With or without mimicry: how should hotels structure their apology messages?

Purpose Service failure is a common issue in the hotel industry, and one frequently used recovery method is a written apology. An emerging communication strategy in written apologies is mimicry. Whereas mimicry has been shown to enhance rapport and trust in face-to-face interactions, this research aims to investigate whether this technique can similarly influence customer forgiveness in written apology communication within the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach Based on communication accommodation theory, the authors conducted five experimental studies to investigate the issue. Findings The results of Study 1 reveal that mimicry in hotel apology messages positively impacts customer forgiveness through perceived sincerity and empathy. Study 2 shows that hotel apology messages using mimicry lead to higher levels of customer forgiveness compared to paraphrasing. Study 3 indicates that mimicry’s effectiveness diminishes when used repeatedly. Study 4 highlights that emojis strengthen the positive effect of mimicry in hotel apology messages. Notably, Study 5 shows that the impact of mimicry in hotel apology messages on forgiveness is consistent across luxury and budget hotels. Practical implications Hotels should use mimicry in apology messages to foster sincerity, empathy and forgiveness, supported by emojis, while avoiding overuse. These practices are effective across both luxury and budget hotels. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first major study to explore the role of mimicry in written hotel apology messages and its impact on customer forgiveness.