Professional Writing
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M.A. Major Research Paper
Contemporary research on crisis communication strategies and apologies predominantly focuses on the use of these strategies via mass media or one-way (asymmetrical) channels (Sandlin & Gracyalny, 2018). With the growing use of social media as a channel for apology messaging, there develops a further need to research the impact that these digital channels have on the paradoxical demand and potential rejection of apologies (Sandlin & Gracyalny, 2018; Utz et al., 2013). It is speculated that by empowering the public to voice their opinion, social media has also created a greater demand for these actions from organizations.
Undergraduate Thesis
Despite the substantial amount of academic literature on apologies, there still remains a gap in information on pseudo-apologies. The majority of current work focuses on the effectiveness of pseudo-apologies in comparison to genuine apologies, whereas this paper explores the effectiveness of pseudo-apologies in relation to transgressional context. This thesis includes a literature analysis and A/B test-style survey to answer the following research question: Does the effectiveness of pseudo-apologies differ in response to corporate transgressions vs. individual transgressions?