Damage control: an experimental study on the impact of regulatory communication strategies on citizen trust after regulatory failure

This paper examines how communication strategies shape citizen trust in regulatory agencies following different types of regulatory failure. Using a survey experiment on a representative sample of 1568 Danish citizens, it tests the effects of five communicative strategies. The results indicate that the effectiveness of communicative responses in promoting citizen trust is highly context-sensitive. Overall, the results support earlier studies indicating that ‘silence’ is less effective than active communication. In addition, admitting responsibility does not appear crucial for fostering citizen trust, while active strategies involving a justification or a plan for remedial action seem to be the most effective.