“Sorry? Anything Else?”: How Corporate Apology Strategies Influence Chinese Social Media Engagement

In the context of increasing global corporate competition, the management of corporate image on social media has become increasingly important for Chinese companies. Although social media has become a key platform for communication between companies and the public, research on how the specific apology strategies affect social media engagement is still insufficient. This study focuses on the content of corporate apologies of beauty industry-related companies on Weibo, aiming to explore how different corporate apology strategies influence social media engagement. The study first codes corporate apology strategies into four dimensions and provides examples to illustrate how these dimensions influence social media engagement. Subsequently, empirical tests were conducted on the collected data to reveal the differential effects of apology strategies on social media engagement. This research aims to provide new perspectives on effective apology strategies for companies in handling public relations challenges and gaining public understanding and support.