Is Empathy Effective for Customer Service? Evidence From Call Center Interactions
| Autor: | Soon Ang, Colin Clark, Ulrike Marianne Murfett, Priscilla S. Rogers |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Service (business)
Value (ethics) business.industry Communication media_common.quotation_subject Empathy Cognition Public relations General Business Management and Accounting Expression (mathematics) Multinational corporation Center (algebra and category theory) Business and International Management business Social psychology Financial services media_common |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Business and Technical Communication. 27:123-153 |
| ISSN: | 1552-4574 1050-6519 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1050651912468887 |
| Popis: | This study examines the nature and value of empathic communication in call center dyads. Our research site was a multinational financial services call center that we came to know through grounded study techniques, including analyses of 289 stressful calls. Examining calls as communication genre revealed that agents and customers have conflicting organizational, service, and efficiency needs that undermine communication. But three types of empathic expression can mitigate these conflicts in some interactions. Affective expressions, such as “I’m sorry,” were less effectual, but attentive and cognitive responses could engender highly positive responses although customers’ need for them varied tremendously. Thus, customer service agents must use both diagnostic and enactment skills to perform empathic communication effectively, a coupling that we call empathy work. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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