Mistaken Ingestion vs. False Positives: Examining the Impact of Doping Crisis Types and Response Strategies on Athlete Reputation in Taiwan

Athletes have been at the center of scandals involving the use of banned substances to enhance their performances which have undermined fair competition, endangered their health, and damaged public trust. Such doping crises in sports, whether resulting from false positives or mistaken ingestion, pose critical threats to athletes’ reputations. This study evaluates image repair strategies through a 2 (crisis type) × 3 (response strategy) experimental design with 326 participants in Taiwan. Rooted in a collectivist culture with strict social expectations for public figures, the findings reveal that perceived offensiveness is more decisive in shaping reputation than crisis responsibility. Attribution of responsibility significantly intensifies offensiveness. The analysis supports a moderated mediation model, extending Image Repair Theory (IRT) and integrating it with Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). Practically, athletes should prioritize mitigating offensiveness over the mere evasion of responsibility. The base response, aligning with cultural demands for social cohesion and role-model accountability, emerges as the most effective strategy for managing public opinion in the Taiwanese context.