In June of 2013, the Food Networks most exciting southern belle rapidly became the Nation’s most interesting and controversial topic. Paula Deen soon found herself in an uncontrollable twist of fate, when in just under two weeks, all her major partners began dropping her from their accounts when allegations of racial discrimination were reported against her.
Paula Deen took matters into her own hands and she suffered the consequences. She demonstrated a lack of remorse, several failed attempts at sincere apologies, self-victimization, and poor conduct. Overall, her short comings was due to poor communication to her partners and poor crisis management in handling the media and steps to make amends with the public.
In total, 13 companies had let Paula Deen go, equaling almost over 30% of her total income. Major recognizable companies included the Food Network, Smithfield, QVC, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Kmart, JC Penny, Sears, Walgreens, Caesars, Random House’s Ballantine Books, and Novo Nordisk.
Even though her partners did not favor her choices, her fans were sure to be loyal. Paula Deen was a celebrity chef, role model, and public figure to the community. When the media had spread word on her current situation, the reaction from her fans was monumental. They quickly came to her defense to support her in numerous ways.
Fans had joined together to boycott all major companies that had been sponsoring her before they let her go. Over 611,000 people created a Facebook page entitled “We Support Paula Deen.” Additionally, a petition was created to get the Food Network to hire her back and renew her contract. Over 38,530 signatures occupy the petition through change.org. Paula has been extremely fortunate to have a large fan base willing to defend her. The community has done nothing but show continuous support for her since June.
These two situations of Paula’s professional relationships coming to an end and her personal support base come to the rescue are clear examples of the Social Exchange Theory.
This theory acknowledges individuals and groups as choosing strategies based on the perceived rewards and costs. It is used to predict behavior through the use of a cost benefit analysis. Social exchange theory posits that all human relationships are formed through this analysis. People factor in the consequences of their behavior before acting in order to keep costs low and rewards high.
In this example I would argue that the strategy chosen by her group of business partners evaluated their perceived situation as a cost to them because she was a high risk when there were racial discrimination allegations against her. Her loyal fan base thought highly of her and chose strategies, like creating a Facebook fan page and a petition, for the perceived awards of getting her back on the Food Network and other cooking shows.
The decisions that Paula Deen made not only effected herself, but her stakeholders and her supporters. She lost her business partners due to her mistakes. The silver lining was the abundant support she gained from adoring fans. Paula needs to seek out this continued support from her fan base and seek out to build relationships with her remaining stakeholders in order to keep her rewards high and her costs low.
