Speak my language or look like me? – Language and ethnicity in bilingual customer service recovery

Azab, Carol; Clark, Terry

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.11.012

Cited by 31 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Identity cues in the marketplace, such as targeted marketing campaigns, may signal whether or not consumers at various levels of social status are welcome and included (or unwelcome and excluded). For example, having diverse service providers may make consumers from diverse backgrounds feel more rapport with the service provider (Linzmajer et al., 2020), so long as there is not also a cue that activates a feeling of inferior status for the consumer's identity (Azab & Clark, 2017). These inclusion and exclusion cues may act as signals of identity safety or threat (Gutiérrez & Saint Clair, 2018; Purdie‐Vaughns et al., 2008) and may be particularly impactful for consumers who have stigmatized or marginalized identities that occupy lower positions of social hierarchy status (Chaney et al., 2019; Mirabito et al., 2016; Schmader & Sedikides, 2018).…”

Section: Identity Structure: a Multiple‐identity Network Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity interplay: The importance and challenges of consumer research on multiple identities

Forehand

Reed

Clair

2021

Consumer Psychology Review

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Although it is well accepted that the self-concept includes numerous identities, the preponderance of past consumer identity research has explored one identity at a time and this focus has limited new insights into the interplay between identities. We integrate across research streams to propose a Multiple-Identity Network as a unifying framework to help inform and direct future research on multiple identities. This framework identifies three important areas of opportunity for research on multiple identities: (a) Identity Structure, (b) Identity Management, and (c) Identity Change processes that drive both structure and management.

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Section: Identity Structure: a Multiple‐identity Network Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity interplay: The importance and challenges of consumer research on multiple identities

Forehand

Reed

Clair

2021

Consumer Psychology Review

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“…Thus, as the degree to which customers perceive employees' displayed emotions to be authentic increases, the more likely they will feel their interests are attended to and the greater their trust in the firm. For example, authentic smiles have been shown to have a stronger influence on employeeperceived friendliness and satisfaction (Hennig-Thurau et al, 2006), and stronger employee-customer rapport than fake smiles (Azab and Clark, 2017). Thus, hiring service employees and simply training them to smile mechanically is not a good approach to effective service delivery.…”

Section: Emotional Pathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive psychological capacities: the mystery ingredient in successful service recoveries?

Azab

Clark

Jarvis

2018

JSM

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Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of frontline employees’ (FLEs’) positive psychological capacities (PPCs) (optimism, hope, resilience and self-efficacy) on service recovery. Design/methodology/approach A model of FLE PPCs is tested using two studies: a field study (Nretail = 205; Nrestaurant = 160) and between-subject experimental design (Neducation = 206) in three service settings. Findings Results show that positive emotions mediate the relationship between PPCs and problem-solving adaptability, and that authenticity of positive emotions moderates the relationship between positive emotions and interactional justice. Surprisingly, problem-solving adaptability positively influences perceptions of distributive justice and interactional justice. A small interaction effect between positive emotions and problem-solving adaptability also was found. Research limitations/implications The dependent variable (problem-solving adaptability) was measured using an open-ended question evaluated by objective, independent raters rather than a self-reported structured metric, to minimize social desirability bias. Practical implications Given that the customer complaints to the Better Business Bureau in 2016 were close to one million, most of them occurring in the service sector, service firms need continuous research into improving service recovery. This study argues that firms can improve FLEs’ problem-solving adaptability behavior by training existing FLEs to strengthen PPCs, hiring FLEs that have strong PPCs and fostering positive emotions. Originality/value This is the first study that examines the effect of PPCs on service recovery outcomes. By incorporating PPCs as antecedents of positive emotions, this paper explains how FLEs can offer a better recovery rather than dictating what they ought to display and say. An explanation of how FLE PPCs influence customer outcomes via the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and emotion contagion theory is offered, highlighting a novel path/relationship between FLE positive emotions and problem-solving abilities, and extending emotion contagion to service recovery.

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“…Specifically, consumers receiving service in their second language are less likely to tip the waiter in a restaurant and are less likely to recommend the service provider to others . Azab & Clark (2017) found that, in a search recovery context, service providers can improve rapport with majority consumers using a language convergence strategy, and the rapport will, in turn, result in positive word-of-mouth and re-patronage intentions.…”

Section: Brand Language and Consumer Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Three Essays on Understanding Consumer Engagement with Brand Posts on Social Media

Deng¹

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The rapid proliferation of social media over the last ten years has revolutionized the way that brands and consumers connect, communicate, and interact with each other. Nowadays, approaching creative brand posts in a way that maximizes consumer engagement has become a growing challenge to social media marketers. This thesis addresses this challenge and aims to understand how to enhance consumer engagement with brand posts on social media through the lens of linguistics. To achieve this goal, three independent but related papers were conducted to 1) investigate how the linguistic styles of brand social media posts influence consumer engagement; 2) examine the interactive impacts of consumer comment valence and brand response language style on consumers' evaluation of brand and their intention for future engagement with the brand; and 3) explore whether and how incorporating emojis in brand social media posts affects consumer engagement with the posts. The findings of this thesis reveal that, for brands, using proper language when communicating with consumers on social media can improve consumers' perceptions of brands and enhance their engagement with brands. The results of this thesis deepen our understanding of the role that brand language plays in influencing consumer engagement on social media as well as provide many practical guidelines for social media marketers regarding the language they use in communicating with consumers on social media.

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Speak my language or look like me? – Language and ethnicity in bilingual customer service recovery

Cited by 31 publications

References 84 publications

Identity interplay: The importance and challenges of consumer research on multiple identities

Identity interplay: The importance and challenges of consumer research on multiple identities

Positive psychological capacities: the mystery ingredient in successful service recoveries?

Three Essays on Understanding Consumer Engagement with Brand Posts on Social Media

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