Purpose – Research suggests that “front‐line” service jobs typically require emotional labour owing to the high levels of interpersonal interaction inherent in such work. Although emotional labour can be performed face‐to‐face (in person) or voice‐to‐voice (on the telephone),...

Purpose – This article aims to analyse the design of community systems in two real‐world professional communities that employ a mix of communication modes, that is, face‐to‐face communication and computer‐mediated communication. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses the...

The paper uses a questionnaire and a theoretical model of bank‐customer interaction preferences as the basis for examining the perceptions of retail bank customers regarding the use of remote delivery channels and the extent to which they still value traditional branch‐based face‐to‐face...

Understanding and utilizing guanxi presents a continuing challenge for western firms in China. This article reviews current research, highlighting two different types of guanxi : person‐to‐person and firm‐to‐firm. Based on interviews with 43 Chinese managers, it is suggested that...

While the effect of communication apprehension on a multitude of psychological and performance variables has been studied in many other disciplines, it has not been extensively examined by sales researchers. This article considers communication in the sales transaction from the perspective of...

The Body Shop International plc published its first stakeholder report (known as its ‘Values Report’) in January 1996. This paper focuses on the communication of this report to employees and franchisees in the 46 countries in which The Body Shop trades. The communication strategy and...

Communication problems between physicians and people with chronic diseases may result from many causes. A brief description of some causes is provided. The focus of this article concerns the information‐seeking patterns of women with multiple sclerosis (MS). A survey method was used to...

Service firms operating on low margins per transaction must generate a high volume of business to survive the competitive environment of the 1990s. Firms must raise the expectations of consumers to increase patronage, then successfully meet these expectations. Examines the antecedents to...

The ability to listen is very important and for facilitators even more so Gives six situations‐monologue, dialogue, conversation, discussion, debate and argument to show how facilitators can choose their level of listening. Goes on, with listed examples, to clarify all the facets of listening...