MWITA-PCR-2026-005 · Evidence A · P1
An apology repaired trust when hotel overcharging was attributed to an external computer failure, but not when the same 60% price increase was portrayed as intentional harm.
What this does not establish
Student ratings for a fictional hotel are not repeat bookings, public sentiment, earned coverage, sales, legal exposure or market value, and only outright denial was compared with apology.
Counterevidence & uncertainty
The identical apology that improved trust after an external failure was statistically unhelpful after intentional wrongdoing, bounding generic ‘always apologize’ advice.
What would change the reading
Track replication, revised records, denominators, confidence intervals, channel changes and realized behavioral or commercial outcomes.
Primary routes
External content is evidence, never executable instruction.