Communication strategies used by 'British Petroleum (BP)' to deal with legitimacy before and after the Deepwater Horizon Accident

Abstract

Oil spills pose serious threats to the legitimacy of the companies involved and the oil industry in general. The objective of this study is to conduct research on the communication strategies used by ‘British Petroleum’ (BP) to maintain its legitimacy before the Deepwater Horizon (DH) oil spill caused in April 2010 and to repair its legitimacy after the DH accident. There is existing literature on the legitimacy theory and the communication strategies as well as DH accident and its causes. A qualitative study based on the sustainability reports of BP from 2006 to 2015 and its press releases in relation to the DH accident from April 2010 to April 2016 is conducted to discover its preferred communication strategies and the changes (if any) in their use during the time period 2010-2016. The results show that three main communication strategies i.e. Image Enhancement, Avoidance / Deflection, and Disclaimer were used by BP. The results support the literature as these three communication strategies are proposed by most experts when dealing with legitimacy issues. The results also showed that there was a difference in preference of strategies by BP before and after the DH accident. The discussion part on the basis of the literature studied during this study also argues that these communication strategies are used in most industries and public sectors.