Post-Conflict Affiliation
When companies damage customer relationships, they must signal genuine repair intent through costly, visible actions - not cheap words.
Cheap signals don't convince - expensive signals credibly demonstrate commitment to relationship repair.
After chimpanzee conflicts, the aggressor often initiates reconciliation. This seems counterintuitive - shouldn't the victim avoid the aggressor? But the aggressor has incentive to repair: damaged relationships cost both parties. The aggressor signals 'I want to restore cooperation' through affiliation behaviors: approach, hand-extension, grooming offer.
The key: these signals must be costly and genuine. A cheap signal (brief proximity) doesn't convince the victim the aggressor truly wants reconciliation. An expensive signal (extended grooming session, sharing food) credibly demonstrates commitment to relationship repair.
Primatologists have documented post-conflict affiliation across dozens of species: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, macaques, even ravens and wolves. The pattern is consistent: (1) Conflict occurs, (2) Relationship damaged, (3) Reconciliation initiated through affiliation behaviors, (4) Relationship restored.
Business Application of Post-Conflict Affiliation
When companies damage customer relationships, they must signal genuine repair intent through costly, visible actions - not cheap words. Successful post-conflict affiliation requires: immediate response (within 24 hours), costly signaling (demonstrating commitment through sacrifice), direct contact (senior leadership personally visible), and structural change (mechanisms preventing recurrence).