The Impact of Linguistic Accommodation on Transactional and Relational Goals in Business Communication

Ya Sun; Pan Zheng; Na Zhang

doi:10.1109/tpc.2025.3541984

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Mar 2025

The Impact of Linguistic Accommodation on Transactional and Relational Goals in Business Communication

Ya Sun University of International Business and Economics ; Pan Zheng University of International Business and Economics ; Na Zhang University of International Business and Economics

Abstract

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Introduction:</b> Efficient and effective business communication depends on appropriate communication adjustments that are at the core of communication accommodation theory. This theory has been used to explore the role of communication accommodation in driving business performance and organizational success. However, there has been no systematic survey of linguistic accommodation in business communication. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1. What are general characteristics of studies on the impact of linguistic accommodation in business communication? 2. What are the foci of linguistic accommodation in business communication? 3. What are the contexts, participants (actors and targets), transactional goals, and relational goals of linguistic accommodation in business communication? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</b> We conducted an integrative literature review based on journal articles from the database Web of Science Core Collection. After retrieving 32 articles corresponding to our research purpose, we conducted a qualitative content analysis to describe general characteristics of these articles and identify foci of linguistic accommodation, contexts, participants (actors and targets), transactional goals, and relational goals of linguistic accommodation. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results and conclusions:</b> In both external and internal business communication, actors tend to accommodate or nonaccommodate targets by choosing different languages and communication styles on different linguistic levels based on their language proficiency. We found that linguistic accommodation generally has a positive impact on transactional goals (such as service quality perceptions, negotiation effectiveness, and group performance) and relational goals (such as brand trust, consumer engagement, and cooperation intentions). This review may help business professionals adopt appropriate linguistic accommodation strategies to achieve transactional or relational goals, and aid teachers of business communication in developing students’ accommodation competence.

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published: 2025-03-01
DOI: 10.1109/tpc.2025.3541984
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: Closed
Topics: professional writing disability studies
Export: BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (4)

Gallagher et al. (2023)

The State of UX Pedagogy

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Williamson (2022)

Participation Styles, Turn-Taking Strategies, and Marginalization in Intercultu…

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Sun et al. (2022)

Corporations' Owned Social Media Narrative

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Carradini (2020)

A Comparison of Research Topics Associated With Technical Communication, Busine…

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

Also cites 51 works outside this index ↓

10.1515/9780748631834-030

↗
10.4324/9781003195511-12

↗
10.1016/j.langsci.2023.101571

↗
10.1108/jsm-12-2020-0541

↗
Gasiorek (2016)

Theoretical perspctive on interpersonal adjustment in language and communication

↗
10.1177/2329488416675841

↗
10.1177/002194360003700102

↗
10.1177/0021943610377304

↗
10.1080/07256860305789

↗
10.1177/108056990306600308

↗
10.1177/1534484305278283

↗
10.4324/9781003080688

↗
10.1007/s11192-024-04997-2

↗
10.1007/978-1-4613-0893-5_2

↗
10.1016/j.intman.2020.100809

↗
10.1016/j.elerap.2021.101068

↗
10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.10.012

↗
10.1515/mult.2009.016

↗
10.1504/EJIM.2018.092839

↗
10.1108/IJCMA-08-2020-0137

↗
10.1080/01434632.2013.807270

↗
10.1108/JOSM-12-2016-0325

↗
10.1177/0261927X15575772

↗
10.1080/09585192.2011.561240

↗
10.1108/03090561311324327

↗
10.1111/weng.12097

↗
10.2989/16073614.2014.999993

↗
10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.01.012

↗
10.1177/0261927X221128991

↗
10.1080/03637751.2023.2213305

↗
10.1515/iprg.2011.010

↗
10.1108/JPBM-05-2013-0299

↗
10.1287/isre.1040.0023

↗
10.1075/eww.38.3.01cow

↗
10.25300/MISQ/2014/38.4.12

↗
10.1177/0261927X16663254

↗
10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.07.015

↗
10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.11.012

↗
10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103511

↗
10.1108/JSM-07-2022-0245

↗
10.1177/0018726713481069

↗
10.1515/flin-2023-2018

↗
10.1080/02650487.2008.11073056

↗
10.1057/s41267-023-00639-6

↗
10.1080/13670050.2015.1037719

↗
10.1007/s00168-020-01004-3

↗
10.1080/23808985.2014.11679160

↗
10.1017/CBO9781316226537.004

↗
10.1177/0261927x231167108

↗
10.1080/09296174.2020.1807853

↗
10.1093/jcmc/zmab001

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 4 View in citation network → Build reading path →

The Impact of Linguistic Accommodation on Transactional and Relational Goals in Business Communication

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

Cites in this index (4)

Related Articles