Fandom, forgiveness and future support: YouTube apologies as crisis communication

Abstract

PurposeThis study examined how audience characteristics and attitudes relate to their perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness of apologies by public figures posted on YouTube.Design/methodology/approachFour hundred twenty-seven adult participants recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk completed an online survey via Qualtrics. Participants were randomly assigned to view two of four public figure apologies posted on YouTube.FindingsResults indicated that audience fandom and perceived reputation and attractiveness of the public figure were related to perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness; and perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness were related to intentions of future support.Research limitations/implications“Sameness” between the public figure and audience did not garner a more favorable response to the apology, and this is not consistent with earlier studies. For race similarity, the results could have been a reflection of the low number of non-White participants. However, results could indicate that “sameness” is not as simplistic as demographic sameness, such as race, sex or age.Practical implicationsThe authors’ findings elevate the importance of gathering and benchmarking pre-crisis attitudinal research to better equip and inform communication professionals for crisis response. In addition, the study suggests that a public figure's strong reputation and fanbase provide a type of inoculation, lessening reputational damage.Social implicationsThe finding that perceived attractiveness relates positively to perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness is consistent with psychological research indicating attractiveness has many positive social implications – even in mediated communication.Originality/valueEvidence suggests social media apologies matter. Communication professionals need to approach apology opportunities with a keen awareness that relational outcomes and intentions of future support can shift based on social media audiences' attitudes related to the public figure.

Topics and destinations in comments on YouTube tourism videos during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…While Möller et al [ 55 ] and Ki and Nekmat [ 58 ] used Facebook. Sandlin and Gracyalny [ 59 ] used YouTube to examine comments on public figures.…”

Firestorms and Forgiveness: Organizational Apologies in the Age of Social Media

“…It is important to note that the effectiveness of organizational apologies are also mitigated by several seemingly unimportant factors, including characteristics of the spokesperson delivering the apology (the "who" element). Researchers have shown that outward features like attractiveness (Sandlin & Gracyalny, 2020) and gender (Cowen & Montgomery, 2019) can alter stakeholder reactions to apologies that otherwise follow a tested framework. Practitioners are cautioned not to forget that human behavior precludes guarantees for perfectly received apologies.…”

Giving Unwanted Gifts: Political Economy of Youtube Apology

“…Eka Sri Dana Afriza, Udi Rusadi / Giving Unwanted Gifts: Political Economy of YouTube Apology / 166 -176 from a business perspective as a form of reputation restoration (Sandlin & Gracyalny, 2018), a linguistic perspective as a form of pragmatism (Abudin & Sundari, 2021), or from a management perspective as a form of crisis communication (Sandlin & Gracyalny, 2020). The weakness of these three approaches is to view YouTube Apology from a limited perspective, especially from the perspective of the wrongdoer.…”