29/15 9/30/15 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700
User engament on the official Volkswagen Facebook Page
Posts Likes Comments Shares
As the image shows, on the 22nd of September 2015, there was lots of commotion on the VW
post with 278 comments and 272 likes. This post provided the top ten car bloopers of online users and 29% of the comments on this post we’re saying that VW was the biggest blooper. Only 10% of the only users who commented were committed to this campaign and willing to win the VW Golf car. The rest of the online users we’re tagging names in these two posts of VW about the bloopers, or posted negative content around the emission scandal in general. Another remarkable fact is that on the 30th of September VW has posted for the first time
content about the emission scandal, with the following text: ‘To keep everyone up to date with all the information in addition to the recent news about the diesel engines, we provide
multiple sources. We have also deployed additional teams to answer all your questions via Facebook and Twitter. We thank you for your patience while we work behind the scenes to resolve this issue. Once we have more information, we will share this with you.’ This post has 705 likes and 461 comments and has been shared 124 times. All these 461 comments have been analysed more precisely to analyse if the negative comments have changed or not after the cooperation of VW on social media and after the resignation of CEO Winterkorn and his apologies. It’s relevant to be aware of the fact that VW is interfering with the online users. Not all 461 comments are from online users, VW itself also comments to the online users on Facebook. This means, there is a discussion going on between the online users and VW. VW interferes with the online discussion by responding to online user’s comments.
Graphic 4. Representation of categories based on all comments (in absolute numbers) on the first post of VW about the emission scandal, on the 30th of September 2015.
Consumers with questions about their car Responses of VW Negative VW owners/consumer because of the scandal Negative online users because of the scandal Negative because of the social media approach of VW ‘It’s not that bad, there are worse things’ Positive about VW in general (Brand Loyalty) U.S. Governments fault ‘Everyone does it, not only VW’ Random Name Tag
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Categories of online comments around the Volkswagen post on Facebook
This graphic above represents remarkable findings. The most remarkable finding is that consumers of VW are loyal to their brand. Most of the comments (149 in total) exist out of positive content as a response to the post of VW where they are willing to provide more information about the emission scandal. Online users are expressing their positive feelings towards the VW brand and are expressing VW as a qualitative brand and these people would not change their car because of this scandal. All these positive comments might relate to the reputation risk communication strategy of VW, since VW has finally provided information about the scandal. People seem to be more loyal to their brand when the company is in contact with their consumers. The corporate image, therefore is now more positive than before VW has uploaded content about the VW scandal. It seems that VW’s reputation risk management
on social media has finally began to work. There are only 8 comments that have been posted negative content from VW owners or consumers. These comments are based on the fact that the scandal has led to not choose VW again. It seems that VW owners are very happy with the quality of the car and couldn’t really care about the emission standards, because they enjoy the car. There might also be a correlation between the approach of VW on Facebook, since this post have retrieved much less negative content than before VW has posted information about the scandal. On the other hand, there are 14 comments that in particular mentions the approach of VW on Facebook. Most of the comments are saying that VW has not properly answered their questions, since online users have asked the online VW teams for personal questions about their type of car. The response that VW gave, was most of the time: ‘At the moment, we’re not sure yet which models of VW it is about’. This is kind of a standard answer of the VW Facebook team, but on the other hand they have responded 43 times to all 67 comments that have questioned the VW page about their cars or more information about the emission scandal.
Besides, content that was labelled as ‘this is not that bad, there are worse things’, could also be analysed as positive. One could say that this has no negative content around VW. Also, the online users who are not pointing fingers to only VW, but also other
corporations who ‘probably’ make the same mistakes as VW but will not be charged the way VW is being. These comments can also be seen as quite positive towards VW.
The most remarkable finding is that before VW has posted their content on the 30th of
September, all comments have been analysed in table 4. This system shows that 150 online users have posted negative content in addition to the emission scandal. This means that 26.5 % of all comments are negative towards the scandal. Besides, 15.7% of the 566 comments exists out of name tags or random other comments, meaning that these are irrelevant. Only nine comments exist out of positive feelings towards VW and are loyal to their brand. To conclude, before VW has posted anything on the emission scandal online users where much more negative about VW than after their post. Positive feelings have been raised from only nine comments to 149 comments after the post of VW. All negative posts have been declined from 150 comments to 62 negative content comments. One could say, that there might is a correlation between the approach of VW on social media and the loyalty that consumers have towards the brand. The brand loyalty that starts to exist among online users
can be seen as a result of the communication approach of VW. Corporate identity or the identity of VW is also created online by the VW Facebook teams.
4.2 The New York Times Facebook Page
The New York Times Facebook page is of the most popular American news pages. Since the emission scandal has been revealed in the U.S and the page has more than 11.000.000 likes, the user engagement is relevant to analyse. This Facebook news page has been analysed since it has the most engagement around the VW topic of Facebook news pages.
The extracted data from Netvizz, within the data range (18 September 2015 until 30
September 2015) consists out of 597 posts, with 731401 users liking or commenting 1635468 times. From all 597 posts, twelve posts contain the Volkswagen scandal.
At first, an overview of the total user engagement around all twelve posts on the VW scandal is being represented in the table below.
Table 3. User engagement around twelve posts that contains VW and have been uploaded by The New York Times Facebook page, from 18 till the 30th of September 2015.
Like
s Comments Facebook Posts NY Times
541 46 Post 12: 'Given Volkswagen’s history, culture and corporate structure..' 548 86 Post 11: 'The Volkswagen scandal has delivered a sharp blow ..'
559 54 Post 10: 'The breadth of the Volkswagen scandal could finally ..' 1512 260 Post 9: 'It is incredible that anyone at Volkswagen..'
612 44 Post 8: 'Long before Volkswagen admitted to cheating on emissions..' 1785 342 Post 7: 'Breaking News: Martin Winterkorn resigned as chief executive..'
511 79 Post 6: 'Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen’s chief executive..' 2900 470 Post 5: 'The software sensed when the car was being tested..'
1208 322 Post 4: 'Breaking news: Volkswagen said that 11 million diesel cars…' 1170 424 Post 3: 'I feel totally ripped off'
1250 274 Post 2: 'Volkswagen is in damage-control mode ...' 2324 371 Post 1: 'Breaking news: The Obama administration ..'
The first post has been uploaded on the 18th of September 2018, with the following
announcement: ‘Breaking news: The Obama administration ordered Volkswagen to recall nearly a half million cars from the road, saying the German automaker used software
intentionally designed to circumvent environmental standards for reducing smog.’ This post has retrieved 2269 likes and 371 comments. This post announces the scandal of VW and has retrieved a lot of user engagement, which makes this interesting to analyse. The content of all twelve posts are negative towards VW, or the posts refer to articles where information about the scandal can be retrieved.
Circle diagram 1. Categorization diagram for 334 comments placed on the first post of the New York Times Facebook page on the 18th of September, which announces the emission
scandal. 0.38% 6.04% 46.79% 2.26% 2.26% 31.70% 10.19% 0.38%
Categories of online comments around the announement of the emission scandal on the New York Times Facebook Page
Random Name Tag
Negative because of the VW Scandal Negative about CEO Winterkorn Positive about VW in general (brand loyalty) Personally cheated
Governments fault Discriminating the Germans with Nazi content
Remarkable is that there are only 6 comments from users who are loyal tot their brand. One could say, that this is because it’s the first announcement and people are still shocked about the scandal. The corporate has not a good reputation at the moment; there are 124 comments with negative content towards the VW scandal. Also, 84 comments are from consumers who feel personally cheated by their brand. Meaning, that 208 comments have been retrieved with negative content towards VW.
The corporate identity is also shaped by its brand name. Since VW is a German name, people are more aware of the fact that it’s a German corporation and therefore tend to post
discriminating content about the Germans in general. There have been 22 comments that contain discriminating content towards the Germans and referred to the Second World War. Cultural differences are being represented within these comments. These cultural differences are also presented in 31 comments that are blaming the government instead of VW.
Interesting is that most of the comments are from Americans, since it’s the NY Times
Facebook page. Americans, are in general very proud of and positive about their own nation, but apparently not when it comes to the greed of American capitalism.
An example of a comment within this category, has the following content: ‘Money, profit, power.. the psychology of a big global corporation and the government is out of sight (of course)’. There are lots of comments about the U.S. Government, most of them are blaming the government of the VW scandal. Online users are suggesting that the scandal is a result of power structures within the U.S.
The second post was uploaded by the New York Times at the 22nd of September 2015, with the following content: ‘Volkswagen is in damage-control mode after admitting that diesel cars sold in America had software deliberately designed to cheat on air-quality tests.’ This post has retrieved 1250 likes and 274 comments with the following content:
Graphic 5. Representation of categories based on 274 comments (in absolute numbers) placed on the second post of the New York Times Facebook page on the 22nd of September 2015.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Categories of online comments on the New York Times Facebook Page
There is still a lot of user engagement around the VW topic, it’s only four days after the announcement of the scandal. Most of the content is still negative (79 comments with negative content). All those negative content is in response of the emission scandal. Again, online users are blaming the U.S. Government, since VW came away with these tests for a long time before the EPA has found out about this fraud of VW. Besides, blaming the U.S. Government also other corporations or capitalism in general is being assaulted for being greedy. Social media is a social construction, where online users are free to engage and it seems that 36 comments are posted about the fact that corporations in general are cheating. This means that a lack of trust is arising in corporations in general, since corporation scandals. One could say that these suggestions aren’t particularly negative towards the brand of VW, the reputation of VW is probably impaired but it’s not unusual according to online users. This is also reflected in the users who are still loyal to their brand. There has been a raise in the positive comments compared to the first post of the New York Times where the
announcement of the scandal got public. The positive feelings towards VW have been raised with 15 comments.
The third post of the New York Times was posted at the 22nd of September 2015, with the
following content: ‘I Feel totally ripped off’. This post has shared an article with the headline: ‘The wrath of Volkswagen drivers’ and has retrieved 424 comments, 1170 likes and 310
shares. The article states that all affect owners have to wait and see until VW is coming with a solution. This article has retrieved a lot of personal comments about how customers feel towards VW and how they personally felt cheated by their brand. There were posted 92 comments with name tags in it, meaning that probably VW owners were tagged in this post, to let them know that they’re not the only one who feels ripped off by VW. Therefore, another categorization system has been created, to analyse the different emotional feelings towards the brand VW.
There were posted 98 comments with name tags in it, meaning that probably VW owners were tagged in this post, to let them know that they’re not the only one who feels ripped off by VW. These post aren’t noteworthy, since it doesn’t express how or what online users feel or think about the emission scandal or VW in general. This means that there are 327
comments left to analyse more closely, and 56 of those comments exist out of random or irrelevant content, which also isn’t noteworthy. The rest of the comments are relevant and systematically organised in the system below.
Graphic 6. Representation of categories based on 98 comments (in absolute numbers) placed on the third post of the New York Times Facebook page on the 22nd of September 2015.
Random (Commercial or other random posts) Name Tag Negative because of the VW Scandal ‘Not sorry for VW at all’ I’ll never buy VW again, although I have loved VW (consumer) ‘I feel personally betrayed(consumer) ‘The only reason for being sorry is because they got caught’ ‘Never liked diesels anyway’ ‘Never liked VW anyway’ ‘Diesels have never been green, so don’t fool yourself and calm down’ ‘I was about to buy one, but not anymore’ (potential customers) Positive about VW, no matter what (brand loyalty) ‘Sorry for VW’ U.S. Governments fault ‘Germans, what could have we expected’ ‘Everyone does it, no only VW’ Questions about the emission scandal
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Categories of online comments on the New York Times Facebook page
An example of the category: ‘I feel personally cheated’, is a comment that have been posted on the 22nd of September 2015, with the following text: ‘What a rip off, I bought a 2012 TDI,
