Responding to customer complaints on English and Polish corporate profiles on Twitter

Abstract

Abstract The study investigates the strategies used by English and Polish companies in the process of handling customer complaints on Twitter. Since English and Polish are recognized as representatives of negative and positive politeness cultures, respectively, the analysis was to examine if there are differences in politeness conventions in customer-provider interaction on Twitter. The study found that although similar strategies are used by English and Polish companies in responding to complaints, the frequency of the respective strategies is different. The results of the analysis confirm differences in the use of positive and negative politeness strategies as well as differences in the level of directness in interaction between English and Polish profiles.