Apology Marketing: A consumer perspective in Finland on a successful apology campaign involving the fast-food industry

With such huge popularity worldwide, there is a big need for businesses in the fast-food industry to care more about their services. Fast-food chains should not only aim to meet the needs and satisfaction of customers but should also know how to handle unexpected errors. This thesis aims to explore the core factors leading to a successful apology campaign implemented by the fast-food companies according to the customers’ opinions. The research question is: What are the most important elements needed in an apology campaign for fast-food chains in Finland. The qualitative method was chosen to collect rich data for this study. To be more specific, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants living in Finland. The interview data were analyzed following the thematic analysis. It means that the interview transcriptions were transferred into codes then organized into themes and sub-themes. The results show that when assessing the content of the organization's apology, there are no differences between the fast-food industry and other fields. However, regarding the apology campaign implementation, there are some specific factors that customers expect to see and experience in the fast-food apology campaign, such as the food and color-related elements. The author also considers the study limitations, which are the lack of academic literature about the topic “Apology Marketing” and the small sample size