Countering Negative Rumours

Context

One of the downsides of business is that in any field there are generally multiple players competing for a share of a limited market and that a gain on the part of one party is often at the expense of other parties.  That fact can lead to a loss of sales by rivals, and to rising resentment at the gaining party. Not everyone has positive ethics, and so some rivals may resort to ‘dirty pool’ as the easy/lazy path to regaining their lost market share. 

Rumours feed into an unfortunate readiness on the part of most people to be intrigued and often darkly fascinated by the moral failings of others – their illicit affairs, their illegal activities, their immoral indulgences – and to believe the worst of others. Rumours also have the unfortunate capacity to feed into ‘fake news’ and ‘conspiracy theories’ and so become extremely difficult to eradicate. 

 Often the instinctive response by the victim of a rumour is indignity (“how could they?”), despair (“but it’s not true!”), confusion (“what can I do when it’s all lies?”), anger and fear. The latter two reactions are likely to trigger a surge of cortisol (stress hormone) and adrenalin, which, in combination, very effectively overwhelm and shut down the higher functioning parts of the brain (the neo cortex, prefrontal lobes and meso camphthus us) and mightily excite the amygdala (our so-called ‘crocodile brain’) which results in a spontaneous (read ‘not well thought out’) response of either ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ (what’s been termed ‘an amygdala hijack’). Neither of which is likely to be particularly helpful in dissuading an audience of the truth of the rumour at the root of it all.

 On the contrary, such rash behavior often fits the negative storyline perfectly, thus deepening the effectiveness of the negative campaign behind the rumour. 

 So, what to do?

Apply a Process, with Skill and Discipline

1. First step in the Process: Adopt the discipline of choosing and maintaining the right mindset and the saying, “Revenge is a dish best served cold” sums it up. Don’t get emotional, get even. Treat this as a rational process, a chess game, and you’ll avoid the amygdala hijack.
2. Then, set out to understand the precise nature and wording of the original accusation(s) (and any permutations it may be spawning).
3. Understand exactly what might be driving the rumour (what have you done that has triggered it; what is it intended to protect or harm?)
4. Identify the source and any perpetrators if possible (but this is not essential, or necessarily helpful unless you plan on mounting a countercampaign aimed at the perpetrator as well as at their message)
5. Examine your own behavior as objectively as you can (and/or ask others to do that for you) to see is there is anything in what you are doing that could be misconstrued as aligning with the rumours.
6. Next, reflecting on the fact that ‘in the absence of credible, correct information rumour will flourish’ and that ‘rumour is nearly always fear-based and therefore negative in nature’, assess your own efforts to date in providing and promoting true information, data, and evidence that is relevant to the issue, into your marketplace. Could you perhaps be responsible for an ‘information vacuum’ of which the rumour mongers are taking advantage?
7. You can’t ‘not think of a black horse’ – but you can think of a white one instead! You can’t counter negative rumours by addressing the rumours themselves. In fact, attempting to do so will often simply draw further attention to them. Shakespeare nailed this point when. in response to the Player Queen's excessive protestations of love and fidelity, Hamlet’s mother remarked, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks".  In simple terms: excessive protestations of love or innocence tend to excite increasing doubt as to their truth. What to do instead? Mount a positive campaign of facts, data, evidence and testimonials that squarely ‘displace’ the content and theme of the rumours.
8. Start with a clear articulation of your corporate Purpose, Vision, Mission & Values. Then demonstrate how these are woven into every fibre of your products and behavior - or, if this has been neglected until now, set about putting your house in order before then talking about the processes, systems and behaviors that now embody those principles. 
9. When directly confronted by a rumour, the proven most effective strategy is to state one or two of the most relevant items from your Purpose Vision, Mission, Values Statements, give an example of how one of those is clearly evidenced in your business, how the rumour directly contradicts that evidence, and then ask the other party whether or not they could be confident of the rumour based on that evidence. 
10. Fill the void! If you are not investing time and money in projecting your Purpose, Vision, Mission and (particularly) your Values, then you are leaving an information void that invites rumour. In business, unlike in personal life, doing good and not telling about it is akin to “winking at a girl in the dark”: You know you are doing it but she hasn’t a clue, and so your efforts are wasted. And, besides, you look to her like you don’t care! In business, turn of the light, stand under it, and explain what you do, why you do it, and why that is good for your audience – and you.

Action Points

1.    If you have not already done so, articulate (first) your Values, then your Purpose, Vision and Mission Statements (for help on these, contact ProfiTune);

2.    Ensure that those (V, P, V & M) are reflected in your products, processes and everyone’s behavior throughout your business (for examples of what goes wrong when this is not applied see When Google Went Astray and Transforming Giants);

3.    Design all of your marketing to demonstrate how those core concepts determine the quality and value of what you offer to your market, and why the products of those are good for your customers;

4.    Never stop breeding that herd of white horses so that they fill the landscape and leave no room for black ones. 

Last Resorts

In the case of a persistent campaign of misinformation aimed at harming your company’s interests there is the potential to seek redress under the laws governing ‘injurious falsehood’ which is intended to protect a business against financial loss resulting from false and malicious statements directed at damaging it. 

Generally, such action requires the communication of a statement that has been proven to be false, malicious, and injurious to the plaintiff by way of demonstrable financial loss. A mere self-promotional false statement by a competitor will not qualify. 

 Realistically, an injurious falsehood action will generally be difficult to win, and the legal requirements are complex. Notwithstanding that fact, the initiation of such action my, in itself, be enough to cause a malicious party to desist.