How to use apology and compensation to repair competence-versus integrity-based trust violations in e-commerce

Drawing on the theory of “attribution and economic man”, this study examines the trust repair implications of using different apology-types and compensation-types simultaneously after different trust violations in e-commerce. Based on a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design involving 440 participants, several key findings were obtained. The results revealed that an apology with internal attribution is more effective in repairing trust than apologies with external attribution for integrity-based trust violations. In contrast, an apology with external attribution is more effective in repairing trust than apologies with internal attribution for competence-based trust violations. Both of these conclusions hold under the condition of equal compensation. The results also revealed that overcompensation repairs trust more effectively than equal compensation only when the mistrusted party apologized with an internal attribution for a competence-based trust violation or the mistrusted party apologized with an external attribution for integrity-based trust violations. This study concludes with implications and suggestions for future research.