Smooth Is a Bar Soap for Women That Is Produced

Smooth is a bar soap for women that is produced by Beautymax Products. Smooth has recently been reformulated because previous product ingredients had become quite expensive. However, the reformulation has caused some major problems, as some 12 percent of the recent consumers have reported developing a rash accompanied by itching and peeling skin. Beautymax's in-house public relations department has been given the task of crisis management for the negative publicity resulting from the skin rashes. The PR department is advocating using impression management strategies to protect the company's image. However, the CEO is arguing for an apology strategy. Which of the following statements, if true, would support the CEO's argument?

A) An expression of innocence, such as "someone else added something to our soap" would be believed by 16 percent of the consumers.
B) An excuse, such as "this was a random act committed by a disgruntled employee," would be believed by 32 percent of the consumers.
C) "We assume full responsibility and will change our soap formula immediately" would be believed by 34 percent of the consumers.
D) "These rashes are exceptions to our high quality standards" would be believed by 21 percent of the consumers.
E) A justification, such as "the rashes are minor and resulted from a new addition to our product," would be believed by 17 percent of the consumers.