A comprehensive account of face-to-face interactions in commercial and non-commercial service encounter settings.

The chapters in this collection, authored by renowned scholars, address a gap in the literature by focusing on the consequences that outsourcing, among other globalized economic practices, and remediation by new technologies have had on the service encounters genre (SE). From both a multilingual and a multidisciplinary perspective, this collection explores the development of technological applications and professional best practices as well as call centre interaction, e-commerce, and e-word of mouth. More specifically, the papers in this volume report on technology developed to support SEs and how this technology influences service providers and their allowable linguistic contributions. Further, this collection provides valuable insights on the language and strategic behaviour deployed in less researched kinds of SEs, gives special attention to how technology impacts the interface between the transactional and interactional goals of SEs, and thus has real world applications.

Service encounters are ubiquitous in social interaction. We buy food and everyday items in supermarkets, convenience stores, or markets; we purchase merchandise in department stores; or we request information at a visitor information center. This book offers a comprehensive account of service encounters in commercial and non-commercial settings. Grounded in naturally occurring face-to-face interactions and drawing on a pragmatic-discursive approach, J. César Félix-Brasdefer sets out a framework for the analysis of transactional and relational talk in various contexts in the United States and Mexico. This book investigates cross-cultural and intra-lingual pragmatic variation during the negotiation of service. The author provides a broad review of research on service encounters to date, and analyzes characteristics of sales transactions, such as participants' roles, pragmatic and discourse functions of relational talk and address forms, the realization of politeness, and changes in alignment from transactional to relational talk.

The Handbook of Service Marketing Research brings together an all-star team of leading researchers in service marketing to explore many of the hottest topics in service marketing today. Cutting-edge topics include: customer relationships and loy

This book investigates intercultural service encounters (ICSEs) in light of the rapidly globalizing world economy, examining the extant literature on the topic and identifying areas which require further exploration. With a focus on intercultural communication and competence, the author analyses diverse conceptual frameworks, providing theoretical models and practical initiatives for those working within the services marketing industry. An excellent resource for anyone interested in how culture shapes customer and employee expectations and perceptions, this book addresses the potential implications and limitations of future models.

This book offers insights into the demands made on staff in service encounters in tourism, events and hospitality roles. Using data from research completed in these industries, it hinges upon storied incidents offered by workers about which the reader can reflect and apply theoretical knowledge. A key feature of this volume is that it focuses on staff perspectives and perceptions of service encounters and delivery rather than on customer or management perspectives. This will provide students, lecturers, management and customers with fresh and clear understandings of the demands made on staff, but also the perspectives from which the demands are seen. The chapters clarify to students how to apply academic knowledge within customer service contexts and include learning objectives, questions and summaries.