Moving forward: The effectiveness of online apologies framed with hope on negative behavioural intentions in crises

Abstract Through three experimental studies, this paper sheds light on how expressing hope during responses to organizational crises affects individuals' negative behavioural intentions (i.e., leaving or boycotting the company, spreading negative word-of-mouth). The first experiment shows that (1) a message framed with a higher level of hopefulness leads—due to reduced feelings of uncertainty and perceived inappropriateness—to fewer negative behavioural intentions than one framed with a lower level of hopefulness and that (2) the effects are stronger post-crisis than in the midst of a crisis. The results of the second experiment indicate that organizations should be cautious when expressing a higher level of hopefulness when a crisis is perceived to be highly severe as it may lead to more negative behavioural intentions because a higher level of hopeful framing is then perceived to be inappropriate. The third experiment supports the conclusion that a message framed with a higher level of hopefulness used by an organization with a favourable pre-crisis reputation leads to higher perceived crisis severity which, in turn, leads to higher perceived uncertainty, resulting in more negative behavioural intentions. For companies with an unfavourable pre-crisis reputation, no difference is found between the uses of a lower or higher level of hopefulness.