Reputation, conceived as the opinion or prestige that one has of someone or something, is built based on time, with the appropriate stimuli received by a certain audience that opens the eyes to evaluate the credibility of a character or institution.
It is precisely this that is at stake, since the public places its trust in what it believes, in what the person identifies with, in visions, principles and values, which, when assimilated and unified by a community, become shared., that is, a global public image of the product, service, brand, idea, person, institution, etc.
If the company or person manages to make the public differentiate it and identify with them, at that moment a connection is established, a relationship of message - expectation in which it is constantly being evaluated if the interests and aspirations of the client are met, if it is a novel, useful and profitable proposition for the receiver's life model.
But, what happens if these entities do something or something happens to them that affects their image, operation and response to the public? There is a break in the continuity of that expectation with the consequent suspension of the judgment and that when seeing that it does not respond proactively with the sending of positive stimuli and the failure or error is confirmed, then emotions are affected.
Those positive or romantic feelings that the client had placed in the brand, product, company or character are frustrated, proceeding first to withdraw their trust, then the credibility and finally the reputation disappears.
Reputation, can it be recovered? Yes, but it is more difficult, it takes more time and effort in every sense, resources and actions that are not regularly available to do because it is considered that "there will be and new customers will come", putting more work in your department of sales and not to the public relations that is in charge of credibility and reputation.
Companies and leaders do not realize that the client wants to trust their product or institution again, but by not receiving the appropriate verbal and non-verbal stimuli, said trust ends up disappearing and is reversed, as the public considers that they should punish whoever it is. It disappointed, that is, generating rumors, gossip or memes that are even more harmful than the fault itself.
In short, reputation is an added value that must always be taken into account as the intangible capital of companies, institutions or opinion leaders.
