How the content of government apologies influences trust in rainstorm disasters: evidence from survey experiments in China

This study investigates how the content of government apologies is associated with trust repair in the context of nature-induced disasters. Although apologies are widely used in political and crisis communication, evidence on their effectiveness, especially across competence-based and integrity-based scenarios, referring respectively to violations of ability/performance and violations of moral principles, remains limited. Using two between-subject survey experiments in China (N = 556; Experiment 1: n = 277, Experiment 2: n = 279), embedded in a severe rainstorm scenario, we examine two apology-content dimensions: tone (emotional vs. objective) and commitment (substantial vs. principled). In both parallel studies, trust levels rose following the apology, indicating a pattern that diverges from the classic expectation that apologies fail in integrity-based violations. Substantial commitments were associated with larger increases in trust, whereas emotional tone showed no meaningful main effect. Risk perception did not moderate the treatment effects, while political interest was positively associated with trust change. These findings suggest that, within a Chinese online sample and an immediate post-apology setting, concrete remedial and corrective actions may be especially relevant to trust repair in nature-induced disaster governance.