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Conclusions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2022

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Summary

The following chapter presents concluding observations concerning customer encounters on Twitter on English profiles. The main focus of the analysis was on companies’ tweets posted in response to consumers’ messages. The use of offline conventions concerning interaction strategies typical of customer encounters as well as some new tendencies can be seen in the tweets. The table below summarizes the strategies used by the companies in the context of positive evaluation and complaint management.

The investigation of the patterns found in the encounters enabled a verification of the initial hypotheses concerning the interaction.

The analysis confirmed the hypothesis concerning the focus placed on maintaining a positive image of the company and enhancing positive relations with customers. A range of rapport management strategies can be found, as well as strategies oriented towards enhancing the consumer's opinion concerning the company. Strategies which would pose a threat to the consumer are practically non-existent in the corpus.

A customer-oriented approach to the interaction is also reflected in the choice of strategies used in complaint and positive evaluation management. In the case of the former, it can be seen in a high occurrence of apologies and low incidence of denials, which confirms the initial assumption. In the case of the latter, this approach is reflected in the use of acts of appreciation and complimenting consumers.

The analysis did not fully confirm the assumption concerning a promotional-orientation of positive evaluation responses. A relatively low incidence of acts of self-praise and explicit advertising occurred in the tweets.

The study also did not fully confirm the initial hypothesis assuming that, owing to social media conventions, company representatives will be constrained by their institutional and social roles to a lesser degree than in other channels of communication. Similarly, a preference for informalization and conversationalization, or diminishing of interactional distance was not observed in corporate responses. Instead, a signific ant degree of conventionalization and formulaicity can be seen across the tweets.

A more detailed summary of the properties of companies’ responses is provided below.

Type
Chapter
Information
Customer Encounters on Twitter
A Study of Positive Evaluation and Complaint Management on English Corporate Profiles
, pp. 211 - 218
Publisher: Jagiellonian University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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