SONG-DISSERTATION-2013

210 Pages·2013·4.42 MB·English

by  Sichun Song

CHINESE AND AMERICAN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PUBLIC
APOLOGIES

A Dissertation
by
SI CHUN SONG

Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of
Texas A&M University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Chair of Committee, Zohreh Eslami
Committee Members, Janet Hammer
Joyce E. Juntune
Radhika Viruru
Wen Luo
Head of Department, Yeping Li

December 2013

Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction

Copyright 2013 Si Chun Song
ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese and American students’
perceptions of public apologies issued by Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, and Akio
Toyoda, the CEO of Toyota. The researcher conducted two independent studies by
collecting both quantitative and qualitative data through two survey questionnaires and
four focus group interviews. The findings indicated that Chinese and American
participants evaluated the effectiveness of public apologies based on their cultural
schemas of the verbal and non-verbal cues used by the apologizer. The participants’
perceptions of recognizing the effectiveness of the apology were related to their cultural
perspectives regarding the key elements of public apologies. Related to the verbal
strategies for conveying sincerity, both groups indicated that offering compensation is an
important component of a sincere apology. However, each group has different cultural
perspectives regarding non-verbal cues such as making eye contact, dress code, facial
expressions, setting, body posture, and tone of voice. For example, Chinese emphasized
the importance of professional dress code, having remorseful facial expressions, formal
setting, bowing a head, and lowering voice tone. In contrast, Americans emphasized the
importance of maintaining eye contact, body posture embodying attentiveness, and
varying intonation to convey the apologizer’s feelings. They indicated that the choice of
clothing may be changed according to the severity of the offense, the relationship
between the apologizer and the offended person, and the location of the apology.

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DEDICATION

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.” - Matthew 6:33 -

I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my LORD. There is no way I could
have done this without Jesus Christ who is my savior. God is the one who guides my
life.
I also would like to dedicate this dissertation to my mother Do-Wha Park, whose
unconditional love shaped the lives of Song’s family. Through your life, you modeled
me the highest form of love.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28-

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Zohreh Eslami, and the
executive director of the University Writing Center, Dr. Valerie Balester—both of you
have my deepest respect and gratitude. I would like to thank my committee members,
Dr. Janet Hammer, Dr. Joyce Juntune, Dr. Radhika Viruru, and Dr. Wen Luo for their
guidance and insightful feedback.
Second, I would like to extend my gratitude to my father Mun-Whan Song, my
sister Si-Hyun Song and her husband Sung-Su In, and my brother Tae-Young Song for
their encouragement and love.
Third, I would like to thank my undergraduate advisor Dr. Seon-Hee Park and
graduate advisor Dr. Dauk-Suhn Hong for their guidance and support throughout the
course of my academic journey.
Fourth, I would like to thank my spiritual mentors, Judy Marshall and Kent
Marshall. Without your love and prayer for me, I would not have made it through the
last year with as much energy and spirit as I have.
Last, I would like to thank my friends, Emin, Edith, Ji-Nang, Haiping, Hang-mi,
Monet, Sunny, Eun-Hye, and Shuang for their encouragement.
I pray that God bless each of you with an abundance of happiness, health, and
prosperity.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii
DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ viii
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ ix
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1
Statement of problem ................................................................................................. 4
Purpose of the study ................................................................................................... 6
Background on the Netflix apology of 2011 .............................................................. 6
Background on the Toyota apology of 2010 .............................................................. 7
Research questions ..................................................................................................... 8
Organization of the dissertation ............................................................................... 10
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 11
Pragmatics ................................................................................................................ 11
Cross-cultural pragmatics ......................................................................................... 13
Cross-cultural pragmatic failure ............................................................................... 13
Speech act theory ...................................................................................................... 15
Definition of apology ............................................................................................... 17
Apology strategies .................................................................................................... 18
Research on the speech act of apology ..................................................................... 19
Gender and apologies ............................................................................................... 24
Cultural influences ................................................................................................... 26
Cross-cultural apology studies: Chinese and Americans ......................................... 28
Cross-cultural apology studies: Japanese and Americans ........................................ 31
Non-verbal communication ...................................................................................... 35
Public apologies ....................................................................................................... 43
Research on corporate apologies .............................................................................. 45
Unwillingness to issue an apology ........................................................................... 47
Negative publicity and trust ..................................................................................... 48
Time and apology ..................................................................................................... 50
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Compensation ........................................................................................................... 51
Providing sufficient information .............................................................................. 52
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 53
CHAPTER III STUDY 1: THE NETFLIX 2011 APOLOGY ......................................... 55
Overview .................................................................................................................. 55
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 56
Literature review ...................................................................................................... 58
Methodology ............................................................................................................ 68
Results and findings ................................................................................................. 73
Summary .................................................................................................................. 86
Discussion and conclusion ....................................................................................... 87
CHAPTER IV STUDY 2: THE TOYOTA 2010 APOLOGY ......................................... 94
Overview .................................................................................................................. 94
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 95
Literature review ...................................................................................................... 97
Methodology .......................................................................................................... 108
Results and findings ............................................................................................... 114
Summary ................................................................................................................ 126
Discussion and conclusion ..................................................................................... 127
CHAPTER V COMPARISON/CONTRAST AND CONCLUSION ............................ 133
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 133
The verbal strategies of Hastings’ and Toyoda’s apologies ................................... 136
Non-verbal cues in Hastings’ and Toyoda’s apologies .......................................... 147
Participants’ overall perceptions of each apology .................................................. 153
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 156
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 159
APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................ 177
APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................ 179
APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................ 183
APPENDIX D ................................................................................................................ 184
APPENDIX E ................................................................................................................. 186
APPENDIX F ................................................................................................................. 190
vi
APPENDIX G ................................................................................................................ 191
APPENDIX H ................................................................................................................ 194
APPENDIX I .................................................................................................................. 197
APPENDIX J .................................................................................................................. 199

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LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1. Netflix triangulation matrix ............................................................................. 71
Figure 2. Netflix CFA three-factor model ....................................................................... 77
Figure 3. Netflix CFA one-factor model ......................................................................... 79
Figure 4. Toyota triangulation matrix ........................................................................... 112
Figure 5. Toyota CFA three-factor model ..................................................................... 117
Figure 6. Toyota CFA one-factor model ....................................................................... 119

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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Internal consistency estimates for Netflix subscales and the total score............ 70
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of Netflix survey scores ................................................... 74
Table 3. Standardized estimated parameters for Netflix three-factor model ................... 78
Table 4. Standardized estimated parameters for Netflix one-factor model ...................... 79
Table 5. Internal consistency estimates for Toyota subscale and the total score ........... 111
Table 6. Descriptive statistics of Toyota survey scores ................................................. 114
Table 7. Standardized estimated parameters for Toyota three-factor model ................. 118
Table 8. Standardized estimated parameters for Toyota one-factor model .................... 119
Table 9. Opening ............................................................................................................ 137
Table 10. Body ............................................................................................................... 138
Table 11. Closing ........................................................................................................... 142
Table 12. Non-verbal cues used by participants in evaluating each apology ................ 150
Table 13. Statistical results regarding participants’ evaluations of each apology.......... 153

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A growing number of public apologies made by states, governments,
international corporations, and public figures have led to an apology culture. As Brooks
(1999) claims, we are living in “the age of apologies” (p. 3). The number of public
apologies has increased threefold since the 1980s (Lazare, 2004). Compiled collections
of public apologies such as James Dickerson’s I’m So Sorry (2000), Paul Slansky and
Arleen Sorkin’s My Bad (2006), and Jennifer M. Lind’s Sorry States (2010) can be taken
as evidence demonstrating how public apologies are widely given by public figures.
Public apologies have become a ritual process to relieve public anger and criticism
caused by a crisis that occurs in an interpersonal, national, or international situation.
Public figures admit their responsibility publicly by making an apology and attempt to
recover their reputation. The rise of public apologies indicates that the offering and
accepting of apologies have grown in importance, particularly in the public arena.
How to apologize to the public during a crisis is becoming a significant issue for
corporations. Knowing how to apologize correctly is an important marketing and
management tool in commerce (Friedman, 2006). Research has found that apologies
from corporations serve to raise consumers’ satisfaction after service failures (Goodwin
& Ross, 1992) as well as to protect an organization’s reputation after a crisis (Coombs &
Holladay, 2008). When corporations face problems such as product recall, disasters
caused by a manufacturing plant, technical-error accidents, human-error accidents, or a
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