Interpersonal Strategies in E-Complaint Refusals: Textbook Advice Versus Actual Situated Practice

Sofie Decock Ghent University Hospital ; Bernard De Clerck Ghent University Hospital ; Rebecca Van Herck Ghent University Hospital

Abstract

This article reports on the representation and operationalization of interpersonal attention in complaint management by comparing business textbooks, service recovery research, and situated practice. While textbooks commonly recommend the use of interpersonal strategies when writing complaint refusals, service recovery research points toward contextual differences in this regard. We use an authentic sample of complaint refusals from an intercultural business-to-business setting to show that the decontextualized recommendations in textbooks are not always applied in actual practice and that this lack of interpersonal attention need not be problematic.

Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published
2020-09-01
DOI
10.1177/2329490620904952
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Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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