This is particularly detrimental when it comes to corporate rumours. As information is passed around, important qualifiers tend to get lost in cyberspace – a rumour may initially start as “I’m not sure if this is true, but I heard…”, slowly evolve to “I heard…”, and end up as “Did you know that…”, and though it may seem harmless in the beginning, the “credibility” of rumours has been proven to increase as they continue to be passed on.

Apple Inc. is one example of a company that is relentlessly plagued by rumours, even boasting a multitude of rumour websites specifically dedicated to the tracking and critiquing of all Apple products and developments. The level of truth and accuracy to these sites is debatable, but their accessibility allows them to continuously affect and influence consumers’ decisions and perspectives.

A few years ago, Nevada-based seed firm, AgriBioTech Inc., was subject to the unfortunate consequences of corporate rumours: a sound company, AgriBioTech was exposed to a bout of cybergossip on a Yahoo! Finance message board, claiming that the company was about to declare bankruptcy with evidence of accounting fraud and one of the co-founders about to be indicted. As a result, the rumours drove the company’s stock price down by almost 67%, requiring the company CEO to immediately conduct a conference call to reassure investors and analysts and to dispel the rumours.

What can a company do? Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely prevent the sprouting of corporate rumours, but there are ways to equip your business with the proper measures so that false rumours can be handled quickly and appropriately.

Here are some suggestions:

Stay Positive

Our initial instincts often urge us to quickly rebut any false rumours that we find, but sometimes, restating rumours (even if they are rebuttals) help to propagate them. Responding may end up drawing more attention to the initial rumour, and as it continues to pop up in searches, consumers find themselves continually exposed to the rumours, likely to even forget the denial in the first place. Instead of denying, then, a company should work to communicate a steady stream of positive messages about itself – this works to effectively snuff out the false rumours, encouraging consumers to doubt the initial negative reports about the company.

Keep your customers updated

In the wake of false corporate rumours, many people tend to turn to the company’s official website to find information or confirmation on the rumours. It is imperative, then, to maintain an updated interactive online platform to dispel any false reports – if needed, issue a statement online that is readily accessible, and offer contact information so that your customers can reach you for enquiries. It is not advisable for a company to directly respond to cybergossip on other online platforms – largely inefficient, the effect and payoff of doing so is also relatively limited.

Be Prepared

As with most things in business, being prepared can go a long way, especially in the event of a looming PR crisis. Be aware of what is being posted or said in cyberspace to avoid being caught off guard – larger companies can hire PR firms to monitor this sort of press, while smaller companies have the alternative of either assigning someone to consistently monitor the Internet, or using computer software that is targeted toward specific postings. It is also important to minimise risk from employees – companies should implement standard corporate policies, providing clear guidelines to its employees about use of internal business information, especially online. Employees should be made aware of these guidelines, as well as the damaging consequences a company can face if they are not followed.

Unfortunately, corporate rumours have slowly become a part of the company scenario since the last decade or so, forcing many businesses to re-examine policies and tactics. With no real way of stopping rumours completely, the best way for any company to approach the inevitable is to anticipate and be prepared.