Apology, sympathy, and empathy: The legal ramifications of admitting fault in U.S. public relations practice

Myers, Cayce

doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.10.004

Cited by 20 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…When a company admits to and apologizes for wrongdoing, no doubts are left regarding its guilt. The apology itself counts as conclusive evidence of culpability, and may even be used in lawsuits against the organization (Myers, 2016). But when a company denies, the onus is on the public to decide whether it can actually be trusted or not.…”

Section: Strength Of Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Denial outperforms apology in repairing organizational trust despite strong evidence of guilt

Fuoli

Weijer

Paradis

2017

Public Relations Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified above, all rights (including copyright and moral rights) in this document are retained by the authors and/or the copyright holders. The express permission of the copyright holder must be obtained for any use of this material other than for purposes permitted by law. • Users may freely distribute the URL that is used to identify this publication. • Users may download and/or print one copy of the publication from the University of Birmingham research portal for the purpose of private study or non-commercial research. • User may use extracts from the document in line with the concept of 'fair dealing' under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (?) • Users may not further distribute the material nor use it for the purposes of commercial gain. Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document. When citing, please reference the published version. Take down policy While the University of Birmingham exercises care and attention in making items available there are rare occasions when an item has been uploaded in error or has been deemed to be commercially or otherwise sensitive.

show abstract

Section: Strength Of Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Denial outperforms apology in repairing organizational trust despite strong evidence of guilt

Fuoli

Weijer

Paradis

2017

Public Relations Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, PR practitioners must be aware that an apology can come with legal ramifications. According to Meyers (2016), there are currently 38 "I'm sorry" laws taking multiple forms spanning 37 states and the District of Columbia. Twenty of the jurisdictions exempt fault-based apologies from evidence, while 18 jurisdictions include fault-based apologies in evidence.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This would be in line with findings by Coombs and Holladay (2008) that "respondents had similar reactions to sympathy, compensation, and apology response strategies" (p. 255). PR practitioners must also evaluate and manage any nonverbal apologies (Meyers, 2016).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational Image Repair Tactics and Crisis Type: Implications for Crisis Response Strategy Effectiveness

Gribas

DiSanza

Legge

et al. 2018

JICRCR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Existing models of organizational crisis response effectiveness provide useful insights but are limited in terms of offering a guide for practitioners dealing with actual crisis situations. This analysis examines the relative effectiveness of image repair tactics based on differences in root causes of crisis events. Results suggest that certain image repair tactics are seen as the most and the least effective regardless of crisis type. At the same time, there were some differences across crisis types that could guide practitioner tactic choices. Limited results here and in past research raise questions about whether image repair tactic effectiveness can be usefully mapped to situational variables, such as audience or crisis type. This article concludes with discussion on this matter and suggestions for future research.

show abstract

“…Tyler (1997) argued that too much openness can lead to lawsuits that may cripple a company, and she suggested that in some crises, it is wiser to use equivocation and strategic ambiguity when communicating with stakeholders. Myers (2016) reiterated the fact that admissions of guilt are usually admissible in U.S. courts as evidence of wrongdoing.…”

Section: What Is An Apology?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What Counts as an Apology? Exploring Stakeholder Perceptions in a Hypothetical Organizational Crisis

Bentley

2017

Management Communication Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many scholars have studied the role of organizational apologies in crisis communication, but they have defined and operationalized apologies inconsistently. This study uses a grounded theory approach to explore what constitutes an effective organizational apology from the perspective of organizational stakeholders. One hundred participants were asked to imagine being the victims of a data breach at an online retailer and to write the kind of apology they would like to receive from the organization. One hundred more participants were asked to write suggestion lists for how the organization could make its apology effective. These data were analyzed using a constant comparative method. Fifteen apology elements were identified and organized along two dimensions: (a) whether the element involved primarily words or behavior and (b) whether the element focused on fixing the problem or rebuilding relationships. Based on the data, these elements must be combined to make an apology effective with stakeholders.

show abstract

Apology, sympathy, and empathy: The legal ramifications of admitting fault in U.S. public relations practice

Cited by 20 publications

References 14 publications

Denial outperforms apology in repairing organizational trust despite strong evidence of guilt

Denial outperforms apology in repairing organizational trust despite strong evidence of guilt

Organizational Image Repair Tactics and Crisis Type: Implications for Crisis Response Strategy Effectiveness

What Counts as an Apology? Exploring Stakeholder Perceptions in a Hypothetical Organizational Crisis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About