How verbal and non-verbal cues in a CEO apology for a corporate crisis affect a firm’s social disapproval

Abstract

CEOs often apologize in public to minimize social disapproval after a corporate crisis. We study how certain non-verbal (e.g., shooting angle) and verbal cues (e.g., message construal) in a CEO public apology affect the social disapproval of a firm and the underlying mechanism of these effects. Evidence from 117 news reports of 56 CEO public apologies collected from six major newspapers between 2015 and 2019 confirms an interaction effect between the non-verbal and verbal cues in a public CEO apology. A laboratory experiment replicates this effect by manipulating the shooting angle and construal level and additionally demonstrates the process underlying the effect. We discuss how these findings contribute to a better understanding of stakeholder expectations in the aftermath of a corporate crisis and affect firms’ crisis response strategies and leadership responsibilities.