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Using Speech Acts to Elicit Positive Emotions for Complainants on Social Media

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  • Argyris, Young Anna
  • Monu, Kafui
  • Kim, Yongsuk
  • Zhou, Yilu
  • Wang, Zuhui
  • Yin, Zhaozheng

Abstract

A carefully tailored tone in response to a complaint on social media can create positive emotions for an upset customer. However, very few studies have identified what response tones, based on an established theory, would be most effective for complaint management. This study conceptualizes a service agent's response tones based on Ballmer and Brennenstuhl's (1981) classification of speech acts and examines how an agent's use of speech acts elicit positive emotions for the complainant. Ballmer and Brennenstuhl classify speech acts within the dimensions of conventionality and dialogicality, and they suggest the two dimensions interact. Thus, we examine the impact of each dimension of speech acts and the interactions between the two dimensions on the elicitation of positive emotions for complainants. We collected over 100,000 tweets and classified firm agents' speech acts and complainants' emotions by designing deep learning architectures (i.e., bi-directional recurrent neural networks). Our fixed-effect regression results show that a low level of each speech act leads to the elicitation of customers' positive emotions but that the combination of the two erodes the individual advantages. This study expands Ballmer and Brennenstuhl's (1981) speech act classification from a speaker's perspectives to a listener's perspectives by contextualizing it in an analysis of service agents' tones and their roles in eliciting positive emotions among complainants.

Suggested Citation

  • Argyris, Young Anna & Monu, Kafui & Kim, Yongsuk & Zhou, Yilu & Wang, Zuhui & Yin, Zhaozheng, 2021. "Using Speech Acts to Elicit Positive Emotions for Complainants on Social Media," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 67-80.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:55:y:2021:i:c:p:67-80
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intmar.2021.02.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chebat, Jean-Charles & Slusarczyk, Witold, 2005. "How emotions mediate the effects of perceived justice on loyalty in service recovery situations: an empirical study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(5), pages 664-673, May.
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    1. Wang, Fei & Xu, Haifeng & Hou, Ronglin & Zhu, Zhen, 2023. "Designing marketing content for social commerce to drive consumer purchase behaviors: A perspective from speech act theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Putri Haryanti & Kundharu Saddhono & Atikah Anindyarini, 2024. "Illocutionary Speech Acts in President Jokowi’s Instagram Account: A Multimodal Pragmatic Study," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 11(3), pages 83-103, March.
    3. Jiayang Zhang & Xin Huang, 2024. "The Effect of Distrust Regulation and Trustworthiness Demonstration on Trust Repair in Responding to Online Negative Reviews," International Journal of English and Cultural Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 7(1), pages 15-30, May.
    4. Fang, Xing & Shin, Seong Kyoung & Huang, Xingyu, 2025. "Enhancing social media engagement: Speech act strategies across influencer types," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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