The Apology Impulse audiobook cover - How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can’t Stop Saying It

The Apology Impulse

How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can’t Stop Saying It

Cary Cooper and Sean O’Meara

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Marketing & SalesCorporate Culture

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The Apology Impulse
The Devaluation of Apologies+
Outrage Capitalism+
Types of Brand Failures+
Evasive PR Tactics+
Centering the Victim+
Walking the Talk+
When Not to Apologize+
Actionable Advice+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
According to the text, why do 'low friction' industries like airlines apologize much more frequently than 'high friction' industries like banks?
  • A. Airlines face more operational hazards and legal liabilities than banks.
  • B. Customers can easily switch airlines, whereas changing banks involves tedious administration.
  • C. Bank PR teams are generally better trained in crisis management than airline PR teams.
  • D. Airline customers are statistically more likely to use social media to complain.
Question 2 of 8
What is the primary danger of a company employing a strategy of 'tactical appeasement' by apologizing for every minor complaint?
  • A. It opens the company up to a massive number of frivolous lawsuits.
  • B. It exhausts the PR team, leading to a higher employee turnover rate.
  • C. It weakens the legitimacy of genuine apologies and makes serious transgressions seem trivial.
  • D. It violates federal regulations regarding corporate liability and consumer protection.
Question 3 of 8
What role do viral news sites play in the cycle of 'outrage capitalism'?
  • A. They help corporations identify operational failures before they become cultural failures.
  • B. They provide a platform for genuine customer feedback that PR teams often ignore.
  • C. They amplify minor customer complaints into major narratives to generate clicks and shares.
  • D. They offer neutral mediation between angry consumers and defensive corporations.
Question 4 of 8
Why was KFC's crisis of running out of chicken easier to recover from compared to the backlash faced by brands like Dove or Pepsi?
  • A. KFC's issue was a straightforward operational failure, whereas Dove and Pepsi faced harder-to-fix cultural failures related to core values.
  • B. KFC issued a much longer and more detailed apology than the other brands.
  • C. KFC blamed their supply chain partners, successfully shifting the outrage away from their own brand.
  • D. KFC's customers are less active on social media than the target audiences of Dove and Pepsi.
Question 5 of 8
How did Arkema Inc. use 'linguistic gymnastics' to evade responsibility during a crisis at one of its factories?
  • A. They used the passive voice to claim that 'mistakes were made' by the factory workers.
  • B. They described an explosion as an 'overpressurization followed by a fire' to understate the danger.
  • C. They claimed the local community 'felt they may have been impacted' rather than admitting fault.
  • D. They referred to a toxic chemical spill as an 'unplanned environmental release.'
Question 6 of 8
What common mistake did corporations like BP, Samsung, and Equifax make in their public apologies?
  • A. They focused the apology on their own company's reputation or feelings rather than the injured parties.
  • B. They offered financial payouts that were viewed as crass bribes by the public.
  • C. They waited too long to issue a a statement, making their apologies seem insincere.
  • D. They blamed their customers for misusing their products or services.
Question 7 of 8
What action made JetBlue CEO David Neeleman’s 2007 apology for flight disruptions exemplary?
  • A. He personally called all 130,000 affected customers to apologize.
  • B. He resigned from his position as CEO to show he took full responsibility.
  • C. He refused to apologize until a full internal investigation was completed.
  • D. He went beyond words by introducing a 'customer bill of rights' detailing future compensation.
Question 8 of 8
What lesson can be learned from the fitness supplement brand Protein World's response to the viral backlash over their billboard campaign?
  • A. A company should immediately pull any campaign that offends a group to avoid long-term damage.
  • B. Refusing to apologize can sometimes strengthen a brand's loyalty among its actual target market.
  • C. Ignoring social media outrage will eventually cause a company's sales to plummet.
  • D. PR teams should always use humor to diffuse tension during a viral boycott.

The Apology Impulse — Full Chapter Overview

The Apology Impulse Summary & Overview

The Apology Impulse (2019) reveals how corporations have cheapened the act of saying sorry. These days, apologies are issued to customers for any perceived slight, with the sheer quantity making them meaningless. At the same time, corporations offer weak, jargon-filled fauxpologies in situations where real apologies are required. To save the apology, corporations need to learn how to say sorry wholeheartedly but only when strictly necessary.

Who Should Listen to The Apology Impulse?

  • PR experts who want to learn how to connect with the public authentically
  • Guilty parties who want to make amends, but don’t know how
  • Sociology buffs who are fascinated by social rituals and human behavior

About the Author: Cary Cooper and Sean O’Meara

Sir Cary Cooper is a professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at the Manchester Business School. He is president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development as well as the Institute of Welfare.

Sean O’Meara is a publicist and writer who founded the public relations consultancy Essential Content.

 

© Cary Cooper & Sean O'Meara, 2019. This Summary of The Apology Impulse is published by arrangement with Kogan Page.

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