Customer requests and complaints in intercultural BELF emails: The case of American customers and Chinese sales managers
Keywords:
customer requests, customer complaints, politeness strategies, cultural values, Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF)Abstract
This descriptive study investigated requests and complaints in intercultural Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF) emails. Sixty emails in English were collected, written by American customers addressed to Chinese sales managers who worked at a parent company in China. The emails were considered for study since the language and culture of the senders and recipients were different (Kecskes, 2014, p. 14). Results show that the American customers normally used bald on-record strategies when making business requests of the Chinese sales managers. The direct and unambiguous nature of these requests were attributed to American cultural values, classified by Hall (1976) as low-context and by Hofstede (2001) as highly individualistic. The American customers made explicit requests using direct language to ensure their requests were understood. Even though their complaints were explicit, the American customers also used negative politeness strategies so that the Chinese sales managers would feel less offended. In addition, the complaints in these BELF emails always co-occurred with other speech acts such as requests, suggestions, and warnings, producing a speech act set (Murphy & Neu, 1996). The aim of their complaints was thus not only to express dissatisfaction, but to seek solutions to problems and compensation for losses.
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