Toward a Theory of Organizational Apology: Evidence from the United States and China

A grounded theory method was used to analyze organizational apology following some transgression. It was found that the elements of an organizational apology differ from those of an individual apology, with statements of contrition and assurances of non-recurrence the most frequently included components, and empathy statements less common. Seven descriptive transgression categories emerged, and were found to align with the 4Ps (product, price, promotion, and place) of marketing as well as the five SERVQUAL dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) of service that customers care about. It was also uncovered that apologies from Chinese organizations were lengthier and included more references to government and nationality than did American organizational apologies, suggesting that culture also impacts how consumers process apologies from organizations. A model of organizational apology was proposed and twelve template organizational apologies were developed based on the proposed model. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License