It was a deeply sympathetic moment that we will all remember; Toyota’s CEO (Akio Toyoda) immediately delivered a heartfelt apology to his company’s consumers as soon as it became evident that there was a safety problem with some Toyota gas pedals. What? You don’t remember that? Well, maybe it was more of a very belated, quasi-apology in front of the U.S. congress teamed with a commercial contrition that was more of a salute to prior Toyota glory and their “commitment” to be a top auto manufacturer again.
However, BP’s Tony Hayward wasn’t going to make the same mistake. He released an ad that actually said “I’m deeply sorry” only 6 weeks after the disaster (a.k.a. 20 million gallons of oil later). While this was slightly quicker, it also mixed the “deeply” remorseful message with touts of all the great things BP was doing to fix the problem. By the way, congratulations to BP on the largest cleanup effort in U.S. history, the polls are showing that bragging about this is really helping their image (or not, as this Ace Metrix data shows.)
Then there is Jim Joyce, the umpire who mistakenly blew a call that would have given Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game (which is amazingly rare in major league baseball). Sadly, instant replay undeniably confirmed that that call was wrong. So, upon seeing the evidence, Mr. Joyce immediately asked to personally see Mr. Galarraga to apologize profusely and tell him how terrible he felt (face to face). The meeting ended with a hug and Armando said “I understand.”
Jim Joyce did not try to make excuses or point out all of the great calls he had made in the past. He quickly owned up to his mistake and gave a heartfelt mea culpa that showed his distress about the situation. He did not wait for a chorus of negative press. He did not need to see if thing blew over. He acted like a man who truly felt sorry.
Studies out of the University of Illinois have shown that apologies can “resolve legal disputes ranging from injury cases to wrongful firings, giving wounded parties a sense of justice and satisfaction that promotes settlements and trims demands for damages.” This includes significant reductions in financial demands.
In an article published in Contemporary Accounting Research, a collaborative study between George Mason University and Oklahoma State University found that jurors reduced the frequency of negligence verdicts when auditors expressed regret for mistakes that resulted in damage. “We found that apologies reduce the jurors’ need to assign blame to the auditor for any negative outcomes to the client,” said one of the authors. The same has been shown at Johns Hopkins for patients who feel that their doctor was legitimately sorry about malpractice and did not try to make excuses.
In fact, an investigation out of the Nottingham School of Economics found that if a company says “I’m sorry” to wronged customers, it can be more effective than sending a check. This research asked consumers to withdraw a negative evaluation of a company for a delay in the shipping of a product to them. Some consumers were offered money (“As a goodwill gesture, we can offer you €5 if you would consider withdrawing your evaluation.”) while others were told “We are very sorry and want to apologize for this.” Twice as many respondents withdrew their complaint after the apology than when offered compensation.
While BP and Toyota said they were sorry (sort of), the public has not felt that it rang true. Their messages were mixed with self-serving statements and attempts to spin the message. Umpire Jim Joyce (and the research on apologies) has demonstrated that when a mistake is made with dire consequences, sometimes the most beneficial path is just admitting fault and asking forgiveness. The court of public opinion (and juries) are sometimes not as blood-thirsty as some might imagine.
Blogger: Matt McCusker
