Do not apologise too early

Abstract

In partnership with a NASDAQ-listed e-commerce firm, I conduct a field experiment to explore the impact of apology timing on the post-apology spending of dissatisfied customers. I find that apology timing matters both statistically and economically in maintaining customer-firm relationships in the short term (7 days) but not in the longer term (14 days). The experiment also sheds light on how the efficacy of verbal communications such as apologies can be shaped by emotions and provides a glimpse of how emotion venting may affect customers’ spending behaviour in the field.