PR Research Proposal

Final Research Paper

Abstract

The Xbox360 “Red Ring” crisis was of great controversy in the gaming community. This study hopes to examine Microsoft’s approach to resolving the issue and repairing their image from a context point of view. The study is examined through the view of simulated atonement and set in the backdrop of research done previously on video games. The study will be done by using coders to examine 200 articles that are from Microsoft campaigns, employers, and investors, as well as experienced journalists in the field.



Introduction

Since the console’s release in 2005, the Xbox360 has suffered criticism for an error coded as a “General Hardware Failure”, but known around the gaming community as “The Red Ring if Death”. This error, displayed by three-fourths of the circle on the console lighting up as bright red, has caused a significant rift between gamers and the Microsoft Company. The error would render the console useless and at first, irreparable. However, seeing the potential for a crisis to occur, Microsoft enacted some practices that helped ease the pain of this detrimental error. The company extended the warranty for the consoles from two to three years, developed ways of fixing the error quickly and effectively, and established a simple, efficient way for customers to send in their products for repair. Microsoft is now rebuilding their image of reliability and great customer service through these programs.

In this research experiment, Microsoft’s communication with its customers pertaining to the Xbox360 will be examined. Examining Microsoft’s plan of action not only benefits the public relations field but also the video game field. The practice of public relations is only recently being implemented in the genre of video games and established practices are not set in stone. However, Microsoft has plenty of experience dealing with public relations in the computer market and has taken those practices and adapted them to their video game market. The study of their communication could offer insight on how crises can be handled in this new field. It could also develop strategies for public relations professionals to work within the counter-culture that is the video game community. Video games and video game companies could also benefit from public relations in order to gain respectability as an art form and a legitimate and important developing technology.

The research leading up to this has been scarce. Most research about video games seems to come from the cause-effect standpoint and few if any articles discuss the practices of the companies. Looking at image repair theories and approbation theories, Microsoft’s plan of action concerning communicating with the gamer community will be examined.


Literature Review

The literature review for this investigation will follow the arguments surrounding image repair and approbation, while also touching on previous reports on crisis control and previous studies concerning video games. There will also be a focus on public relations in the video game genre where sources allow. First, key definitions of image, approbation, and audience will be reviewed. Next, previous studies about post-crisis image repair will be discussed. Then this will be applied to the ‘Red Ring’ crisis with justification as to why this situation is not only a crisis, but also an image control problem.

The gamer community is very easy to define. It is merely anyone who plays video games often and keeps up on the latest news and releases from video game companies. Considered its own sub-culture now, gaming communities have grown rapidly with the rising popularity of console gaming. A console is merely a video game device that is plugged in and played at home. Examples of this include, but are not limited to: PlayStation, Nintendo64, Sega Dreamcast, and the Xbox360. As with the rise of any industry, the video game industry has seen its crises and Microsoft’s “Red Ring” crisis is one of the most prominent.

Normally, image is defined as the portrayal that is presented by a company, brand, etc. in order to gain credibility and popularity with their audiences. However, there is debate about where the idea of image comes from. Some researchers stress image coming from the presenters (the company, brand, object, agency, etc.) while others such as Benoit, stress differently. Benoit stresses that image is based on the perception of an audience about a brand, object, company, etc (2000). Benoit stresses that image is neither unitary nor homogeneous and that audiences must always be considered (2000). While the definition of image and where it comes from is important to a company, it is more important how to solve a problem when one’s image is damaged.

Seeger and Ulmer (2001) describe four trends that tend to follow post-crisis image repair. Firstly, the focus of the organization or company tends to be more focused on the future, rather than focusing on common points that bonded the brand and the audience in the past. Secondly, organizations reformed the struggling and problem-filled parts of the organizations. Next, organizations focused on the positive parts of the crisis and worked to repair and improve the negative parts. Finally, focus on the leader as the bedrock for image repair was key to success. Rieirson, Seeger, and Ulmer’s (2009) article about Odwalla dealing with a crisis involving defective apple juice focuses on the long-term recovery after a crisis, pointing out that the company’s initial response to the harm done to their stakeholders is critical to setting the tone of image repair.

Scholars writing on image repair long have held that it is best for a guilty party to admit fault immediately and to issue a genuine apology to victims (Seeger & Ulmer, 2001). Shepard describes the theory of simulated atonement, which is much like atonement, except with purposeful image repair tactics worked in. Shepard explains, “Like traditional atonement, simulated atonement is saved for situations in which a party is undoubtedly guilty and the infringement is too grave to simply ignore” (Shepard, 2009). This is different compared to that of rhetoric approbation which merely admits the problem in hope to gain sympathy and divert the anger. It does not actually work to restore the image. Stimulated atonement, however, simultaneously gives approbation while at the same time trying to shift the blame somewhere else (Shepard, 2009). It also is concerned mainly with short term effects (Shepard, 2009). Benoit (1995) explains that companies in need of humanizing or improving their overall image may route to denial, avoidance of responsibility, lessening of the offensiveness, assurance of curative acts, or the use of humiliation. Denial is the shifting of blame to another party; avoidance of responsibility follows this line of though as well.

Shepard defines two situations in which simulated atonement could be successful. First, it can be used when the situation is not horribly harmful to most of the audience (Shepard, 2009). In the case of Microsoft, this would be applicable since only 1/500 Xbox360s fell into disrepair in the last four years. It is also not just about the numbers. If the issue is not close to the heart, or on the minds of most of the audience, it can also be easily remedied by an apology (Shepard, 2009). Shepard explains that “Additionally, simulated atonement works when there are situational reasons for backing the retour” (2009). Microsoft had good reason for keeping their audience. The Xbox360 was a huge success and not only did every serious gamer have one, but also, exclusive games were coming out only available for this console. If gamers wanted to both participate in the gaming community and gain access to these new releases, they had to stay with Microsoft.

The next matter to be discussed is previous research on video games. Looking through the studies about video games, one can see the general trends that are approached. First of these trends is cause-effect. Many studies try to link playing video games with some dependant variable, usually associated with cognitive ability. For example, the study by Hennessey, Bleakley, Fishbein, and Jordon describes the correlation between sexual content, such as those found in video games, to adolescent sexual behavior (2009). Another that is more video game specific, rather than just media in general, is The Effect of Computer Gaming on Subsequent Time Perception (Luthman, Bliesener, Staude-Muller, 2009). Many of these studies focus on children-parent relationships as well. In Effect of Computer-Based Video Games on Children: An Experimental Study, the relationship between children and parents is examined under the ‘stress’ of video game players (Chaung, Chen, 2009).

Another trend in the research is scholars taking concepts learned and developed in video games and applying it to different situations and institutions. In Sancho, et al.’s work on applying role playing games, also known as RPGs, the authors apply the skills and sense of obligation in RPGs to social situations in order to approach high education with some kind of method, model, and framework (Sancho, Moreno-Ger, Fuentes-Fernández, & Fernández-Manjón, 2009). The last real trend in more in the content analysis side of video games. Though there is very little in this branch, it important to note because as a form of media, the content in video games and communication concerning video games is key to understanding the medium. It is also important to note the dates of these studies. Though video games have been around since the 1980s, only recently has research in this field been able to take tangible form and be semi-widely distributed.

Looking at all these different elements surrounding the crisis, a study on the communication of Microsoft to rebuild their image would be beneficial both to the theory of simulated atonement and also to the research being conducted, or lack there of, concerning video games. There are three research questions in order to apply these concepts to the “Red Ring” crisis:

A. What kind of communication did Microsoft use, and believe to be most effective, to communicate to consumers about the Red Ring of Death Crisis?

B. In this communication, did Microsoft take blame for the matter, or merely defended itself from attacks?

C. Was the communication that differed in the taking of responsibility dependent on the type of communication: personal versus impersonal; formal versus informal; mass communication versus niche communication; controlled versus uncontrolled media?

Microsoft’s approach to remedy the crisis can be seen as simulated atonement because of the situations that Shepard (2009) described in which this would be successful and accepted. Also, since contextual analysis is not a prevalent branch of video game research, this study can add to this department, possibly allowing for more analysis of context of both the games and the communication. Until now, the communication in publications, forums, and user-created sites has been minimally studied in the video game realm. The gaming community is a sub-culture that should be studied as it communicates and functions differently than other sub-cultures. This study hopes to pierce this ‘silence bubble’ concerning communication in gamer culture and help lead to more research in this field.

These concepts can be applied to the ‘Red Ring’ crisis that Microsoft’s Xbox360 faced since its release. As the highest percentage of played video game consoles (McCann, 2009), the Xbox360’s crisis can be seen as a real problem with image merely because of the length the problem has been occurring. Since its release in 2005, Microsoft has had to revamp its policy about the Xbox360 over and over again. This problem has hurt the reputation and image of Microsoft as a dependable and high-quality company. Using the exposure and coverage of the crisis on gamer-culture magazines and forums, the issues raised by Seeger, Ulmer, and Reierson about how effective crisis control can be and how it is handles will be applied to Microsoft’s approach to rectifying the errors caused by the malfunction error in their video game console.

Methodology

In order to do this, the researcher will compile a list of 200 articles gathering from evenly from four sources: the Microsoft official Xbox press site, GameInformer magazine, Joystiq.com, and a Google search. Two hundred is seen as a sufficient and attainable number in order to gain a wide look at the situation and overall message Microsoft displayed. These numbers should be attainable because if this has been going on for four years, and even ignoring the assumption that more coverage was placed right when the crisis was at the forefront, there would have to be an average of about four posts per month. With the assumption that coverage was heavy in the first year, and pulling from four different sources, it seems very possible to gain 200 articles.

The Microsoft official Xbox press site will be useful in order to gain the most direct communication from Microsoft. It will also be very formal and be targeted at investors as well as gamers, allowing a different perspective that will be gained from the other sources. GameInformer magazine will be a good source to gain a professionally written source for disseminating video game news. The magazine format will also allow for an approach that must be aware that the magazine is monthly distributed and will contain articles by competitors as well. GameInformer was chosen because it is the most distributed video game magazine in the world, allowing the articles to be targeted at multiple regional audiences. Joystiq.com is a website that provides both news and opinions on video games and is written by professionals in the field. This allows for Microsoft employees to post editorial-like articles about the crisis. Not only does the site offer a more informal approach, but the articles are written in order to gain response and rebuttal from other writers.
Joystiq.com was chosen because of its reputation of having professionals in the field write for it and because it is often quoted in other video game publications, such as GameInformer. Finally, a Google search will be used in order to gain the perspective of an Xbox360 customer searching for the crisis. This is important because for many customers, this was the way they received information from Microsoft. Below, the methods in which the articles will be obtained is outlined.

The Microsoft press site articles pertaining to the crisis will be placed in a list format according to date. Arranging the list chronologically will allow for a random amount from each time period in the recovery to have an equal change to be picked. Articles will be randomly numbered and randomly picked. The GameInformer magazine and Joystiq.com articles will follow the same procedure. To add a more non-mass media perspective, a Google search will be made containing the words “Xbox” and “error”. When the crisis started, there was no name for what happened and it seems these terms were probably the most searched. Pertaining links will be randomly numbered and randomly picked.

All articles that were chosen randomly will be compiled in a database for coders to access. Coders will be chosen on a volunteer basis from a university public relations class. Twenty coders will work for one week on the assignment, each coding ten articles for the first round. Then, to ensure coder validity, coders will go through a second round of articles, using a completely different set. Before the rounds, coders will be asked if they are aware of the problem, but will not be discounted as coders unless a major bias occurs. Major bias will consist of a total score of 25 on the following quiz. “Yes” is worth 5 points. “No” is worth none. This will ensure that the coder does not take the articles personally and has little to no emotional connection to the crisis. See Exhibit A.

The form [Exhibit B] that coders will use for contextual analysis has a purposeful and evaluative approach, hoping to gain both the technical parts of the article (formal or informal, mass media or local media, etc.) and the overall feel and approach to the article. First, coders will fill out basic information about the article and who is accessing it. Also the date of the article must be noted as it will play into the timeline of events that occurred. Then, coders will answer questions about the summary information on the article. The medium, formality, scale, and control will be noted. Then, what was actually said by Microsoft will be analyzed. Things such as tone, blame, promises, and for what audience the article was written for will be noted. Definitions will be provided for all terms in order to keep consistency between coders. There will also be a briefing meeting that will allow coders to sit down with researchers to ask any questions about these definitions in order to gain clarity.

The analysis of this experiment will be done with the SPSS system and variables will be compared in order to ascertain if there is any correlation between variables, as well as the overall look of the data in order to gain a picture of what the communication by Microsoft about this crisis looked like as a whole.