What separates image repair (a rhetorical attempt to reclaim an audience’s positive perception of a rhetor after a perceived infraction by that rhetor) from inoculation theory (a method of protecting attitudes before they are attacked or challenged) is more timing than territory. 

Josh Compton

https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/image-prepare

Approaching image as an audience’s perception of a rhetor, this essay considers the feasibility and efficacy of combining strategies and tactics of an image repair typology with the strategic approach outlined by inoculation theory. The work considers whether inoculation could expand the scope of conventional image repair efforts as a way to not only repair a damaged image, post-hoc, but also to confer resistance to future challenges, preemptively. Directions for future research are proposed, including preemptive image repair and reactive inoculation, and the use of image repair strategies in inoculation messages as a type of image prepare. Risks, challenges, and incidental strengths of an image prepare approach are also raised.

Compton, J. (2016). Image prepare: Image repair, inoculation theory, and anticipated attacks on credibility. The International Journal of the Image, 8(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.18848/2154-8560/CGP/v08i01/1-9