Social Media, Organizational Identity and Public Relations

8 Volkswagen – truth, accuracy and plausibility

The previous two chapters covered some of the issues and opportunities related to processes of legitimation and the struggle to establish plausibility within a digital media context. The impetus for organizations to construct plausible narratives of identity is never more urgently felt than during times of organizational crisis. In this chapter I will discuss the organizational identity of Volkswagen, specifically during the 2015–2016 emissions control scandal. During this period, it was discovered Volkswagen had developed and installed emissions control system software or ‘defeat devices’ in model year 2009–2015 vehicles with 2.0 liter diesel engines. The company admitted it had installed the software, ...