"You Lost Me at Hello": How and when accent-based biases are expressed and suppressed

    Authors

    Z. Wang; A. D. Arndt; S. N. Singh; M. Biernat;F. Liu

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Int. J. Res. Mark.

    Keywords

    Employee accent; Call service; Justification-suppression model; BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS; CUSTOMER SATISFACTION; ENGLISH SPEAKERS; SERVICE; MEDIATION; LINE; COMMUNICATION; STEREOTYPES; DECISIONS; PREJUDICE; Business

    Abstract

    This research examines customer biases relating to employee accents in call service encounters. Extant research and practitioners generally assume that customers automatically evaluate call service employees with a nonstandard accent lower than employees with a standard accent. However, using the justification-suppression model as a framework, we argue that customers frequently suppress accent biases toward call service employees. We conduct three empirical studies, and our findings indicate that customers rate employees with an accent receiving a negative bias lower only when a service outcome is unfavorable for customers. In contrast, accents receiving a positive bias only impact customer evaluations when service outcomes are favorable for customers. Additionally, we demonstrate that the suppression and justification of accent biases rely on both cognitive and affective mechanisms. Finally, we show that customers who are informed of the frequency of a favorable vs. unfavorable outcome are more likely to suppress biases. Published by Elsevier B.V.

    Journal Title

    International Journal of Research in Marketing

    Volume

    30

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    185

    Last Page

    196

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000318263600009

    ISSN

    0167-8116

    Share

    COinS