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Expressing and responding to customer (dis)satisfaction online : new insights from discourse and linguistic approaches

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Abstract
In the current era of digitalization, customers are routinely invited to express their (dis)satisfaction with a product or a service and to provide recommendations for other prospective customers by writing reviews on a variety of online social media platforms. Such forms of electronic word-of-mouth have been found to strongly influence other consumers' purchase decisions. In the case of negative reviews, the negativity expressed in a particular comment can spread to the whole community, which can damage a company's reputation and profits. In an attempt to take consumer feedback into account, companies engage in "webcare." This type of online service encounter has been defined by van Noort and Willemsen as "the act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) consumers, by actively searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns, and complaints)." Following-up on these developments, scholars have started to research the communicative strategies used by companies to address consumer feedback and those used by (dis)satisfied customers to voice their (dis)satisfaction from the perspective of discourse analysis and linguistic pragmatics, paying attention to their linguistic realizations and their interactional dynamics. The aim of this Special Issue is to further expand our knowledge on the discourse-pragmatic strategies used in the interaction of (dis)satisfied customers and companies online, and on how these different strategies influence other prospective customers' perceptions, ultimately impacting their purchase decisions. In doing so, it positions itself at the crossroads of linguistics, communication, and business studies.
Keywords
customer satisfaction, critical discourse studies, applied linguistics, NEGATIVE HOTEL REVIEWS, COMMUNICATION, COMPLAINTS, EMOTIONS, FACEBOOK, VOICE

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MLA
Ruytenbeek, Nicolas, and Sofie Decock. “Expressing and Responding to Customer (Dis)Satisfaction Online : New Insights from Discourse and Linguistic Approaches.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION, vol. 61, no. 1, 2024, pp. 3–17, doi:10.1177/23294884231199740.
APA
Ruytenbeek, N., & Decock, S. (2024). Expressing and responding to customer (dis)satisfaction online : new insights from discourse and linguistic approaches. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION, 61(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231199740
Chicago author-date
Ruytenbeek, Nicolas, and Sofie Decock. 2024. “Expressing and Responding to Customer (Dis)Satisfaction Online : New Insights from Discourse and Linguistic Approaches.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 61 (1): 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231199740.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Ruytenbeek, Nicolas, and Sofie Decock. 2024. “Expressing and Responding to Customer (Dis)Satisfaction Online : New Insights from Discourse and Linguistic Approaches.” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 61 (1): 3–17. doi:10.1177/23294884231199740.
Vancouver
1.
Ruytenbeek N, Decock S. Expressing and responding to customer (dis)satisfaction online : new insights from discourse and linguistic approaches. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION. 2024;61(1):3–17.
IEEE
[1]
N. Ruytenbeek and S. Decock, “Expressing and responding to customer (dis)satisfaction online : new insights from discourse and linguistic approaches,” INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 3–17, 2024.
@article{01HD6MSKE0N2DHWMCAFN2ZDDFC,
  abstract     = {{In the current era of digitalization, customers are routinely invited to express their (dis)satisfaction with a product or a service and to provide recommendations for other prospective customers by writing reviews on a variety of online social media platforms. Such forms of electronic word-of-mouth have been found to strongly influence other consumers' purchase decisions. In the case of negative reviews, the negativity expressed in a particular comment can spread to the whole community, which can damage a company's reputation and profits. In an attempt to take consumer feedback into account, companies engage in "webcare." This type of online service encounter has been defined by van Noort and Willemsen as "the act of engaging in online interactions with (complaining) consumers, by actively searching the web to address consumer feedback (e.g., questions, concerns, and complaints)." Following-up on these developments, scholars have started to research the communicative strategies used by companies to address consumer feedback and those used by (dis)satisfied customers to voice their (dis)satisfaction from the perspective of discourse analysis and linguistic pragmatics, paying attention to their linguistic realizations and their interactional dynamics. The aim of this Special Issue is to further expand our knowledge on the discourse-pragmatic strategies used in the interaction of (dis)satisfied customers and companies online, and on how these different strategies influence other prospective customers' perceptions, ultimately impacting their purchase decisions. In doing so, it positions itself at the crossroads of linguistics, communication, and business studies.}},
  author       = {{Ruytenbeek, Nicolas and Decock, Sofie}},
  issn         = {{2329-4884}},
  journal      = {{INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION}},
  keywords     = {{customer satisfaction,critical discourse studies,applied linguistics,NEGATIVE HOTEL REVIEWS,COMMUNICATION,COMPLAINTS,EMOTIONS,FACEBOOK,VOICE}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{3--17}},
  title        = {{Expressing and responding to customer (dis)satisfaction online : new insights from discourse and linguistic approaches}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231199740}},
  volume       = {{61}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

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