Interactional structures and engagement in service encounters: An investigation into communication at the hotel front desk Géraldine Bengsch PhD University of York Sociology March 2016 Abstract The main aim of the study was to explore the specifics of communicative behaviour at the hotel reception that establish the institutional character of the interaction to accomplish a service encounter. The hotel provides a unique environment for research related to global communication and questions of politeness usage. Investigating conversations between hotel receptionists and their guests was used to demonstrate how interdisciplinary approaches can further knowledge in a globalised world order. Nine and a half hours of naturally occurring interactions between receptionists and guests were videotaped in four hotels in three European countries (England, Germany and Spain). The analysis was conducted using Conversation Analysis (CA) as the primary method and enriched through the use of ethnographic notes. CA was used to show how normative social structures are invoked in service encounters at the hotel front desk. Ethnographic insights provided additional evidence for how the interactions are anchored in the social reality. The findings suggest that conversations at the front desk are highly structured and possess features similar to institutional and mundane interactions. Conversations were classed into three phases (arrival, stay and departure), each of which has observable and robust interactional features. It is proposed that an effective encounter between hotel guest and receptionist is not solely reliant on a particular structure. Instead, the results indicate that a very specific amount of engagement by both the service provider and the customer is required. Thus, following the tradition of CA, it is demonstrated how precisely participants can organise their talk and behaviour according to a mutual preference of both guest and receptionist. The analysis showed that miscommunication occurs infrequent in these service encounters. Furthermore, intercultural notions are seldom made relevant in talk by participants. The study contributes to knowledge in interactional, service encounter and tourism related literature. The findings also have implications for practitioners in the tourism industry. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 3 List of transcription excerpts ..................................................................................................... 8 List of pictures in token moments .............................................................................................. 9 List of figures ........................................................................................................................... 10 List of tables ............................................................................................................................. 11 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 12 Author’s declaration................................................................................................................. 13 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 14 1.1 Aim and scope of the study ....................................................................................... 18 1.2 Methodological framework ....................................................................................... 19 1.3 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 20 1.3.1 Macro Research Question .................................................................................. 20 1.4 Subordinate Questions............................................................................................... 20 1.5 Structure and overall organisation of the thesis ........................................................ 20 Background and Context.................................................................................... 25 2.1 Aim of this chapter .................................................................................................... 25 2.2 The social sciences and tourism ................................................................................ 25 2.3 Tourism as setting for social and communication research – some premises and challenges for addressing concepts ...................................................................................... 28 2.4 Macro context: tourism ............................................................................................. 31 2.4.1 Social structure in tourism ................................................................................. 31 2.5 Meso context: tourism and hospitality as research setting ........................................ 32 2.5.1 Communication as situating practice ................................................................. 33 2.6 Micro context: service encounters as social interactions .......................................... 34 2.7 Interacting parties: constructing the social order ...................................................... 37 2.7.1 Front-line staff ................................................................................................... 37 2.7.2 Tourists .............................................................................................................. 38 2.8 Further premises for this study .................................................................................. 40 2.9 Conclusion: interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary notions ................................... 42 Literature Review............................................................................................... 44 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 44 3 3.2 Effective communication .......................................................................................... 45 3.3 Communication and social considerations ................................................................ 48 3.4 Disciplinary boundaries and interdisciplinary opportunities .................................... 49 3.5 Service encounters: studying organisations .............................................................. 50 3.5.1 Communication in service literature .................................................................. 51 3.5.2 Organisations and services ................................................................................. 51 3.5.3 Service encounters and the notion of culture ..................................................... 52 3.5.4 Service quality in service encounters ................................................................. 53 3.5.5 Customer-employee relationships ...................................................................... 55 3.6 Interpersonal behaviour and courtesy in service encounters ..................................... 57 3.6.1 Language in service encounters ......................................................................... 58 3.7 Service encounters in CA literature .......................................................................... 60 3.8 CA and communication literature ............................................................................. 63 3.9 CA and the order of service....................................................................................... 65 3.10 Literature frame ......................................................................................................... 67 3.11 Social structure, communications and organisations ................................................ 68 3.12 Implications for research into communication in service encounters ....................... 69 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 71 4.1 Aim of the chapter ..................................................................................................... 71 4.1.1 Motivation of study and research questions....................................................... 72 4.2 Conversation Analysis (CA) as a framework (Methodology) .................................. 73 4.3 Analytic frame ........................................................................................................... 73 4.4 Premises for CA in service encounters in hotels ....................................................... 76 4.5 Ethnographic considerations: data collection and development of study ................. 77 4.6 Data collection as a journey ...................................................................................... 77 4.6.1 Stage Zero: in search for access ......................................................................... 78 4.6.2 First stage: observation, “internship” (Germany; 4 star hotel, 63 rooms) ......... 80 4.6.3 Second stage: Hotel A (England; 3 stars, 26 rooms) ......................................... 81 4.6.4 Third stage: Hotel B (Germany; 3 and 4 stars, 65 and 15 rooms) ..................... 81 4.6.5 Fourth stage: Hotel C (Germany, 4 stars, 154 rooms) ......................................