How sorry are you? Intensified apologies and the mediating role of perceived remorse in corporate crisis communication

Abstract

This article reports the results of a between-subject experiment investigating the direct and indirect effects of intensified apologies on purchase intent. The study adopts a linguistic approach to apologies and operationalizes them based on Blum-Kulka and Olshtain’s (1984) apology framework. The study compares the effectiveness of a simple apology (‘We’re sorry’) to four intensified apologies which - in addition to expression of remorse - contain one of the following apology strategies: a) intensification through adverbials, b) admission of guilt, c) offer of repair or d) promise of forbearance. In addition, the study examines the role of perceived remorse as a mediating factor between intensified apologies and purchase intent. Intensified apologies containing adverbials and offer of repair are found to have a positive effect on perceived remorse which, in turn, leads to higher purchase intent. The experiment is the first one in the field of corporate crisis communication to examine the mediating role of perceived remorse in intensified apologies.