What does a business have to do restore trust? And how long does it take? Would a public apology help?

These are the sorts of questions examined in a new paper out of Wharton Promises and Lies: Restoring Violated Trust

The study found that being screwed over by someone is one thing. When that happens on it's own, it's easier to restore trust. But when there's deception as well, forget it. Even with the best effort, trust takes longer to restore. As for apologies, they don't count for that much. Unless that's accompanied by actions which, after all, speak louder than words.

Sure, this study just confirms what we knew already. But still, many businesses ignore something as obvious as this when they screw up.

In that sense, a bit of empirical evidence like this might help concentrate some corporate minds. No harm in that!