-- Americans rank Chris Brown and David Letterman apologies as most sincere --

FLEMINGTON, N.J., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Results from a series of national media studies to obtain Americans' ratings of celebrity apologies in 2009, revealed that Chris Brown's apology to Rihanna ranked the highest in regard to perceived sincerity levels.

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The results were based on a series of studies that were conducted by HCD Research using its MediaCurves.com® website during January-December of 2009. The studies were conducted among Americans who ranked various celebrity apologies on a scale based on levels of sincerity. Respondents ranked five celebrities who were featured in news stories that were tested by MediaCurves.com® in 2009. To view detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com.

Jaimee Grubbs' recent apology to Tiger Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren was ranked as the least sincere with a percent change of -5.9, after respondents viewed the apology. David Letterman's sex scandal confession ranked as the second most sincere with a percent difference of 4.3. However, his apology for a joke about Sarah Palin ranked second lowest with a percent difference of -2.3.

Among the findings:

The scores below indicate the percent change in celebrities' sincerity scores based on a scale of 1-7 before and after respondents viewed the apologies. Higher scores indicate higher levels of perceived sincerity. Positive scores indicate an increase in perceived sincerity and negative scores indicate a decrease in perceived sincerity.

                                   SINCERITY
    Chris Brown apologizing for assaulting
     Rihanna                                                        17.2
    David Letterman's sex scandal confession                         4.3
    Governor Mark Sanford apologizing for his
     affair                                                          3.2
    David Letterman apologizing for Palin joke                      -2.3
    Jaimee Grubbs apologizing to Tiger Woods'
     wife                                                           -5.9

HCD Research, a marketing and communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ. The company's services include traditional and web-based research. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company's web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393. MediaCurves.com® (www.mediacurves.com) is a media measurement website that provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans' perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

SOURCE HCD Research, Inc.

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