Oops! Sorry, my bad: How apologizing for trivial mistakes in direct email campaigns leads to positive customer evaluations

Abstract

Many companies are reluctant to apologize to their customers for trivial mistakes, which often go unnoticed and may seem too minor to warrant an apology. However, some companies have adopted the practice of apologizing for trivial mistakes via email to a large portion of their customer base, regardless of whether customers were directly affected by the mistake or not. This study explores whether acknowledging, and apologizing for, such trivial mistakes can be an effective persuasion tactic in direct email marketing. First, a field experiment that relies on real-life data demonstrates the beneficial impact of apologizing for trivial mistakes. Three (lab and online) experiments show that (1) apologizing for trivial mistakes positively affects customer evaluations of the company; (2) an increase in the company’s perceived warmth explains this impact, while a concomitant decrease in perceived competence is absent; and (3) the positive effect disappears when the apology stems from a company that is already perceived as high in warmth. Finally, the study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications, acknowledging certain limitations and avenues for future research.