Although the speech act of apology has been extensively investigated, there has been relatively little research on apologies in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). The present study presents a comparative analysis of hotels’ apologies to customers in English and Japanese CMC, drawing upon Spencer-Oatey’s (2008) framework of rapport management. Data consisted of 200 responses by hotels to negative reviews on TripAdvisor. Rhetorical Move Analysis was used to identify Apologies and accompanying moves. Contrary to the perception that Japanese apologize more, results showed considerable similarity in the frequency of apologies and in the tendency to be unclear about accepting responsibility for service failure in English and Japanese. There was also similarity in the use of a corporate voice, but differences in the frequency and use of Explanation, Repair, Opening and Closing moves to enhance rapport.

尽管对道歉的言语行为进行了广泛的研究，但是在计算机介导通信（CMC）中，对道歉的研究相对较少。本研究以Spencer-Oatey（2008）的融洽管理框架为基础，以英语和日语CMC形式对酒店的道歉行为进行了比较分析。数据由200家酒店对TripAdvisor的负面评论构成。修辞动作分析用于识别道歉和伴随的动作。与日本人道歉更多的看法相反，结果表明道歉的频率有很大的相似性，并且倾向于以英语和日语不清楚接受服务失败的责任。公司声音的用法也很相似，但解释的频率和用法有所不同，