tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/customer-service-2658/articlesCustomer service – The Conversation2024-03-27T13:38:36Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221992024-03-27T13:38:36Z2024-03-27T13:38:36ZDo employees slack off after receiving their bonuses? Our research tells a more optimistic story<p>The carrot-and-stick approach – rewards and punishment – is a long-held theory of motivation. It features in some form or other in many animal training, child rearing, and management methods. In modern incarnations applied to the business world, however, sanctions are less fashionable than rewards, the latter often in the form of pay-for-performance. Many companies apply incentive plans to motivate employees, including those in non-executive positions. For instance, in addition to their base salary, sales representatives routinely earn commissions directly tied to their sales figures. Comparable schemes exist in other lines of work, based on the notion – largely supported by empirical evidence – that performance tends to be higher under incentive plans than under flat or hourly wages.</p>
<p>The most common explanation? Reward expectancy. The mere existence of an incentive plan acts as a carrot dangling ahead. It generates anticipation for future rewards, which drives employees to push themselves a bit harder. The future reward needs just be sufficiently desirable to outweigh the cost of the required effort. The more desirable the future reward, the theory goes, the harder employees work.</p>
<h2>The performance effect of future rewards – and past ones?</h2>
<p>But what happens once employees receive their promised rewards? Do employees slack off when the metaphorical carrot is in their hands? Does it give them a further boost? Or do such payments leave employees without any feelings of obligation or inequity, and so do performance levels remain stable? The latter seems unlikely in case of discretionary bonuses or stock option sales, whose occurrences may be irregular, and their ultimate values unpredictable. That performance remains stable seems more conceivable when a transparent link exists between employee performance and expected pay, such as when incentive payments occur regularly and are predictable.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01492063211016032">article recently published in the <em>Journal of Management</em></a>, we studied precisely such a setting of high predictability, in which employees know exactly how much they stand to earn for each completed task. We asked whether, why, and how regular incentive payments influenced employees’ performance. The upshot? Our results could guide HR toward savvier interventions.</p>
<h2>What may happen when incentive payments are made?</h2>
<p>We began by proposing that employees are rational decision-makers who weigh the costs and benefits of their invested effort at work, but whose attention is a limited resource. Next, we also proposed that incentive payments can be viewed as “recurring temporal markers” – repeated events that temporarily stand out to employees. Together, these two ideas suggest that an incentive payment may periodically bring the costs and benefits of work effort into sharper focus. Much like the receipt of an electricity bill periodically reminds us of the marginal cost of electricity consumption.</p>
<p>In other words, incentive payments are the stimuli making the incentive plan more “salient” to employees. We argued that employees may respond to such enhanced salience in two ways:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Refocusing: The incentive payment simply reminds employees of the tasks rewarded by the bonus. Thus, employees temporarily improve their performance on those tasks.</p></li>
<li><p>Reciprocation: Employees are grateful for the bonus, which creates ripple effects. They reciprocate toward the employer by working harder even beyond the rewarded tasks.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>We predicted that employees would exhibit both behaviours temporarily, after which performance would revert to the prepayment level.</p>
<h2>What a study of a firm’s customer-support employees revealed</h2>
<p>We put our prediction to the test by analysing the performance of customer-service employees at an online firm in Greece that offered web-hosting services to more than 60,000 customers worldwide. The data spanned more than three years (from 2011 to 2014) and covered both quantitative (e.g., number of phone calls attended, sales revenues) and qualitative (e.g., feedback from customers) measures of performance. During this time, an incentive plan was in place for the firm’s customer-service employees. They were periodically rewarded for their performance across a range of tasks.</p>
<p>We found no evidence that employees refocused on the rewarded tasks following the incentive payment. At first blush, this might suggest that the effects of the incentive plan do not derive from reactive responses to received rewards. They might simply derive from employees’ anticipation of future rewards. However, we did find a temporary and positive effect of incentive payment on sales performance, an outcome not linked to incentives. And the effects were economically meaningful: Our back-of-the-envelope calculation suggested that sales rose by 1.8% as a result of the ripple effects from incentive payments.</p>
<p>Other unincentivised measures also temporarily improved in the period immediately following incentive payment. For example, improved revenues resulted not only from greater sales quantities but also from the sale of more expensive products. Next, phone calls between customer-support employees and customers temporarily increased in duration following incentive payment. And customer-support employees were temporarily more likely to involve back-office technology experts to help improve customer solutions.</p>
<p>Why would unincentivised measures show such patterns following incentive payment? According to our interviews, employees knew that service quality was critical, even though it was hard to measure. The employees also cared about their employer’s esteem. The receipt of the incentive payment periodically reminded them just how lucky they were to be working at a firm offering performance incentives.</p>
<p>These findings have direct practical applications. First, they help managers improve the timing of other HR interventions, such as commitment-building activities or informal feedback. Employers might choose to administer such motivators during the trough of the employee response to a periodic incentive payment. Second, they suggest that firms should cultivate the social dimension of the employment relationship. This way, employees are more likely to respond to periodic incentive payments with enhanced effort on unincentivised yet consequential aspects of their work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Bonus afterglow led to boosted sales revenues and greater customer satisfaction across the board, research carried over three years shows.Argyro Avgoustaki, Professor of Management, ESCP Business SchoolHans TW Frankort, Professor of Strategy, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183492023-12-11T19:01:50Z2023-12-11T19:01:50ZHow getting a second opinion can stop you being ripped off<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562318/original/file-20231129-21-5v77ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C65%2C5096%2C3581&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/car-mechanic-customer?image_type=photo">Standret/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You leave your car at the mechanic for a routine service ahead of your summer escape to the coast. When your mobile rings, you are stricken by unwelcome news: the mechanic goes through a list of parts that urgently need replacing to avoid a breakdown in the middle of the freeway. After accepting your fate, you never learn whether you really needed to replace those parts, or if the mechanic has just ripped you off. </p>
<p>Services like these - for which it remains unclear whether the service was really needed - are what economists call “<a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/002205106776162717">credence goods</a>”. Credence goods markets are a hotbed for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-women-can-avoid-being-overcharged-at-the-mechanic/102915962">questionable practices</a>. The typical advice for consumers is to get a <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/law/your-rights/consumer-rights-complaints-and-scams/buying-products-and-services/buying-services/vehicle-services/get-your-car-repaired">second opinion</a> and check the reviews.</p>
<p>But what if a well-meaning mechanic discovers your car needs a major repair? In this case, the mechanic faces an existential dilemma: if they offer the right repairs, they may appear to be taking advantage when they are just trying to fix your car.</p>
<h2>Pandering to customers</h2>
<p>Businesses fear of losing their clients may lead to what researchers call “pandering” - offering consumers what they want to hear rather than what they need. They may also opt for costly “over treatment” to avoid being labelled as incompetent.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-want-to-avoid-giving-away-your-first-born-make-sure-you-read-the-terms-and-conditions-before-signing-contracts-218705">If you want to avoid ‘giving away your first born’ make sure you read the terms and conditions before signing contracts</a>
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<p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QpT-TFjKNEpz6nn3ZmzHKyJNMrkMAGBi/view">Our research</a> shows, when consumers can get a second opinion, experts are more likely to overtreat them, anticipating (correctly) the customer will like the extra attention. </p>
<p>It is well <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joie.12075">documented</a> that when doctors prescribe antibiotics, their patients are more likely to choose them on their next visit. This is consistent with research showing <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181970">doctors in the United States</a> believe fear of malpractice and patient pressure are the most common reasons for medically unnecessary prescriptions, tests or procedures.</p>
<p>When experts succumb to pressure from consumers, the customers receive less appropriate and more costly services. Worse still, those experts who stand their ground are unlikely to have the customer return. But when no expert dares to offer honest advice, second opinions become useless.</p>
<p>The solution, however, does not involve authoritarian experts and submissive consumers. Rather, it is to use second opinions as clarifications <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-guide-to-a-second-medical-opinion-14930">not threats</a>. Second opinions help when they foster honest and useful communication between customer and service provider, enabling consumers to reach an informed decision.</p>
<h2>Free quotes can be useful</h2>
<p>In Australia (as in many other countries), customers have the right to ask for a free quote.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person writing on a form attached to a clipboard bearing the word ''quote''" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563863/original/file-20231206-15-znjc9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A second quote can help a consumer reach an informed decision.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-writing-quote-on-clipboard-deck-111551117">Pixsooz/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>If the mechanic offers a genuine quote for expensive parts, the customer may walk away believing the mechanic is dodgy. The mechanic may lose the customer and some reputation. </p>
<p>But the reputational damage caused by a genuine quote will eventually be overcome when the customer compares the quotes they receive with other free quotes of a similar amount. When quotes are free and easy to obtain, a range of quotes from the same mechanic will also show the customer the mechanic’s charges vary depending on the job.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/airlines-are-frustrating-travelers-by-changing-frequent-flyer-program-rules-heres-why-they-keep-doing-it-217231">Airlines are frustrating travelers by changing frequent flyer program rules – here's why they keep doing it</a>
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<p>Even though free quotes are available, if the consumer takes the car to be repaired only when it is essential, they will likely have to go with the first mechanic they approach, irrespective of cost.</p>
<p>It is therefore better to call the mechanic earlier than later, especially if you are unsure of them. </p>
<h2>The benefit of online reviews</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://simplicable.com/en/experience-goods">Experience goods</a>” are different from credence goods. These are services and products whose quality can be observed after consumption. Think restaurants, accommodation, or a book. Because past consumers have information on the quality of experience goods, consumers can learn about their quality by looking at online reviews. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, rating systems are plagued with fake reviews. Markets where <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2022.1353">sellers can buy fake reviews</a> are well documented, as is the fact fake reviews are quite effective in raising sellers’ revenues. These reviews are usually extremely positive, when paid by the sellers, or extremely negative when sponsored by competitors. Even when consumers are aware of fake reviews, they inhibit credible communication via the rating system.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-battle-over-right-to-repair-is-a-fight-over-your-cars-data-213052">The battle over right to repair is a fight over your car's data</a>
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<p>There’s plenty of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-spot-a-fake-review-youre-probably-worse-at-it-than-you-realise-121043">excellent advice</a> about how to spot fake reviews. Filtering out fake reviews is important, because they influence opinions. As in the case of second opinions, reviews are more helpful when they explain the reasons for their recommendations.</p>
<p>The bottom line for consumers is clear: understand why a recommendation is made, not just what it is. We hope this will enable you to drive smoothly to your holiday destination (which you chose carefully after reading the reviews) and enjoy your break.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lana Friesen receives funding from an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP220100359.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Priscilla Man receives funding from Australia Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award DE180101452.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlos Oyarzun and Metin Uyanik do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Second opinions help when they foster honest and supportive communication, enabling consumers to reach an informed decision.Carlos Oyarzun, Senior Lecturer, The University of QueenslandLana Friesen, Associate Professor in Economics, The University of QueenslandMetin Uyanik, Senior Lecturer, The University of QueenslandPriscilla Man, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2132092023-10-24T12:25:09Z2023-10-24T12:25:09ZLet the community work it out: Throwback to early internet days could fix social media’s crisis of legitimacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555410/original/file-20231023-15-otewua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3489%2C2331&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Content moderators like these workers make decisions about online communities based on company dictates.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/content-moderators-work-at-a-facebook-office-in-austin-news-photo/1142321813">Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the 2018 documentary “<a href="https://gebrueder-beetz.de/en/productions/the-cleaners/">The Cleaners</a>,” a young man in Manila, Philippines, explains his work as a content moderator: “We see the pictures on the screen. You then go through the pictures and delete those that don’t meet the guidelines. The daily quota of pictures is 25,000.” As he speaks, his mouse clicks, deleting offending images while allowing others to remain online.</p>
<p>The man in Manila is one of thousands of content moderators hired as contractors by social media platforms – <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/31/1167246714/googles-ghost-workers-are-demanding-to-be-seen-by-the-tech-giant">10,000 at Google alone</a>. Content moderation on an industrial scale like this is part of the everyday experience for users of social media. Occasionally a post someone makes is removed, or a post someone thinks is offensive is allowed to go viral. </p>
<p>Similarly, platforms add and remove features without input from the people who are most affected by those decisions. Whether you are outraged or unperturbed, most people don’t think much about the history of a system in which people in conference rooms in Silicon Valley and Manila determine your experiences online.</p>
<p>But why should a few companies – or a few billionaire owners – have the power to decide everything about online spaces that billions of people use? This unaccountable model of governance has led stakeholders of all stripes to criticize platforms’ decisions as <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/Double_Standards_Content_Moderation.pdf">arbitrary</a>, <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/12/twitter-files-explained-elon-musk-taibbi-weiss-hunter-biden-laptop.html">corrupt</a> or <a href="https://www.oxfordstrategyreview.com/content/social-irresponsibility-how-social-media-works-for-the-west-but-fails-the-rest">irresponsible</a>. In the early, pre-web days of the social internet, decisions about the spaces people gathered in online were often made by members of the community. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231196864">examination of the early history of online governance</a> suggests that social media platforms could return – at least in part – to models of community governance in order to address their crisis of legitimacy.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The documentary ‘The Cleaners’ shows some of the hidden costs of Big Tech’s customer service approach to content moderation.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Online governance – a history</h2>
<p>In many early online spaces, governance was handled by community members, not by professionals. One early online space, <a href="https://thenewstack.io/a-look-back-in-time-the-forgotten-fame-of-lambdamoo/">LambdaMOO</a>, invited users to build their own governance system, which devolved power from the hands of those who technically controlled the space – administrators known as “wizards” – to members of the community. This was accomplished via a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1996.tb00185.x">formal petitioning process and a set of appointed mediators</a> who resolved conflicts between users.</p>
<p>Other spaces had more informal processes for incorporating community input. For example, on bulletin board systems, users <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248142/the-modem-world/">voted with their wallets</a>, removing critical financial support if they disagreed with the decisions made by the system’s administrators. Other spaces, like text-based Usenet newsgroups, gave users substantial power to shape their experiences. The newsgroups left obvious spam in place, but gave users tools to block it if they chose to. Usenet’s administrators argued that it was fairer to allow each user <a href="https://fishbowl.pastiche.org/2021/01/12/usenet_spam">to make decisions that reflected their individual preferences</a> rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.</p>
<p>The graphical web expanded use of the internet from <a href="https://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm">a few million users to hundreds of millions within a decade</a> from 1995 to 2005. During this rapid expansion, community governance was replaced with governance models inspired by customer service, which focused on scale and cost. </p>
<p>This switch from community governance to customer service made sense to the fast-growing companies that made up the late 1990s internet boom. Promising their investors that they could grow rapidly and make changes quickly, companies looked for approaches to the complex work of governing online spaces <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231196864">that centralized power and increased efficiency</a>. </p>
<p>While this customer service model of governance allowed early user-generated content sites like Craigslist and GeoCities <a href="https://datasociety.net/library/origins-of-trust-and-safety/">to grow rapidly</a>, it set the stage for the crisis of legitimacy facing social media platforms today. Contemporary battles over social media are rooted in the sense that the people and processes governing online spaces are unaccountable to the communities that gather in them. </p>
<h2>Paths to community control</h2>
<p>Implementing community governance in today’s platforms could take a number of different forms, some of which are already being experimented with.</p>
<p>Advisory boards like Meta’s <a href="https://about.meta.com/actions/oversight-board-facts/">Oversight Board</a> are one way to involve outside stakeholders in platform governance, providing independent — albeit limited — review of platform decisions. X (formerly Twitter) is taking a more democratic approach with its <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-x/community-notes">Community Notes</a> initiative, which allows users to contextualize information on the platform by crowdsourcing notes and ratings.</p>
<p>Some may question whether community governance can be implemented successfully in platforms that serve billions of users. In response, we point to Wikipedia. It is entirely community-governed and has created an open encyclopedia that’s become the foremost information resource in many languages. Wikipedia is surprisingly resilient to vandalism and abuse, with robust procedures that ensure a resource used by billions remains accessible, accurate and reasonably civil.</p>
<p>On a smaller scale, total self-governance – echoing early online spaces – could be key for communities that serve specific subsets of users. For example, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/">Archive of Our Own</a> was created after fan-fiction authors – people who write original stories using characters and worlds from published books, television shows and movies – found existing platforms unwelcoming. For example, many fan-fiction authors were <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/15/23200176/history-of-ao3-archive-of-our-own-fanfiction">kicked off social media platforms</a> due to overzealous copyright enforcement or concerns about sexual content.</p>
<p>Fed up with platforms that didn’t understand their work or their culture, a group of authors designed and built their own platform specifically to meet the needs of their community. AO3, as it is colloquially known, serves millions of people a month, includes tools specific to the needs of fan-fiction authors, and is governed by the same people it serves.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="text above and below a photo of two people in lab coats standing in a hallway" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552396/original/file-20231005-25-mahqjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">X, formerly Twitter, allows people to use Community Notes to append relevant information to posts that contain inaccuracies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/kareem_carr/status/1709198073174311207/photo/1">Screen capture by The Conversation U.S.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Hybrid models, like on Reddit, <a href="https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy">mix centralized and self-governance</a>. Reddit hosts a collection of interest-based communities called subreddits that have their own rules, norms and teams of moderators. Underlying a subreddit’s governance structure is a set of rules, processes and features that apply to everyone. Not every subreddit is a sterling example of a healthy online community, but more are than are not.</p>
<p>There are also technical approaches to community governance. One approach would enable users to choose the algorithms that curate their social media feeds. Imagine that instead of only being able to use Facebook’s algorithm, you could choose from a suite of algorithms provided by third parties – for example, from The New York Times or Fox News.</p>
<p>More radically decentralized platforms like Mastodon devolve control to a network of servers that are similar in structure to email. This makes it easier to choose an experience that matches your preferences. You can choose which Mastodon server to use, and can switch easily – just like you can choose whether to use Gmail or Outlook for email – and can change your mind, all while maintaining access to the wider email network. </p>
<p>Additionally, advancements in generative AI – which shows <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2023.3265877">early promise in producing computer code</a> – could make it easier for people, even those without a technical background, to build custom online spaces when they find existing spaces unsuitable. This would relieve pressure on online spaces to be everything for everyone and support a sense of agency in the digital public sphere.</p>
<p>There are also more indirect ways to support community governance. Increasing transparency – for example, by providing access to data about the impact of platforms’ decisions – can help researchers, policymakers and the public hold online platforms accountable. Further, encouraging ethical professional norms among engineers and product designers can make online spaces more respectful of the communities they serve.</p>
<h2>Going forward by going back</h2>
<p>Between now and the end of 2024, national elections are scheduled in many countries, including Argentina, Australia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan, the U.K. and the U.S. This is all but certain to lead to conflicts over online spaces. </p>
<p>We believe it is time to consider not just how online spaces can be governed efficiently and in service to corporate bottom lines, but how they can be governed fairly and legitimately. Giving communities more control over the spaces they participate in is a proven way to do just that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ethan Zuckerman receives funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Knight Foundation and the (US) National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci receives funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation. </span></em></p>In the days of online bulletin board systems, community members decided what was acceptable. Reviving that approach to content moderation offers Big Tech a path to legitimacy as public spaces.Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Communication, and Information, UMass AmherstChand Rajendra-Nicolucci, Research Fellow, Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106712023-08-18T12:39:44Z2023-08-18T12:39:44ZTipping etiquette and norms are in flux − here’s how you can avoid feeling flustered or ripped off<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542867/original/file-20230815-23-mw6txd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=298%2C54%2C5743%2C3841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digital payment methods may automatically prompt you to leave a gratuity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TippingFatigue/11bc6c8b9388484fa0dbf543db35dc47/photo?Query=tip%20fatigue&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=5&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping has gotten more complicated – and awkward – in North America.</p>
<p>The ever-growing list of situations in which you might be invited to tip includes <a href="https://haveyourselfatime.com/smoothie-king-tipping-etiquette/">buying a smoothie</a>, <a href="https://bestlifeonline.com/places-you-should-never-tip/">paying an electrician</a>, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-you-tip-your-flight-attendant-it-all-depends-on-the-airline-2019-01-08">getting a beer from a flight attendant</a> and <a href="https://support.actblue.com/donors/about-actblue/what-are-actblue-tips-for/">making a political donation</a>. </p>
<p>Should you always tip when someone suggests it? If yes, how do you calculate the right amount? And if you don’t, are you being stingy?</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iU_D4EwAAAAJ&hl=en">marketing professors</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=s5S9eAoAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">specialize in customer interactions</a>, we’re researching how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705231166742">digital payment technologies have changed how and when customers tip</a>. Our research suggests that asking for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1094670519900553">tips before service</a> and <a href="https://www.msi.org/working-papers/whos-in-control-how-default-tip-levels-influence-customer-response/">suggesting tip amounts that are too high</a> can frustrate customers and be bad for business.</p>
<h2>What’s new</h2>
<p>U.S. customers historically tipped people they assumed were earning most of their <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=465942">income via tips</a>, such as restaurant servers earning less than the minimum wage. In the early 2010s, a wide range of businesses started processing purchases with iPads and other digital payment systems. These systems often prompted customers to tip for <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3022182/how-square-registers-ui-guilts-you-into-leaving-tips">services that were not previously tipped</a>.</p>
<p>Today’s tip requests are often not connected to the salary and service norms that used to determine <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/technology-pandemic-economy-gratuity-tipping-etiquette-square/672658/">when and how people tip</a>.</p>
<p>Customers in the past nearly always paid tips after receiving a service, such as at the conclusion of a restaurant meal, after getting a haircut or once a pizza was delivered. That timing could reward high-quality service and give workers an incentive to provide it. </p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/customers-hate-tipping-before-theyre-served-and-asking-makes-them-less-likely-to-return-132078">becoming more common</a> for tips to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/payment-apps-asking-for-specific-tips-before-service-annoy-the-heck-out-of-users-but-still-generate-bigger-gratuities-180083">requested beforehand</a>. And new tipping technology may even <a href="https://abc7news.com/amazon-fresh-tipping-tip-delivery-driver-automatic/13325771/">automatically add tips</a>.</p>
<h2>Tip creep and tipflation</h2>
<p>The prevalence of digital payment devices has made it easier to ask customers for a tip. That helps explain why <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/business/dollar3-tip-on-a-dollar4-cup-of-coffee-gratuities-grow-automatically.html">tip requests are creeping</a> into new kinds of services.</p>
<p>Customers now routinely see menus of suggested default options – often well above 20% of what they owe. The amounts have risen from <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089587173/the-land-of-the-fee-2021">10% or less in the 1950s</a> to 15% around the year 2000 to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/14/is-25percent-the-new-20percent-how-much-to-tip-in-a-post-pandemic-world.html">20% or higher today</a>. This increase is sometimes called <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tipping-backlash-inflation-who-should-get-tipped/">tipflation</a> – the expectation of ever-higher tip amounts. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22446361/pandemic-gratuity-covid-service-work">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, which hastened the adoption of digital payments and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886368721999135">increased sympathy for service workers</a>, amplified both tip creep and tipflation.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Soda fountain attendant serving young woman in a black and white photo taken in the 1950s" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542872/original/file-20230815-17-m69ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tips used to be smaller.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/soda-fountain-attendant-serving-young-woman-royalty-free-image/53271877?phrase=tip+restaurant+service+black+and+white&adppopup=true">George Marks/Retrofile RF via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tipping has always been a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/17/1187275511/tipping-minimum-wage-tips-tip-screen">vital source of income</a> for workers in historically tipped services, like restaurants, where the tipped minimum wage can be as low as <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped">US$2.13 an hour</a>. Tip creep and tipflation are now further supplementing the income of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/business/economy/tipped-wage-subminimum.html">many low-wage service workers</a>.</p>
<p>Notably, tipping primarily benefits some of these workers, such as waiters, but not others, such as cooks and dishwashers. To ensure that all employees were paid fair wages, some restaurants banned tipping and increased prices, but this movement toward no-tipping services has <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-limitations-of-american-restaurants-no-tipping-experiment">largely fizzled out</a>.</p>
<p>So, to increase employee wages without raising prices, more employers are succumbing to the temptations of tip creep and tipflation. However, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/american-tipping-system-makes-no-sense/600865/">many customers are frustrated</a> because they feel they are being asked for too high of a tip, too often. And, as our research emphasizes, tipping now seems to be more coercive, less generous and often completely dissociated from service quality. </p>
<p>While digital tipping can be an easy way for customers to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/dining/tipping-gratuity-restaurants.html">help workers or express their gratitude</a> for good service, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/briefing/tipping-confusion-food-delivery-apps.html?searchResultPosition=2">many Americans feel uncertain</a> about what to do when asked for a tip.</p>
<h2>3 questions to always ask</h2>
<p>Here are some questions you can ask yourself when faced with almost any tipping decision. </p>
<p><strong>1. Should I tip?</strong></p>
<p>It’s generally up to you to decide whether you will tip and how much.</p>
<p>To avoid being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670519900553">pressured into tipping when you don’t want to</a>, establish your own norms for different services. That will make you less likely to be surprised by an unexpected or high-pressure tip request. Many customers do pay tips in those situations but get upset.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tip jar full of dollar bills with a 'thank you' written on a strip of tape adhered to it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542871/original/file-20230815-26-1zfy69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sometimes it’s best to chip in with a little cash.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/glass-tip-jar-at-checkout-counter-royalty-free-image/1324730309?adppopup=true">Catherine McQueen/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We advise you to always tip when there’s a clear tradition of doing so: dining at full-service restaurants or ordering a drink at a bar, traveling by taxi, having meals delivered to your door and getting a haircut.</p>
<p>We also recommend tipping employees you believe are being paid less than a fair wage. Though it can be difficult to determine whether employees are underpaid, learning whether your state or city <a href="https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5_GmBhBIEiwA5QSMxAJ3gRSsi_Jz-Ny8ZacR8aM7pW0FmaCazBhvhq0vzZtzSpDM63s-wBoCOX4QAvD_BwE#/min_wage/New%20Jersey">guarantees a minimum wage</a> that’s well above the federal requirement can help.</p>
<p>For many tipped services, quality varies widely. In these situations, you can use tips to reward better service, if you pay after receiving it; or you can give workers a tip beforehand as an incentive to treat you well.</p>
<p>Likewise, pay a tip if you’re likely to use the service again. You will earn a reputation as a good or bad tipper, and employees will treat you accordingly.</p>
<p>There’s a wide range of services that may or may not require a tip. These include quick-service cafes and takeout, where customers order at a counter rather than being waited on at a table. You will need to decide what to do in those situations on a case-by-case basis. <a href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/2014/05/should-you-tip-your-barista">Tipping a barista</a> who has skillfully prepared your fancy latte makes more sense to us than tipping a worker who rings up a can of soda.</p>
<p>In many instances, paying and tipping in cash makes the most sense because you can avoid coercive technology and ensure that the employee who helped you directly receives the tip. That way, the employee will know you appreciate their service, and you can be fairly certain that their employer is not somehow <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/employers-would-pocket-workers-tips-under-trump-administrations-proposed-tip-stealing-rule/">swiping their tip money</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A card reader tablet with tip options that are for $1, $2 and $3, custom or no tip" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542868/original/file-20230815-25-uwuvhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When is it OK to just say no?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TippingFatigue/e26fc772b27c4a76a60d20c4f041c58d/photo?Query=tip%20fatigue&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=5&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. How much?</strong></p>
<p>This question is especially important when preservice tips are requested. If service quality may vary based on your response, for example with food delivery, food trucks, bars and restaurants, we suggest tipping the middle or high default tip amount, which will often be around 20%, or a flat dollar amount that is the rough equivalent. That approach will avoid the possibility of getting poor service. Of course, this can result in frustration if service doesn’t meet your expectations.</p>
<p>An alternative strategy is to tip the lowest recommended option, which is often close to 10%, then add an additional cash tip if the service is good. While using this strategy risks bad service, it’s a wise way to go if you plan to be a repeat customer.</p>
<p><strong>3. Can I skip it this time?</strong></p>
<p>If a tip request comes as a surprise, that usually means there is no norm you’re familiar with for that service. We recommend that you don’t tip in that situation, despite the social pressure. If you wind up tipping anyway, we recommend either not returning to the business or writing a polite but critical review online describing your uncomfortable experience.</p>
<p>We don’t believe there’s a reason to feel guilty leaving no tip or a low tip when you are using a service that is not traditionally tipped or where service quality is not affected by the tip amount, such as when making a donation or <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/27/woman-asked-to-tip-while-online-shopping/">ordering an office chair from an internet retailer</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, tipping is voluntary, which makes it a personal choice.</p>
<p>But whether you tip or not, you should always treat service workers well, especially tipped service workers. They are often exposed to the worst customer behaviors, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/11/business/tipping-sexual-harassment.html">including harassment</a>, which is never appropriate – no matter how much a customer tips.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tipping seems to be more coercive and less tied to service quality these days.Nathan B. Warren, Assistant Professor of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business SchoolSara Hanson, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2031092023-06-22T12:32:00Z2023-06-22T12:32:00ZFear trumps anger when it comes to data breaches – angry customers vent, but fearful customers don’t come back<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530963/original/file-20230608-14786-a4sqhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One-third of customers will return to a hacked site without even changing their password, according to a recent study.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-asian-businesswoman-sitting-on-the-bench-in-royalty-free-image/1295580690">d3sign/Moment Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>When a person is notified of a data breach involving their personal information, if they react with a feeling of fear – as opposed to anger – they’re more likely to stop using the site. </p>
<p>That was the main finding of <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2022.3189599">a study I conducted</a> with three co-authors that examined which emotions lead customers to change their behavior after a breach. We found that angry customers, on the other hand, are more likely to vent on different social media platforms but then return to the breached site.</p>
<p>We surveyed 208 U.S. consumers, ages 18 to 60, and asked them to describe their feelings after being informed of a data breach on their favorite and frequently used website. Subscription websites, such as Netflix and Xbox Live, and free-to-use websites, such as Facebook and Snapchat, were considered. We then asked the participants to explain, in their own words, what actions they took in response.</p>
<p>We found that positive attitudes toward the website before the breach did not meaningfully affect whether consumers reengaged with the website after the breach, as some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2018.1451962">prior research</a> has indicated. Instead, the emotional response of fear, in particular, weighed heavily on customers. </p>
<p>Fearful customers appeared to stop using the breached site to reduce their feelings of stress and vulnerability. Other customers resorted to providing false biographical details or removing credit card data, name and date of birth from the website as they continued using it. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>In 2022 alone, U.S. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/273550/data-breaches-recorded-in-the-united-states-by-number-of-breaches-and-records-exposed/">customer data was compromised</a> in over 1,800 incidents, affecting over 400 million individuals. </p>
<p>Much of the prior research has focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2017.1356310">customer anger</a> in the wake of a data breach and the need for companies to placate angry customers or manage negative media coverage. To do so, companies may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-021-00121-9">engage crisis managers to contain the damage</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/14/equifax-settlement-letters-going-out-regarding-free-credit-monitoring.html">partner with identity protection services</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/tech/tmobile-data-breach-settlement/index.html">pay fines or settlements</a>, or try to lure back customers with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-media-playstation-idINTRE7415J120110502">free services</a>. </p>
<p>However, our research shows that companies need to address fearful customers differently after a data breach has occurred – if they want to avoid customer loss. To do this, companies can work with their IT departments to identify customers who are no longer active after a breach and then reach out to them directly to assuage their fears. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>It is not yet known how companies should react in the aftermath of a data breach. It isn’t clear why customers return. One likely explanation is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.001">privacy fatigue</a> – when customers believe keeping their online data secure is futile. </p>
<p>In our study we found one-third of customers returned after a breach without even changing their passwords. More than half returned after making some changes, such as removing their credit card data, changing their passwords or removing personal information.</p>
<p>This may be why researchers cannot provide reliable recommendations for handling data breaches. From a company’s standpoint, if customers will return anyway, there is little incentive to do more than the bare minimum to address a breach. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We are now studying the behavior of people who have experienced multiple data breaches in the past year. We want to know how these customers change their behaviors, as well as how they judge the recovery efforts of the companies whose sites were breached.</p>
<p>Recent regulations, such as the EU’s 2018 <a href="https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/">data protection law</a> and newly introduced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/technology/state-privacy-internet-laws.html">state bills</a> in the U.S. – along with updates to the <a href="https://www.oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa">California Consumer Privacy Act</a> – will force companies and data brokers to think more seriously about the kinds of data being collected and stored. Health care, retail, finance, social networking and other websites will need to make significant changes in how they inform customers of – and compensate them for – such data breaches.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203109/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rajendran Murthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies tend to focus on appeasing angry customers after a data breach. New research shows they may want to pay more attention to customers who are afraid to return to their site.Rajendran Murthy, Professor of Marketing, Rochester Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053632023-05-23T21:23:54Z2023-05-23T21:23:54ZTravelers will refuse an upgrade to sit near a loved one – new research into when people want to share experiences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526635/original/file-20230516-24-b1u2vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would you decline a free upgrade to first class in order to sit next to a companion in coach?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/couple-on-an-airplane-royalty-free-image/102285600">Image Source/DigitalVision Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People will often sacrifice a better experience and opt for one that’s less enjoyable if it means they can do it alongside a loved one – whether that’s a romantic partner, close friend or relative. That’s the main finding of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1352">our research</a> published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in April 2023.</p>
<p>For example, when taking a flight, two friends might decide to sit in adjacent seats in coach rather than accept a free upgrade to nonadjacent seats in first class. Failing to choose togetherness can have consequences, as in the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2JKXbVGq7A">Seinfeld” episode</a> in which Elaine suffers the indignities of economy class, leading to rage against Jerry after he chooses to accept an upgrade.</p>
<p>We conducted five studies in a variety of settings and featuring different social bonds, including friendships and romantic relationships. In one study, just over half of people chose two adjacent seats far from the stage over two nonadjacent seats closer to the stage when imagining they were attending a Cirque du Soleil performance with a close friend, compared with only about one-third who chose the adjacent seats when imagining attending with an acquaintance. </p>
<p>In another study, we asked students whether they wanted to eat one chocolate with another person – either a new friend or a stranger – or two chocolates alone. Half the people chose the shared experience – but only if the other person was a friend. Fewer people – 38% – opted for the shared experience if the other person was a stranger.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>One reason people prioritize physical proximity with close partners is because they want to create shared memories. Importantly, people believe that physical distance can disrupt the creation of shared memories, and so they forgo enjoyable experiences apart from their loved one.</p>
<p>This also matters for companies seeking to improve customer experience, such as an airline offering free upgrades or shorter wait times. Our findings suggest that, for example, consumers traveling with a companion might not take advantage of services like TSA PreCheck, an airline VIP lounge or a free upgrade if it is available only for themselves. It also helps explain why consumers do not like when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/06/travel/airlines-family-seating-dashboard.html">airlines split up families</a> in their seat assignments.</p>
<p>However, we also tested a few initiatives marketers can use to encourage people to choose a higher-quality experience that requires them to be apart from their companion. In another experiment, we described a train ride as either a fun part of an excursion or as a practical way to reach a final destination. More participants accepted a free upgrade – even though it required sitting apart from their romantic partner – when they perceived the train ride as utilitarian. That’s because they cared less about creating shared memories during the experience.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We still don’t know how this preference affects relationship quality. </p>
<p>For example, when can time apart from your partner actually strengthen the relationship? And how should couples split their time between lower-quality activities done together and higher-quality activities done alone? One option for separate activities, for example, might be when one partner’s desired activity does not interest the other.</p>
<p>Also, given that people believe physical proximity is a prerequisite for creating shared memories, how can partners who live in different places also cultivate shared memories? This question is especially important in light of how COVID-19 has enabled more people to work and study remotely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research on our desire to create shared memories with the people we care about offers insights for companies that want to improve their customer service.Ximena Garcia-Rada, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M UniversityMichael Norton, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard UniversityRebecca K. Ratner, Professor of Marketing, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017662023-05-09T12:24:08Z2023-05-09T12:24:08ZPeople of color get so used to discrimination in stores they don’t always notice bad customer service<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524915/original/file-20230508-251777-14ycmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C76%2C5042%2C3672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Discrimination can be hard to pick up.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/business-meeting-royalty-free-image/898393140?phrase=bank+loan+people+business">aluxum/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups tend to rate poor customer service less negatively than white people do, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/722689">new peer-reviewed research</a> we co-authored.</p>
<p>Many companies in the service sector, such as banks and airlines, use customer satisfaction surveys so they can figure out how to improve their operations. There’s an implicit assumption that the feedback given will accurately reflect the actual quality of the service provided. </p>
<p>Companies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.71.3.194">may also assume</a> that customers, regardless of their socioeconomic background, will give similar evaluations for good service – and that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09581-9">people will recognize</a> poor or discriminatory service when they experience it. </p>
<p>Our research team wanted to see if that’s really the case.</p>
<p>In our first study, we recruited nine male small-business owners in Los Angeles to act as “mystery shoppers” to help us compare the treatment of different racial groups. They had similar ages, heights, builds and education; three were Black, three were Hispanic and three were white. </p>
<p>We then sent the men, who wore identical shirts and pants, to a total of 69 banks to ask for a loan based on identical customer profiles. They also secretly recorded the meetings using a camera embedded in their shirt – a method approved by the state’s attorney general’s office. After each meeting ended, participants filled out a questionnaire describing the experience, including their level of satisfaction. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that participants, regardless of race or ethnicity, reported similar levels of satisfaction during the bank encounters. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/676689">Since past research</a> has found that Black and Hispanic customers experience objectively worse treatment, we wanted to dig deeper to understand why satisfaction levels were similar. </p>
<p>We analyzed 26 of the videos to see if there were objective disparities in how our mystery shoppers were treated. We found that Black and Hispanic participants were given significantly less time than white participants, waited longer to see a bank employee, and experienced other subtle forms of discrimination. </p>
<p>We wanted to see how pervasive these differing perceptions of good and bad customer service were for people from underrepresented groups. In two additional studies, we recruited over 300 people from a variety of backgrounds to watch clips from these videos that show positive and negative interactions and evaluate the encounters. We found that while all groups rated positive scenarios similarly, Black and Hispanic viewers tended to perceive negative experiences in a better light than white viewers. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Research has shown that discrimination in customer-worker interactions in the service sector is often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09581-9">difficult to detect and fix</a>. This is particularly challenging when the biases are subtle and less obvious in slights <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12390">often referred to as microaggressions</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, customers from underrepresented ethnic or racial groups may become indifferent, desensitized or even accepting of repeated discriminatory service over time. In one-on-one exchanges in places like bank branches, customers may be less aware of discriminatory service because they are unable to directly compare the service they receive with that of other customers. So relying on customer feedback to detect service failures may be a poor way to fix discriminatory behavior.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/676689">Research has shown</a> that discrimination in financial services has far-reaching implications for underrepresented consumers. These include the inability to get a loan or mortgage, accumulate savings and build wealth. Financial service institutions’ <a href="http://thearf-org-unified-admin.s3.amazonaws.com/MSI/2020/06/MSI_Report_18-121-1.pdf">reputation for discrimination</a> also makes it difficult for these companies to attract employees and customers.</p>
<p>To avoid these problems, we believe managers should find more objective ways to evaluate the discriminatory treatment of underrepresented customers and find ways to improve. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We believe more research is needed on the underlying assumptions managers make in tracking, evaluating and eliminating discriminatory behavior – which, in our view, is the ultimate service failure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research found that Black and Hispanic people tended to give banks a pass for poor customer service.Samantha N. N. Cross, Associate Professor of Marketing, Iowa State UniversityStephanie Dellande, Professor Emerita of Marketing, Menlo CollegeSterling Bone, Professor of Marketing, Utah State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2007402023-03-13T19:55:30Z2023-03-13T19:55:30ZThe rise of the irate customer: Post-pandemic rudeness, and the importance of rediscovering patience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513829/original/file-20230306-16-2zfru3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=155%2C8%2C5021%2C3415&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Toxic customers are causing customer service employees to reach their breaking point.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Freepik/DCStudio)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you find yourself being more impatient than ever before when interacting with people in customer service roles — or if you’ve noticed other people having a shorter fuse and snapping more quickly — you’re not alone. </p>
<p><a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/the-emotional-toll-of-frontline-labor">Recent news stories</a> have shed light on how <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/business/customer-service-pandemic-rage.html">toxic customers</a> are causing employees to reach their breaking point. The resulting epidemic of “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/quiet-quitting-worker-disengagement-1.6560226">quiet quitting</a>” and resignations is further fuelled by a post-pandemic <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-that-canadian-restaurant-workers-have-left-many-have-yet-to-arrive-178593">labour shortage in the service/hospitality industry</a>. </p>
<p>The shortage of staff perpetuates this cycle of frustration, with remaining employees experiencing the further impatience and uncontrolled emotional reactions of customers. How can we break this unhealthy cycle?</p>
<p>Understanding the underlying causes of our decreased patience, and why our emotions are heightened, is essential. </p>
<h2>Perpetuating a cycle of frustration</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="photo man at a cafe speaking angrily to a waiter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514729/original/file-20230310-797-6e6geh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Decreased patience and increased emotionality are real problems for service-based organizations and employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, as a society, the pace of change and the speed with which we get information and answers has rapidly increased. We want everything faster: answers, service and our problems to be solved. This ultimately sets up challenging, and sometimes unrealistic, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2019/12/09/16-ways-to-handle-a-client-who-has-unrealistic-expectations/?sh=7f5bbc56192b">expectations for those who are trying to serve us</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the widespread transition to remote work during the pandemic resulted in reduced face-to-face interaction. And with a decrease in this time spent with our fellow humans, it has likely been <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042435">more difficult to develop empathy and patience</a>. Too much <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/07/03/the-negatives-of-digital-life/">screen time</a> may have caused “keyboard courage” to bleed into our day-to-day conversations, leaving us more abrupt and <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/anti-empathy-machine">even rude in our communications.</a></p>
<p>Another cause of heightened emotions is the overall challenges people in the world are facing, including polarization, war, the underlying stress of inflation, supply chain issues or looming economic uncertainty. All of these factors are pushing people to their limits and resulting in an <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/01/special-burnout-stress">increase in burnout</a>, frustration, and impatience in their interactions with others. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/news/20220310/americans-report-overwhelming-stress-poll">Uncertainty breeds stress</a>, and both are at <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/06/news-pandemic-stress-decision-making">all-time high levels</a>, as evidenced by the American Psychological Association <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/october-decision-making">2021 Stress in America Survey</a> and more recent <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/394025/world-unhappier-stressed-ever.aspx">Gallup polls</a>.</p>
<h2>Stress and burnout</h2>
<p>The field of <a href="https://www.csiop-scpio.ca/">industrial-organizational psychology</a> seeks to apply psychological concepts and theories to the workplace to enhance the well-being of employees, leaders and organizations. As industrial-organizational researchers working in applied settings, we strive to bring best practices to the workplace. </p>
<p>When it comes to this topic of heightened emotions, and decreased patience and tolerance of customer service post-pandemic, we know that a greater understanding and awareness are key to better mitigating our behaviours and their impact.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman with her hands on her hips and a paper bag over her head with an angry face drawn on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514730/original/file-20230310-449-8sjocj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Too much screen time may have caused ‘keyboard courage’ to bleed into our day-to-day conversations, leaving us more abrupt and even rude in our communications.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Decreased patience and increased emotionality are real problems for service-based organizations and employees, along with the quiet quitting, “great resignation” and ensuing shortage of talent they fuel. The impact on those who remain in customer service roles is harmful, increasing their stress and <a href="https://www.consulting.ca/news/2889/nearly-4-in-10-workers-reporting-increased-burnout">potential for burnout</a> due to increased work demands. </p>
<p>Impatient, rude and abrupt behaviour is not only exhausting but unsustainable for workers’ emotional health and well-being. It’s also been found that when employees suppress their emotions and are forced to engage with complaining customers, this is related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2486/indhealth.2016-0069">an increase in depression and anxiety symptoms</a>.</p>
<p>Employees feel that they are <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/frontline-work-when-everyone-is-angry">punching bags</a> for customers’ anxieties and frustrations, which has been found to <a href="https://thebftonline.com/2022/08/08/thats-rude-effects-of-customer-incivility-on-front-line-employee-performance/">affect employees’ internal self-worth</a>. And what’s worse is that employees believe that bad behaviour from customers is now a much more <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/frontline-work-when-everyone-is-angry">common occurrence</a>. </p>
<p>A poll conducted by <a href="https://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/employees-facing-increased-customer-hostility-as-lockdown-eases/">The Institute of Customer Service</a> of 1,000 customer service workers and 1,000 members of the public, found that half of the employees in customer service industries experienced increased hostility from customers during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly problematic, as according to <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/468173/workplace-findings-leaders-need-navigate-year.aspx">Gallup’s Trends that Leaders Need to Navigate in 2023</a>, quiet quitting in the workplace ultimately threatens customer retention. </p>
<h2>Implications for businesses</h2>
<p>The implications of this are severe. Not only are business owners struggling to find employees to fill these roles, but customer service employees are <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1016081936/low-pay-no-benefits-rude-customers-restaurant-workers-quit-at-record-rate">refusing to re-enter the workplace</a>. This lack of service workers further feeds into supply chain issues, an increase in rising costs of products, and general fear and uncertainty. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Angry woman speaking on a smart phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514731/original/file-20230310-20-gwypth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employees feel that they are punching bags for customers’ anxieties and frustrations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In another survey analyzing the <a href="https://www.thehrdirector.com/how-to-survive-the-new-era-of-the-great-resignation-in-customer-service/">state of health and well-being</a> of contact centre employees, research indicated that 96 per cent of employees felt acute stress on a weekly basis. Employees do not feel like they are being treated with the <a href="https://time.com/6099906/rude-customers-pandemic/">respect and dignity that they deserve</a>, and the toll is too much for them.</p>
<p>Although it seems that these toxic customer behaviours are here to stay, this trajectory is reversible. This new pattern of behaviour must change, otherwise, we risk not having a customer service industry. In this chicken-or-egg situation, customers need more compassion and empathy for employees, while employees must recognize that customers may be lashing out for reasons outside of their scope.</p>
<h2>Here are some practical strategies to consider:</h2>
<p>Reversing this important trend requires first looking at our own behaviours as customers and how we may be inadvertently contributing to this problem. Where can we soften our approaches, and in turn, positively influence others around us? </p>
<p>1) Take the challenge of smiling at the person (for example, a cashier, teller or server), asking how they are doing and genuinely making a human connection with them.</p>
<p>2) When you feel impatient or frustrated, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Taking a moment to pause, breathe and give them the benefit of the doubt. Most customer service people want to help you, but they are likely dealing with high pressure and a lack of resources and support. Kindness towards them goes a long way.</p>
<p>3) Lastly, think about how you would want to be treated. Consider the implications of how your words will impact not only this employee’s day, but perhaps their feelings of self-worth. Ask yourself if what you’re about to say will have a positive or negative impact, and whether you can potentially bring some hope and optimism into this person’s day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Decreased patience and heightened emotions have created a cycle of frustration, with rude customers having abrupt interactions with stressed out service workers.Laura Hambley, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of CalgaryMadeline Springle, MSc student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1857732022-07-11T05:14:35Z2022-07-11T05:14:35ZWhat is emotional labour - and how do we get it wrong?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473291/original/file-20220711-63936-9ctlj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=99%2C28%2C9390%2C6288&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The term “emotional labour” is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/11/arlie-hochschild-housework-isnt-emotional-labor/576637/">applied to</a> an array of home-based activities — from keeping mental to-do lists, to remembering to call your in-laws on their birthdays. Some advocate the need to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/06/opinion/boys-gender-books-culture.html">teach boys</a> emotional labour, or <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a12063822/emotional-labor-gender-equality/">identify it</a> as the unpaid jobs men still don’t understand. </p>
<p>But that’s <em>not</em> what emotional labour is, according to the sociologist who coined the term in 1983, in her book <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520272941/the-managed-heart">The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling</a>.</p>
<p>For Arlie Russell Hochschild, emotional labour is emotion work (the management of human feeling) performed in exchange for pay and as a condition of employment. </p>
<p>What is regularly called emotional labour – the (unpaid) emotional management we do in our private lives, such as parenting and personal relationships – is actually emotion work, but shouldn’t be defined as emotional labour.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-emotions-is-nearly-as-important-as-iq-for-students-academic-success-131212">Understanding emotions is nearly as important as IQ for students' academic success</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is emotional labour?</h2>
<p>Emotional labour is <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520272941/the-managed-heart">precisely defined</a> by Hochschild as “the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display [that is] sold for a wage”. In 1983, she estimated that close to one-third of all jobs in the United States possessed elements of emotional labour, disproportionately impacting women working in the service sector.</p>
<p>Hochschild’s analysis was informed by participant observation, interviews and informal discussions with a range of employees in the airline industry. Emotional labour, she says, is only applicable to jobs where a worker is required to perform feelings and create emotion in others while engaging in work. </p>
<p>She explains that emotional labour is typically about attempting to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/11/arlie-hochschild-housework-isnt-emotional-labor/576637/">feel the right feeling for the job</a>. Examples include a flight attendant creating a calm atmosphere, a secretary facilitating a cheerful office, a waiter promoting a pleasant dining experience, or a funeral director making the bereaved feel understood.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473289/original/file-20220711-45421-bjq08o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A waiter promoting a pleasant dining experience is performing emotional labour.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The feeling rules and expectations that comprise emotional labour are documented in <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520272941/the-managed-heart">The Managed Heart</a>. The following example presents a case in which the absence of emotional labour reveals its cultural expectation and demand: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A young businessman said to a flight attendant, “Why aren’t you smiling?” She put her tray back on the food cart, looked him in the eye, and said, “I’ll tell you what. You smile first, then I’ll smile.” The businessman smiled at her. “Good,” she replied. “Now freeze, and hold that for fifteen hours.” Then she walked away. In one stroke, the heroine not only asserted a personal right to her facial expressions but also reversed the roles in the company script by placing the mask on a member of the audience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Emotional labour demands workers not merely manage their own emotions, but adopt systems to manage the flow of emotions and exchange between workers and customers. As Hochschild argues, the flight attendant is required to be nicer than might be considered natural. </p>
<p>Conversely, the bill collector is expected to be harsher, to inspire fear in their clients. In both cases, the employee is expected to produce a feeling in the consumer to satisfy company demands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473283/original/file-20220711-7520-p3e26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arlie Russell Hochschild coined the phrase ‘emotional labour’ while observing employees in the airline industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivesnz/">Archives New Zealand</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jobs requiring emotional labour are identified as possessing three dimensions: </p>
<ul>
<li>they require face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact with the public</li>
<li>they require the worker to produce an emotional state in another person</li>
<li>they allow employers via training and supervision a degree of control over the emotional activities of employees. </li>
</ul>
<p>It is this attempt to manage the emotional system within public life – and specifically, in commercial contexts – that constitutes emotional labour. </p>
<p>The concept symbolises a shift from the uses of emotion in the private sphere to its application to commercial contexts; what Hochschild calls a “transmutation” that is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2778583">achieved through</a> the emotion work, feeling rules, and social exchange that make up the basis of emotional life.</p>
<p>Emotion work and feeling rules originate in the private domain. But emotional labour brings them into commercial contexts, where their performance and management are made into a product.</p>
<p>As Hochschild stated <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/11/arlie-hochschild-housework-isnt-emotional-labor/576637/">in a recent interview</a>, the now-common use of the term she coined risks broadening its meaning so loosely as to render it meaningless: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is being used to apply to a wider and wider range of experiences and acts. It’s being used, for example, to refer to the enacting of to-do lists in daily life — pick up the laundry, shop for potatoes, that kind of thing. Which I think is an overextension. It’s also being applied to perfectionism: you’ve absolutely got to do the perfect Christmas holiday. And that can be a confusion and an overextension. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-talk-about-the-mental-health-of-content-moderators-103830">We need to talk about the mental health of content moderators</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The Managed Heart</h2>
<p>Almost 40 years since its original publication in 1983, it is fitting to revisit The Managed Heart, which arguably ranks as one of the most important contemporary sociological texts. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473286/original/file-20220711-45231-e2nyl1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Managed Heart, which established Hochschild as a public sociologist, is perhaps her <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0730888411418921">most enduring contribution</a>. It examines the cost of employment conditions in contemporary capitalist, post-industrial societies characterised by the expansion of the service sector.</p>
<p>As Hochschild explains in the opening of the book, her quest was to consider —following Marx’s interest in the conditions of employment — the human cost of becoming an instrument of labour.</p>
<p>She turned to the airline industry and specifically the experience of flight attendants in managing their emotions at work. She also drew on bill collectors as another illustrative case study. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/karl-marx-his-philosophy-explained-164068">Karl Marx: his philosophy explained</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The costs of emotional labour</h2>
<p>Hochschild found that as commercial interests lay claim to a worker’s emotional life, that worker becomes vulnerable to alienation from aspects of themselves and their work.</p>
<p>The flight attendants interviewed by Hochschild often spoke of their smiles as being <em>on them</em> but not <em>of them</em> and found it difficult to come down after work from their artificial elation, born of needing to continually enhance the customer’s status through acting as if the cabin is the customer’s home.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473299/original/file-20220711-15-gukdpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hosting the perfect Christmas dinner is just one of the tasks that is not, in fact, emotional labour, says Arlie Russell Hochschild.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Workers also manage this demand by separating out themselves from the job. Workers who clearly segregate themselves from their jobs are less likely to suffer burnout, but risk estrangement from themselves. They can become cynical about the requirement to act and perform. </p>
<p>While taxing the worker, this form of labour enables a version of public life where many people – we as customers – experience trusting and pleasant transactions with total strangers, on a daily basis.</p>
<p>But the costs of performing emotional labour show how important it is to use the concept correctly. By overextending the concept, we risk devaluing it – or worse, rendering the type of labour it describes less visible.</p>
<p>And this undercuts a key contribution provided by Hochschild’s book: making visible the struggles that this labour imposes on the worker. Struggles that were, up until then, largely invisible or seldom recognised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We often talk about ‘emotional labour’ as performed by those who take on the emotional workload within families or relationships. But the term has a specific meaning – and that’s not what it is.Michael James Walsh, Associate Professor in Social Sciences, University of CanberraStephanie Alice Baker, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1846832022-06-15T19:47:40Z2022-06-15T19:47:40ZPrivacy violations undermine the trustworthiness of the Tim Hortons brand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468485/original/file-20220613-18-1s5eth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Users don't expect that a more convenient way to get coffee will lead to privacy violations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) of Canada, along with three provincial counterparts, released a scathing <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/investigations/investigations-into-businesses/2022/pipeda-2022-001/">report on the Tim Hortons’ app</a> on June 1. </p>
<p>The year after the seemingly benign app was updated in May 2019, a <a href="https://financialpost.com/technology/tim-hortons-app-tracking-customers-intimate-data">journalist’s investigation</a> found that the app was collecting vast amounts of user location data that could be used to infer their place of work and home, as well as their mobility patterns. </p>
<p>While the OPC’s report notes that “Tim Hortons’ actual use of the data was very limited,” it concluded that there was no “legitimate need to collect vast amounts of sensitive location information where it never used that information for its stated purpose.” This report follows on the heels of the OPC’s concerns over <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/advice-to-parliament/2022/parl_20220207/">the government’s use of mobile phone data during the pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>The joint report has met with both overtly negative and cynical responses on social media. Many are not surprised by the data collection practices themselves. Users have likely become numb to the collection of behavioural traces to create big data sets, a kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.105.1.3">learned helplessness</a>. What is jarring to many is the perceived violation of trust that has traditionally been given to this parbaked Canadian institution.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1532282231481217024"}"></div></p>
<h2>Everything, everywhere</h2>
<p>The Tim Hortons case illustrates our growing entanglement with artificial intelligence (AI) that reflects the backbone of seemingly benign apps. </p>
<p>AI has permeated every domain of human experience. Domestic technologies — mobile phones, smart TVs, robot vacuums — present an acute problem because we trust these systems without much reflection. Without trust, we would need to check and recheck the input, operations and output of these systems. But, when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2013.10">people are converted into data</a>, novel social and ethical issues emerge due to unqualified trust.</p>
<p>Technological evolution is continual. It can outpace our understanding of their operations. We cannot assume that users understand the implications of the agreements that reflect a single click or that companies fully understand the implications of data collection, storage and use. For many, AI is still the purview of science fiction. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Ethical-Artificial-Intelligence-from-Popular-to-Cognitive-Science-Trust/Schoenherr/p/book/9780367697983">Popular science</a> frequently fixates on terrific and terrifying features of these systems. </p>
<p>At the cold heart of this technology are computer algorithms that vary in their simplicity and intelligibility. Complex algorithms are often described as “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674970847">black boxes</a>,” their content lacking transparency to users. When autonomy and privacy are at stake, this lack of transparency is particularly problematic. Compounding these issues, developers do not necessarily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3364224">understand how or why privacy engineering is necessary</a>, leaving users to determine their own needs. </p>
<p>Data that is collected or used to train these virtual machines often reflects “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/CyberSecurity49315.2020.9138862">black data</a>” — data sets whose content is often opaque due to proprietary or privacy issues. How the data was collected, its accuracy and biases <em>must</em> be clearly established. This has led to calls for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aay7120">explainable AI systems</a>, whose function can be understood by users and policymakers to scrutinize the extent to which their operations support social values. </p>
<h2>Paths to trust</h2>
<p>Our trust is not always grounded in facts. A basic sense of trust can be induced through repeated exposure to an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000085">object or entity</a>, rather than being hard-won through <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2012.0332">direct exchange experiences</a> or <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Relational-Models-Theory-A-Contemporary-Overview/Haslam/p/book/9780805853568">knowledge of social norms of fairness</a>. The trouble with apps — Tim Hortons included — stems from these issues. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uvic.ca/gustavson/brandtrust/assets/docs/final--gbti-2021-main-report.pdf">Despite a brief and temporary decline in trust</a>, the brand remains a Canadian staple. Tim Hortons stores are a feature of Canada’s <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/think-you-know-what-the-top-tim-hortons-r-donut-across-canada-was-in-2020-or-how-most-canadians-take-their-coffee--874511922.html">physical and consumer landscapes</a>. Our familiarity with the brand makes the collection of products — real or digital — seem innocuous. It is therefore unreasonable to expect that consumers would suspect that their location data was collected <a href="https://priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2022/nr-c_220601/">every few minutes</a> throughout the day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hand holds a mobile screen showing the Tim Hortons app. There's a Tim Hortons restaurant in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468491/original/file-20220613-26-gl6z4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">According to the Gustavson Brand Trust Index, Tim Hortons was voted the most trusted brand in Canada in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The dark patterns of design</h2>
<p>In design, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174108">dark or deceptive patterns</a> reflect the active exploitation of design features to benefit the application developer or distributor. The most prominent case to date is that of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html">Cambridge Analytica scandal</a>, where Facebook user data was used in an attempt to affect how people voted. </p>
<p>Despite the decline in <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/trust-facebook-has-dropped-51-percent-cambridge-analytica-scandal-n867011">trust for Facebook</a>, users continued to use the platform with only <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/did-cambridge-analytica-actually-change-facebook-users-behavior/562154/">comparatively minor changes in their behaviour</a>.</p>
<p>Facebook’s initial response pointed out that: “<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2018/03/suspending-cambridge-analytica/">People knowingly provided their information … and no sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked</a>.” However, <a href="https://lorrie.cranor.org/pubs/readingPolicyCost-authorDraft.pdf">users spend very little time reading privacy policies</a> and, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.038">when they are not presented with them, they don’t go out of their way to read them</a>.</p>
<p>Claims that anonymizing data — removing identifying personal information — can eliminate privacy issues are also overly simplistic. Merging multiple data sets provides <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/10/business/location-data-privacy-apps.html">a more complete picture of an individual</a>: what they prefer, how they behave, what they owe, who they date. With enough information, a detailed picture of a person can be created. </p>
<p>In some cases, AI can be as good as humans in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418680112">predicting personality traits</a>. In other cases, AI can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218772110">predict sensitive information that is not disclosed</a>. This could threaten our personal autonomy.</p>
<h2>Engaging with data ethics</h2>
<p>Given the growing capabilities of AI, coupled with a lack of transparency in how data is collected and used, <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/collecting-personal-information/consent/gl_omc_201805/">the validity of users’ consent</a> must be questioned. The OPC’s judgement speaks to this point: users would not reasonably expect the kinds or amount of detail collected about their behaviour given the nature of the app. </p>
<p>While this information might not have been used by Tim Hortons, we must consider the unintended consequences of data collection. For instance, cybercriminals can steal and sell this information, making it available to others. By simply collecting this data, institutions, organizations and businesses are assuming responsibility for our information, how it is protected and used. They must be held accountable.</p>
<p>We don’t expect that a more convenient way to buy coffee and donuts will lead to privacy violations and the deepening of our digital footprint. The trade-off cannot be rationalized away.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Ethical-Artificial-Intelligence-from-Popular-to-Cognitive-Science-Trust/Schoenherr/p/book/9780367697983">no single solution to our privacy woes</a>, and many users are unlikely to disconnect. Users, developers, distributors and regulators need to be brought into more direct and transparent relationships with one another. New skills and competencies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAS52410.2021.9629212">need to be developed in our education system to make sense of the social consequences of technology use</a>. And more agile public institutions need to be developed to address these issues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jordan Richard Schoenherr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Tim Hortons consumer app was found to have collected detailed user information, including location data. As a privacy violation, this challenges perception of Tim Hortons as a trusted brand.Jordan Richard Schoenherr, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1810182022-05-08T12:22:58Z2022-05-08T12:22:58ZThe future of tipping should be driven by Canadians, not businesses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461368/original/file-20220504-23-ww3zeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C613%2C6367%2C3822&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tipping reshapes the relationship between workers and their managers, and workers and consumers. In doing so, it has wide-ranging effects on workers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping has long been a source of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=PJfTYcB48uIC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">significant controversy</a>, spilling over from time to time into the <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/its-time-to-abolish-tipping-once-and-for-all">pages of Canadian media</a>. Canadians’ views on tipping remain divided, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/at-the-tipping-point-its-time-to-include-tips-in-menu-prices-as-restaurants-reopen-from-covid-lockdowns-164017">a recent survey</a> by researchers from Dalhousie University has found.</p>
<p>One reason why tipping garners so much interest is that it <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=368727">reshapes the relationship</a> between workers and their managers, and workers and consumers. In doing so, it has wide-ranging effects on workers. </p>
<p>On the one hand, tipping can boost workers’ income and give workers a <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/book/3138">greater sense of control over some facets of their work</a>. On the other, more problematic, hand it often comes with a range of negative outcomes that are not always apparent to consumers. </p>
<p>These include <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0127/full/html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_journalLatest">sexual harassment</a>, pressure to engage in <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=368727">degrading and demeaning behaviours</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2016.1215760">inequality</a> among different groups of workers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00338.x">racial discrimination</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.413">unpredictable incomes</a>. </p>
<p>Tipping <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F10564926221088729">might also have a range of societal impacts</a>, including exacerbating class distinctions and legitimizing other employment practices like <a href="https://points.datasociety.net/racing-for-tips-4816da5b5096">classifying workers as independent contractors</a> that can be harmful to workers. Clearly, tipping is neither a neutral or trivial activity.</p>
<h2>A shifting landscape</h2>
<p>Tipping <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/gig-economy-workforce-rockets-to-more-than-one-in-ten-of-canadians-a-further-third-are-open-to-joining-reveals-new-study-812441559.html">underpins much of the rapidly growing contemporary gig economy</a>, in which 13 per cent of Canadians are reported to have worked in 2021. </p>
<p>Tipping is spreading to more and more parts of the hospitality industry, including <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2019-0981/full/html">cafes and limited-service restaurants</a>. Soon, it might even spread to <a href="https://time.com/5499027/flight-attendants-to-keep-tips-frontier/">airlines</a>, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/the-100000-a-year-waitress-isnt-a-myth-some-hard-truths-about-tipping-in-canada">liquor stores</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3539922/customers-fear-tip-shaming-as-gratuity-expectations-grow/">pet grooming businesses</a>.</p>
<p>These changes are taking place before our eyes without any serious policy debate or direction. When tipping does receive policy attention, it is often limited to <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021LBR0022-001048">tweaking or eliminating different minimum wages for tipped workers</a>, and adapting laws around <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/employees-tips-other-gratuities">tip pooling</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman sitting at an outdoor restaurant table using a cell phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461361/original/file-20220504-19-ra6avh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More and more businesses have chosen to amplify tipping by prompting customers to tip via payment portals or apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While these are important topics, these efforts fail to tackle the complex issues and trade-offs associated with tipping in a comprehensive manner. They represent a missed opportunity to start a conversation we need to have as a society. Instead, it is businesses that are often in the driver’s seat.</p>
<p>While some businesses, including <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/no-more-tipping-at-montreal-cafe-larrys-heres-how-and-why">Larry’s in Montréal</a> and <a href="https://theprovince.com/news/b.c./servers-now-accepting-tips-again-at-canadas-first-no-tipping-restaurant-smoke-n-water">Smoke ‘N Water in Parksville, B.C.</a>, have tried to eliminate tipping, more commonly they have amplified it by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1094670519900553">prompting customers to tip via payment portals or apps</a>. Businesses have many reasons to do this, notably the opportunity to cut costs by shifting some of the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=368727">responsibility for workers’ compensations onto consumers</a>. </p>
<p>Once tipping starts to become more common in a particular industry,
strong <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487014001056">norms tend to form around it</a> that are hard to break. If this pattern holds in industries where tipping is spreading in Canada, millions more Canadian workers could see their working lives significantly altered. </p>
<h2>It’s time for a serious conversation</h2>
<p>In light of these trends and our current knowledge of the impacts of tipping, we should pause and ask ourselves: is this really what we want the future of work to look like in Canada? </p>
<p>As a business and sustainability professor, I argue that it is time for Canadians, their representatives and policymakers to have a serious conversation about the future of compensation in Canada and what role, if any, tipping ought to play in it.</p>
<p>This conversation should include a thorough consideration of pros and cons of tipping and its alternatives, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040810881722">service charges and service-inclusive pricing</a>, and the supporting practices needed to successfully transition from one approach to another. </p>
<p>It should also provide opportunities for Canadian workers to learn and deliberate together by accessing expert insights, research and stakeholder perspectives, like those of <a href="https://not9to5.org/about-us/">Not 9 To 5</a> and the <a href="https://workersolidarity.ca/">Worker Solidarity Network</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A barista standing behind a counter with a tip jar on it. A customer is putting money in the jar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461365/original/file-20220504-25-zf0pih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadians, their representatives and policymakers need to have a serious conversation the future of compensation in Canada and whether tipping should play a role in it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We could take inspiration from the recent work of the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/future-work-ontario">Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee</a>, which leveraged extensive stakeholder consultations and research when drafting its report on the future of work in Ontario. We could also draw on the growing number of <a href="https://participedia.net/method/4258">citizens’ assemblies</a> that are tackling issues like <a href="https://www.fsrao.ca/newsroom/fsra-receives-residents-reference-panels-final-report-automotive-insurance-ontario">auto insurance</a> and <a href="https://www.commissioncanada.ca/">democratic expression</a>.</p>
<h2>The future of tipping</h2>
<p>Canadians may ultimately express a desire for the elimination of tipping, at least in some sectors, as was the case <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053535704001027">in some U.S. states in the past</a>. This could be coupled with policies to give workers some of the benefits tipping can have, namely higher wages and a greater sense of control by giving workers more <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newtmm_81.htm">autonomy over how they do their jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Alternatively, Canadians may want to keep the practice of tipping, but implement clear rules about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3541">techniques used to solicit tips through apps and platforms</a>, higher wages for workers and transparency about how tips are distributed and whether any tipped minimum wages apply to workers.</p>
<p>Rather than tipping being largely determined by businesses as they tinker with payment portals, it should be defined by Canadians who, though they may experience tipping on a regular basis, have not been given the chance to properly reflect on it. </p>
<p>This will become all the more important as the pandemic draws our attention to the importance of creating an economy that offers <a href="https://ppforum.ca/publications/the-future-is-now-creating-decent-work-post-pandemic/">decent and quality work for all of us</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Pek receives funding from the University of Victoria's President's Chair award. </span></em></p>The future of tipping should be defined by Canadians, not businesses seeking to shift responsibility for worker compensation onto consumers.Simon Pek, Assistant Professor, Gustavson School of Business, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1737162022-02-20T17:26:01Z2022-02-20T17:26:01ZAshamed of asking for technical support? You are not alone!<p>The spread of new technologies tied to a race for innovation, products and services’ growing interdependence and, more generally, <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-services-be-the-saviour-of-manufacturing-70081">the transformation of products into services</a> can also make them more complex to use. To help consumers, companies are introducing a wealth of instructions, tutorials and pictograms that can be difficult to understand, all too often leaving consumers even more <a href="https://theconversation.com/confusopoly-why-companies-are-motivated-to-deliberately-confuse-39563">confused</a>.</p>
<p>The scene is all too familiar: who has never scratched their head in front of a machine, a new device or trying to complete an online booking? While many innovations are often designed and implemented to ease the consumer’s daily life, they may also be the source of new problems. Consumers adopt various strategies to cope with these difficulties of use: online tutorials, help from neighbours or friends, but many, perhaps surprisingly, also end up dropping their new product or service altogether.</p>
<p>The reasons for not seeking help may be psychological. In the field of social psychology, over the last 40 years, researchers have been exploring help-seeking in various contexts, mostly focusing on medical and psychological help or on help-seeking in the classroom. It appears that not everyone is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/asking-help-coronavirus-hard-shame/2020/04/17/e1d3ef90-7e91-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html">comfortable asking for help</a> and that some individuals systematically seem to avoid seeking help. </p>
<p>Indeed, help-seeking may be perceived as threatening, as it may call into question the applicant’s personal competence in his or her own eyes. But he or she may also fear appearing incompetent in the eyes of the helper. Help-seeking also conflicts with important values for Westerners: autonomy and control. Finally, it may restrict one’s freedom of choice, for example when feeling forced to accept a commercial offer in return for the help given.</p>
<h2>Fear of appearing incompetent</h2>
<p>In our article to be published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/rme"><em>Recherches et Application en Marketing</em></a>, we explored one of the possible responses for the modern troubled consumer: seeking the supplier’s help. Although it appears to be a fairly obvious solution, it is not often used by consumers.</p>
<p>Through a series of studies, we sought to understand whether avoiding to seek help exists in a consumption context when a customer finds it difficult to use a product or service. A qualitative study and four quantitative studies (samples between 150 and 450 individuals) led us to the conclusion that more than a third – a significant and seemingly large proportion – of consumers tend to avoid asking for help.</p>
<p>These studies also enabled us to build a psychometric measurement tool to assess the tendency of each individual to be more or less avoidant. The common behaviour of help-seeking avoidance is based on two dimensions, stemming from the qualitative part of the study. The first dimension is the refusal to ask for help because it causes embarrassment or even shame for the asker, as one consumer we interviewed explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Sometimes you feel ashamed, because you are afraid that the person you are talking to might think you don’t understand anything.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second dimension lies in the evaluation of the interlocutor. More specifically, in both their perceived willingness and their perceived ability to help, as illustrated by this statement of a consumer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[Companies] are all the same, they are always rude and they never solve your problems.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These two dimensions contribute to explain consumers’ intention to seek help or not. This research also highlights the relationship between the avoidance tendency and specific psychological traits such as an external <a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/locus-of-control">locus of control</a> (the tendency to attribute the cause of events outside one’s control to others, a specific context, for example), <a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/state-orientation">state orientation</a> (the tendency not to act) and <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/social-anxiety/">social anxiety</a>.</p>
<h2>Companies can take action</h2>
<p>Difficulties encountered are admittedly damaging for the consumer, but they are also ultimately damaging for the company. Indeed, a customer who cannot have full use of one’s product may abandon not only the product, but the brand. One may also express dissatisfaction or frustration and spread negative word of mouth. Incidentally, there is a high failure rate for high-tech product launches.</p>
<p>What can companies do to ease and encourage requests from their customers? First of all, they can act on the potential embarrassment. Indeed, it appears that help requested through a screen leads to less discomfort. In this respect, live chat is a very interesting tool to encourage the triggering of requests.</p>
<p>In addition, companies can communicate about their willingness and ability to assist their customers – and dedramatise assistance requests. Indeed, many companies still do not advertise on means available to contact them, often for fear of having to manage too many customer contacts. According to our research, this is interpreted by consumers as unwillingness to help.</p>
<p>Moreover, communicating the positive results of customers requesting help or, more generally, of contacts with the customer service would also be an effective lever. Finally, in addition to being beneficial for customer satisfaction, requests for help can have another positive impact: for example, they allow improvements to be made to products and services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173716/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Voyer has received funding from the Cartier - ESCP - HEC Paris Turning Points Chair</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marion Sanglé-Ferrière ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>One person out of three does not dare to turn to the supplier in case of problems. Feeling of shame, as well as doubts about the ability of the person they are dealing explain that figure.Marion Sanglé-Ferrière, Maître de conférence en marketing, CY Cergy Paris UniversitéBen Voyer, Cartier Chaired Professor of Behavioural Sciences, Full Professor, Department of Entrepreneurship, ESCP Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1716652021-12-14T00:08:15Z2021-12-14T00:08:15Z‘Sorry, I don’t understand that’ – the trouble with chatbots and how to use them better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437044/original/file-20211212-141213-k12pks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5455%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hands up if you’ve ever cursed, mocked or yelled at a chatbot. No surprise if you have. Those automated “helpers” – supposedly designed to make customer service smarter, faster and more efficient – can certainly be a source of frustration for sentient beings.</p>
<p>Interactions with <a href="https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/article/10.1007%2Fs12599-020-00644-1">chatbots</a> have become <a href="https://www.jmir.org/2020/8/e17158/">increasingly common</a> in our daily lives. But when asking for information or trying to solve a problem, we’re often annoyed when the chatbot either can’t understand or misinterprets our inquiry. </p>
<p>Even worse is when it advises us to contact the call centre or visit a web page, which defeats the purpose of using chatbots in the first place.</p>
<p>There are two main reasons for negative user experiences. First, organisations often present the chatbot as too “human”, leading to <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2858036.2858288">unrealistic expectations</a> about the chatbot’s ability to understand human language, including nuanced questions and commands.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666827020300062">many chatbots are rule-based</a> and have a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0144929X.2019.1637025?casa_token=MSKgGg7LfOkAAAAA%3ASrpAoBWtT5WEmtccxmNjutnmMUC9G2R8N9yGID1BNIqJpxaJ_D_8fzU54VqweQH8plrAL0bCS7VG">narrow knowledge base</a>, which means grammatical and syntactical errors can throw them off and complex questions often can’t be answered, <a href="https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2019/smart_service_science/smart_service_science/2/">disappointing customers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437045/original/file-20211212-21-r71tvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chatbots are not human and many can’t understand nuanced natural language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A two-way street</h2>
<p>Although it’s easy to blame the chatbot for a miserable experience, we need to realise that, just as it takes two hands to clap, it takes both chatbot and customer to create a satisfactory interaction.</p>
<p>While previous studies have focused mainly on the chatbot, including why companies implement them and the design cues that characterise them, there hasn’t been much consideration of the customer’s role in these interactions.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-shop-assistants-get-ready-for-a-world-where-you-cant-tell-humans-and-chatbots-apart-171522">AI shop assistants: get ready for a world where you can't tell humans and chatbots apart</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10796-021-10212-x">our latest research</a>, we put the spotlight on how customers deal with chatbots and suggest ways to improve the experience. </p>
<p>We find that to create constructive, meaningful engagement with a chatbot, the actions and reactions of the customer and a willingness to make it work are as important as the chatbot’s own functionality.</p>
<h2>Understanding chatbots</h2>
<p>We identified six distinct types of human-chatbot interactions: socialising, collaborating, challenging, accommodating, committing, and redirecting. </p>
<p>These vary depending on who is driving the conversation (the chatbot or the customer), how “real” they perceive each other to be, their social cues, and the customer’s effort.</p>
<p>In the case of socialising, the chatbot tries to entertain the customer – for example, by telling jokes or trying to cheer them up if they detect a bad mood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-chatbots-have-a-role-to-play-in-suicide-prevention-105291">Do chatbots have a role to play in suicide prevention?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Collaborating interactions are those conversations where both the chatbot and the customer work together on the customer’s needs, such as booking a flight or understanding the root cause of a problem and identifying solutions.</p>
<p>Both socialising and collaborating interactions involve smooth exchanges between the chatbot and customer and mostly lead to positive outcomes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437046/original/file-20211212-15-tnpvs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most chatbots aren’t trained for off-topic questions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘What’s the meaning of life?’</h2>
<p>Accommodating interactions are ones where the customer is in the driver’s seat, helping the chatbot understand their needs by changing the way they phrase the question or statement, repeating their request or clarifying their intent.</p>
<p>On the flip side, a committing interaction sees the chatbot more engaged than the customer, trying to provide an answer to a question or solving a customer’s problem.</p>
<p>In those cases, chatbots often ask follow-up questions and provide additional information that might be relevant. These two types of interactions, however, often leave customers without the required information.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/banking-with-a-chatbot-a-battle-between-convenience-and-security-81328">Banking with a chatbot: a battle between convenience and security</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In some cases, people see the novelty of chatbots as an open invitation to challenge them and see when it breaks. This type of interaction usually leads nowhere, since most chatbots aren’t trained for off-topic questions such as “do you want to marry me?” or “what is the meaning of life?”.</p>
<p>Lastly, when redirecting a customer, chatbots act more like a navigator, pointing to alternative information sources such as the company’s website, and don’t directly respond to inquiries. These interactions are very short and may not be an ideal outcome for the customer.</p>
<h2>Three keys to success</h2>
<p>Based on our research, we provide three tips for your next encounter with a chatbot:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>remember that a chatbot is not human and many chatbots can’t understand nuanced natural language, so try not to use complex sentences or provide too much information at once</p></li>
<li><p>don’t give up too quickly – if the chatbot doesn’t understand your question or request the first time, try to use keywords, menu buttons (if available) or short sentences</p></li>
<li><p>give it a second chance – chatbots acquires new “skills” over time, so it might now be able to solve a problem or answer a question it couldn’t two months ago.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-invited-an-ai-to-debate-its-own-ethics-in-the-oxford-union-what-it-said-was-startling-173607">We invited an AI to debate its own ethics in the Oxford Union – what it said was startling</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Organisational tips</h2>
<p>The introduction of chatbots has redefined the way customers, employees and technology interact, and we encourage organisations to take a holistic view of their customer service systems when redesigning them.</p>
<p>Careful consideration should be given to the changing role of customer service employees who need to work with chatbots. Additionally, we recommend organisations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>reimagine a customer service team – involve people in the redesign of customer service delivery through a mix of chatbots and actual employees</p></li>
<li><p>treat chatbots like a new (digital) employee – spend time and effort extending their skills</p></li>
<li><p>find the sweet spot for escalating an enquiry to a contact centre employee – some chatbots refer people too early (causing congestion), while others offer the option frustratingly late. Experiment to find the right timing</p></li>
<li><p>monitor the chat interactions – learn how and what questions customers ask and extend your chatbot’s knowledge base accordingly.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors acknowledge the contribution of Thai Ha Nguyen in the preparation of this article and the original journal article on which it is based.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research puts the spotlight on how customers deal with chatbots and suggests ways to improve these sometimes frustrating experiences.Lena Waizenegger, Lecturer in Information Systems, Auckland University of TechnologyAngsana A. Techatassanasoontorn, Associate Professor of Business Information Systems, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1600882021-05-17T20:06:53Z2021-05-17T20:06:53ZWho are you? What the standard questions about birth and background don’t tell us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400802/original/file-20210514-17-1uyw7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C71%2C1896%2C1078&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">chanpipat/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever had to fill out a form asking about your cultural background or ethnicity or race, only to be stumped because the question or the answer options don’t reflect how you see yourself?</p>
<p>Our research shows you are not alone. In fact, our findings suggest Australia has a serious problem in the way it collects and reports data on cultural diversity, with many organisations doing neither, and many more doing neither well.</p>
<p>Australia is extraordinarily rich in cultural diversity — nearly <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/media%20release3">half</a> of us were born overseas or had one or both parents born overseas. We speak more than 300 languages in our homes, and identify with more than 300 ancestries.</p>
<p>Yet there’s little understanding of how this looks within workplaces.</p>
<p>Often we are asked only about where we were born, or asked to fit into US and UK-based categories such as “African, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander or White”.</p>
<h2>African, Asian, Hispanic, Islander or White?</h2>
<p>In Australia, such categories render invisible the lives of second and third generation Australians with strong bonds to other cultures. </p>
<p>To address this oversight we have developed a single <a href="https://fecca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CALD-DATA-ISSUES-PAPER-FINAL2.pdf?fbclid=IwAR35udYDMeODOXW1a-bkUU3J9tvAtDA8hdiTvxqnMSpAQbMqXqgHZW0AkJ">standardised</a> approach for defining, measuring, and reporting on workforce diversity.</p>
<p>Collecting more meaningful information is important not only for understanding ourselves, but is also for corporations, which have been found to benefit from diverse <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/%7E/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20wins%20How%20inclusion%20matters/Diversity-wins-How-inclusion-matters-vF.pdf">boards</a>, leadership and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726718812602">workforces</a>.</p>
<p>Doing it better means acknowledging cultural identity has many dimensions, among them cultural/ethnic background, language(s), national origin, race, colour, faith and global experience. </p>
<p>And recognising that what matters is evolving.</p>
<h2>Some want more focus on colour</h2>
<p>Many people we spoke with called for Australian organisations to turn away from the sanitised language of “cultural diversity” in preference for race-based language that acknowledges colour.</p>
<p>They valued terms used in the United States, such as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) used in the United Kingdom, or “Visible Minority”, used in Canada, as they make it clear skin colour (“whiteness”) is linked to privilege.</p>
<h2>But for others, colour is too limiting</h2>
<p>Strikingly, just as many other people thought terms such as “cultural diversity” were better and viewed race-based terms disparagingly. In particular, they noted</p>
<p>• there was no generally accepted definition or understanding of who was and was not a person of colour and/or black in Australia </p>
<p>• who is and is not a minority in Australia depends very much on the context – some people might be minority in one workplace but a majority in another</p>
<p>• terms such as “culturally diverse” and “culturally and linguistically diverse” recognise that race and colour are not the only cultural determinants of workplace exclusion. Other things, such as accent, name, dress and religious practices and length of time in the country, can matter as well.</p>
<h2>Practical ways to track Australia’s true diversity</h2>
<p>Over the past two years we have drawn on multiple sources, including an international document review, a survey of 300 human resource and diversity and inclusion practitioners, a pilot survey of 1200 employees, focus groups with 90 participants from 34 organisations and regular consultations with an expert panel immersed in the field of cultural diversity.</p>
<p>The result, <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/counting-culture-2021">unveiled today</a>, is an Australian first: a practical guide book for organisations on how to use five evidence-based measures to count culture in their workforce, leadership suite and customer base.</p>
<p>The five measures include three which we recommend as the minimum:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>cultural background</p></li>
<li><p>language</p></li>
<li><p>country of birth</p></li>
</ul>
<p>plus two additional measures that can be used to gain a deeper understanding of customers’ and employees backgrounds:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>religion</p></li>
<li><p>global experience</p></li>
</ul>
<p>We acknowledge that these five questions won’t suit everyone. But our hope is that by providing a nationally standardised approach, we will see more organisations mapping and benchmarking the breadth and depth of the cultural diversity in their workplace and gaining meaningful evidence. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-racism-and-a-lack-of-diversity-can-harm-our-workplaces-73119">How racism and a lack of diversity can harm our workplaces</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such evidence will spark a conversation about how we can build more inclusive practices.</p>
<p>We also hope that the next time you’re asked about your background, you’ll find the questions more meaningful.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/counting-culture-2021">Counting Culture: Towards A Standardised Approach To Measuring And Reporting On Workforce Cultural Diversity In Australia</a> is now available.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitria Groutsis serves on the research advisory board of the Diversity Council of Australia.
Rose D’Almada-Remedios, Annika Kaabel and Jane O’Leary from Diversity Council Australia contributed to this article.
</span></em></p>We’ve developed a new, practical guide for Australians organisations wanting to ask better questions about their diverse customers and employees.Dimitria Groutsis, Associate professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1589212021-04-28T12:18:37Z2021-04-28T12:18:37ZShhhh, they’re listening – inside the coming voice-profiling revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397406/original/file-20210427-13-sar48x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C2%2C1719%2C1127&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Companies could soon tailor what they try to sell you based on the mood conveyed by the sound of your voice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/woman-holding-red-phone-to-her-ear-royalty-free-illustration/186599890?adppopup=true">CSA-Printstock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You decide to call a store that sells some hiking boots you’re thinking of buying. As you dial in, the computer of an artificial intelligence company hired by the store is activated. It retrieves its analysis of the speaking style you used when you phoned other companies the software firm services. The computer has concluded you are “friendly and talkative.” Using predictive routing, it connects you to a customer service agent who company research has identified as being especially good at getting friendly and talkative customers to buy more expensive versions of the goods they’re considering.</p>
<p>This hypothetical situation may sound as if it’s from some distant future. But automated voice-guided marketing activities like this <a href="https://callminer.com/solutions/business-value/customer-experience/">are happening all the time</a>. </p>
<p>If you hear “This call is being recorded for training and quality control,” it isn’t just the customer service representative they’re monitoring. </p>
<p>It can be you, too. </p>
<p>When conducting research for my forthcoming book, “<a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248036/voice-catchers">The Voice Catchers: How Marketers Listen In to Exploit Your Feelings, Your Privacy, and Your Wallet</a>,” I went through over 1,000 trade magazine and news articles on the companies connected to various forms of voice profiling. I examined hundreds of pages of U.S. and EU laws applying to biometric surveillance. I analyzed dozens of patents. And because so much about this industry is evolving, I spoke to 43 people who are working to shape it.</p>
<p>It soon became clear to me that we’re in the early stages of a voice-profiling revolution that companies see as integral to the future of marketing. </p>
<p>Thanks to the public’s embrace of smart speakers, intelligent car displays and voice-responsive phones – along with the rise of voice intelligence in call centers – marketers say they are on the verge of being able to use AI-assisted vocal analysis technology to achieve unprecedented insights into shoppers’ identities and inclinations. In doing so, they believe they’ll be able to circumvent the errors and fraud associated with traditional targeted advertising.</p>
<p>Not only can people be profiled by their speech patterns, but they can also be assessed by the sound of their voices – which, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Profiling_Humans_from_their_Voice.html?id=9_edDwAAQBAJ">according to some researchers</a>, is unique and can reveal their feelings, personalities and even their physical characteristics. </p>
<h2>Flaws in targeted advertising</h2>
<p>Top marketing executives I interviewed said that they expect their customer interactions to include voice profiling within a decade or so.</p>
<p>Part of what attracts them to this new technology is a belief that the current digital system of creating unique customer profiles – and then targeting them with personalized messages, offers and ads – <a href="https://som.yale.edu/blog/the-risks-and-rewards-of-targeted-ads">has major drawbacks</a>.</p>
<p>A simmering worry among internet advertisers, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248036/voice-catchers">one that burst into the open during the 2010s</a>, is that customer data often isn’t up to date, profiles may be based on multiple users of a device, names can be confused and people lie.</p>
<p>Advertisers are also uneasy about <a href="https://blog.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com/ad-blocking-impact-online-advertising-ecosystem">ad blocking</a> and <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/bots/what-is-click-fraud/">click fraud</a>, which happens when a site or app uses bots or low-paid workers to click on ads placed there so that the advertisers have to pay up. </p>
<p>These are all barriers to understanding individual shoppers. </p>
<p>Voice analysis, on the other hand, is seen as a solution that makes it nearly impossible for people to hide their feelings or evade their identities. </p>
<h2>Building out the infrastructure</h2>
<p>Most of the activity in voice profiling is happening in customer support centers, which are largely out of the public eye.</p>
<p>But there are also <a href="https://voicebot.ai/2020/01/06/amazon-now-claims-hundreds-of-millions-of-alexa-enabled-devices-and-hundreds-of-millions-of-weekly-smart-home-interactions/">hundreds of millions</a> of Amazon Echoes, Google Nests and other smart speakers out there. Smartphones also contain such technology.</p>
<p>All are listening and capturing people’s individual voices. They respond to your requests. But the assistants are also tied to advanced machine learning and deep neural network programs <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90409535/little-by-little-amazon-is-giving-alexa-more-ai-smarts">that analyze what you say and how you say it</a></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A cyborg wears a headset." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397432/original/file-20210427-13-w2bcy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Call centers can use AI-assisted voice technology to determine whether to upsell certain customers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/person-wearing-a-telephone-headset-royalty-free-illustration/76185347?adppopup=true">Ralf Hiemisch via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Amazon and Google – the leading purveyors of smart speakers outside China – appear to be doing little voice analysis on those devices beyond recognizing and responding to individual owners. Perhaps they fear that pushing the technology too far will, at this point, lead to bad publicity.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the user agreements of Amazon and Google – as well as Pandora, Bank of America and other companies that people access routinely via phone apps – give them the right to use their digital assistants <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248036/voice-catchers">to understand you by the way you sound</a>. Amazon’s most public application of voice profiling so far is its Halo wristband, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-08-31/amazon-s-halo-wearable-can-read-emotions-is-that-too-weird">which claims to know the emotions you’re conveying</a> when you talk to relatives, friends and employers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_bc_nav?ie=UTF8&nodeId=GL99TQL4B7ADPBDH">The company assures customers it doesn’t use Halo data for its own purposes</a>. But it’s clearly a proof of concept – and a nod toward the future.</p>
<h2>Patents point to the future</h2>
<p>The patents from these tech companies offer a vision of what’s coming.</p>
<p><a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US10096319B1/en">In one Amazon patent</a>, a device with the Alexa assistant picks up a woman’s speech irregularities that imply a cold through using “an analysis of pitch, pulse, voicing, jittering, and/or harmonicity of a user’s voice, as determined from processing the voice data.” From that conclusion, Alexa asks if the woman wants a recipe for chicken soup. When she says no, it offers to sell her cough drops with one-hour delivery.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A page from an Amazon patent depicts a woman interacting with a home assistant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397139/original/file-20210426-13-9ahkdi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Amazon patent depicts a device picking up a woman’s cough – and then asking if she wants a recipe for chicken soup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US10096319B1/en">Google Patents</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://patents.justia.com/patent/10262661">Another Amazon patent</a> suggests an app to help a store salesperson decipher a shopper’s voice to plumb unconscious reactions to products. The contention is that how people sound allegedly does a better job indicating what people like than their words.</p>
<p><a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160259308A1/en">And one of Google’s proprietary inventions</a> involves tracking family members in real time using special microphones placed throughout a home. Based on the pitch of voice signatures, Google circuitry infers gender and age information – for example, one adult male and one female child – and tags them as separate individuals. </p>
<p>The company’s patent asserts that over time the system’s “household policy manager” will be able to compare life patterns, such as when and how long family members eat meals, how long the children watch television, and when electronic game devices are working – and then have the system suggest better eating schedules for the kids, or offer to control their TV viewing and game playing.</p>
<h2>Seductive surveillance</h2>
<p>In the West, the road to this advertising future starts with firms encouraging users to give them permission to gather voice data. Firms gain customers’ permission by enticing them to buy inexpensive voice technologies.</p>
<p>When tech companies have further developed voice analysis software – and people have become increasingly reliant on voice devices – I expect the companies to begin widespread profiling and marketing based on voice data. Hewing to the letter if not the spirit of whatever privacy laws exist, the companies will, I expect, forge ahead into their new incarnations, even if most of their users joined before this new business model existed.</p>
<p><a href="https://hoofnagle.berkeley.edu/2018/02/19/bait-and-switch-advertising-bait-and-switch-privacy/">This classic bait and switch marked the rise of both Google and Facebook</a>. Only when the numbers of people flocking to these sites became large enough to attract high-paying advertisers did their business models solidify around selling ads personalized to what Google and Facebook knew about their users. </p>
<p>By then, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/19/can-not-quit-facebook/">the sites had become such important parts of their users’ daily activities that people felt they couldn’t leave</a>, despite their concerns about data collection and analysis that they didn’t understand and couldn’t control. </p>
<p>This strategy is already starting to play out as tens of millions of consumers <a href="https://onezero.medium.com/amazon-and-google-are-practically-giving-away-smart-speakers-heres-why-56f0e50bd95c">buy Amazon Echoes at giveaway prices</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>The dark side of voice profiling</h2>
<p>Here’s the catch: It’s not clear how accurate voice profiling is, especially when it comes to emotions.</p>
<p>It is true, <a href="https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/profiling-humans-from-their-voice/16897712#:%7E:text=The%20term%20profiling%20from%20voice,in%20the%20human%20vocal%20tract">according to Carnegie Mellon voice recognition scholar Rita Singh</a>, that the activity of your vocal nerves is connected to your emotional state. However, Singh told me that she worries that with the easy availability of machine-learning packages, people with limited skills will be tempted to run shoddy analyses of people’s voices, leading to conclusions that are as dubious as the methods. </p>
<p>She also argues that inferences that link physiology to emotions and forms of stress may be culturally biased and prone to error. That concern hasn’t deterred marketers, who typically use voice profiling to draw conclusions about individuals’ emotions, attitudes and personalities.</p>
<p>While some of these advances <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248036/voice-catchers">promise to make life easier</a>, it’s not difficult to see how voice technology can be abused and exploited. What if voice profiling tells a prospective employer that you’re a bad risk for a job that you covet or desperately need? What if it tells a bank that you’re a bad risk for a loan? What if a restaurant decides it won’t take your reservation because you sound low class, or too demanding? </p>
<p>Consider, too, the discrimination that can take place <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Profiling_Humans_from_their_Voice.html?id=9_edDwAAQBAJ">if voice profilers follow some scientists’ claims</a> that it is possible to use an individual’s vocalizations to tell the person’s height, weight, race, gender and health.</p>
<p>People are already subjected to different offers and opportunities based on the personal information companies have collected. Voice profiling adds an especially insidious means of labeling. Today, some states such as Illinois and Texas <a href="https://www.thompsonhine.com/publications/state-biometric-privacy-legislation-what-you-need-to-know">require companies to ask for permission</a> before conducting analysis of vocal, facial or other biometric features. </p>
<p>But other states expect people to be aware of the information that’s collected about them from the privacy policies or terms of service – <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobody-reads-privacy-policies-heres-how-to-fix-that-81932">which means they rarely will</a>. And the federal government hasn’t enacted a sweeping marketing surveillance law.</p>
<p>With the looming widespread adoption of voice analysis technology, it’s important for government leaders to adopt policies and regulations that protect the personal information revealed by the sound of a person’s voice.</p>
<p>One proposal: While the use of <a href="https://www.techopedia.com/definition/13707/voice-authentication">voice authentication</a> – or using a person’s voice to prove their identity – could be allowed under certain carefully regulated circumstances, all voice profiling should be prohibited in marketers’ interactions with individuals. This prohibition should also apply to political campaigns and to government activities without a warrant. </p>
<p>That seems like the best way to ensure that the coming era of voice profiling is constrained before it becomes too integrated into daily life and too pervasive to control.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Turow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Marketers will soon be able to use AI-assisted vocal analysis to gain insights into shoppers’ inclinations – without people knowing what they’re revealing or how that information is being interpreted.Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Media Systems & Industries, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1464412020-09-26T06:13:47Z2020-09-26T06:13:47ZA good museum experience pays off for the tourism sector in Ghana<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360030/original/file-20200925-22-1qn0qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Elmina Castle Museum is a popular tourist attraction in Ghana</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2019 <a href="https://www.yearofreturn.com/">Year of Return</a>, when Ghana welcomed Africans in the diaspora to participate in events associated with the country’s rich cultural heritage, was an opportunity to learn more about what tourists want. One million foreign visitors entered the country to mark 400 years of the first enslaved Africans arriving in the United States. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331203256580">event</a> reaffirmed Ghana’s prominence in heritage tourism and the importance of tourism to its economy.<br>
The sector is one of the main <a href="https://www.icao.int/Meetings/SUSDEV-AT/Documents/Presentation_GHANA%20TOURISM%20POTENTIALS.pdf">socio-economic drivers</a> of Ghana’s foreign income and job creation. It also stimulates the growth of other industries. Tourism contributed <a href="https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact">6.2%</a> of Ghana’s GDP in 2017 and is the fourth highest income earner for Ghana after gold, cocoa and oil. In 2017, <a href="https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/ghana-2018">1.3 million</a> international tourists visited the country and before the COVID-19 pandemic the sector had <a href="http://www.ghana.travel/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Ghana-Tourism-Development-Plan.pdf">high hopes</a> for tourism growth.</p>
<p>The importance of heritage in Ghana’s tourism offerings means that museums are a big part of tourism. I conducted a <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IHR-04-2020-0009/full/html">study</a> to examine tourists’ experiences of the country’s National Museum. I aimed to find out what effect their experiences have on their satisfaction with their museum visit, their loyalty to the venue and their willingness to pay more for a visit. I also wanted to understand how the frequency of a tourist’s visit to the museum influences the relationship between satisfaction and willingness to pay more.</p>
<p>I found that frequency of visits has an influence on willingness to pay more. This research also found that the more often people visit a museum, the more they are willing to pay. This study offers managers of museums some insight into how to attract and satisfy more tourists and the economic benefits this could bring.</p>
<h2>Findings</h2>
<p>Ghana has several museums across the country. Among them are the National Museum and Museum of Science and Technology in Accra, Volta Regional Museum, Cape Coast Castle Museum, Upper East Regional Museum in Bolgatanga, St George’s Castle (Elmina Castle) Museum, and Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History. In 2018, these museums received thousands of visitors with the <a href="https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2019/01/10/elmina-cape-coast-castles-record-over-100000-domestic-tourists-in-2018/">Cape Coast and Elmina</a> castles being the most popular.</p>
<p>My research was done at the <a href="https://nationalmuseum.ghana-net.com/index.html">National Museum</a>, which contains artefacts, cultural objects and Ghanaian artists’ paintings. The National Museum is the largest and oldest museum in Ghana. Built in 1975, it is a leading heritage tourism destination particularly for African-Americans who trace their family roots to Ghana. </p>
<p>During the tourism season of 2019, I engaged with 385 domestic and foreign tourists on site, which represented a 68.8% response rate. The visitors completed questionnaires directly after their experience of the National Museum. Most of the tourists were female (56%) and 30% were aged between 35 and 44. Just over half (52%) were international tourists. About the same percentage (53%) were repeat tourists. </p>
<p>Analysis of the questionnaire responses showed that tourists’ museum experience had a direct impact on satisfaction. In turn, satisfaction influenced loyalty; and loyalty affected willingness to pay more for the experience. Number of visits also had a positive relationship with willingness to pay more.</p>
<h2>What it means</h2>
<p>The findings support the perception of the government of Ghana and other stakeholders that tourist experience and satisfaction should be cultivated. </p>
<p>The main research problem addressed in this study was the need to consider museum cultural experience as part of the tourism experience. First, the finding confirms that visitors’ experience has a positive effect on tourist satisfaction. This is evidence that visitor expectations were likely to have been met.</p>
<p>Considering that museum experience creates emotional attachments, this finding underscores the importance of preserving cultural heritage at museum destinations. The study showed that tourists’ satisfaction positively influenced loyalty, loyalty positively influenced willingness to pay more and frequency of visits moderates the relationship between satisfaction and willingness to pay more. </p>
<p>The findings are encouraging for Ghana because they suggest that the National Museum of Ghana is adopting international standards to preserve and protect cultural heritage that would attract tourists from all over the world. </p>
<p>In addition, Ghana provides a unique cultural context in which to study the effects of tourist experience, as there are creative art exhibitions and cultural artefacts that attract a large number of tourists to the museums.</p>
<p>The tourists indicated that they were likely to visit the museum repeatedly. This would expose them to different personalities and cultural values, and help build lasting relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Diani Kofi Preko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana’s museums can improve visitor numbers by paying attention to customer satisfaction.Alexander Diani Kofi Preko, Senior Lecturer, Marketing, University of Professional Studies AccraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1286712019-12-19T13:51:06Z2019-12-19T13:51:06ZWhy bad customer service won’t improve anytime soon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306893/original/file-20191213-85428-1qol2vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bad customer service is increasingly good for companies who use it.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-client-show-feedback-bad-smile-1145358584">Sichon/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some of the most hated companies in the U.S. are also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-12-17/proof-that-it-pays-to-be-americas-most-hated-companies">the most profitable</a>.</p>
<p>Much of this consumer resentment <a href="https://research.wpcarey.asu.edu/services-leadership/2016/05/13/seven-effective-practices-for-preventing-customer-rage/">may stem from poor customer service</a>. In fact, most Americans have fought with phone menus, desperately seeking a live service agent to seek a refund.</p>
<p>In 2013, Americans <a href="http://business.time.com/2013/01/24/you-probably-spent-13-hours-on-hold-last-year/">spent an average of 13 hours</a> disputing a purchase or resolving a problem with customer service.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.marshall.usc.edu/personnel/anthony-dukes">As professors</a> <a href="https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/faculty/yi-zhu">of marketing</a>, we have examined why customer service continues to be so unsatisfactory even at many profitable companies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306894/original/file-20191213-85376-r2l8hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Comcast customer Carmel Booth claimed to have received such bad service that she forced city officials to hold a public meeting about it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Broadband/401eddd2a05b4ae99eead2c46ebd0445/10/0">AP Images/John Amis</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Is good customer service unattainable?</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1149">Our research</a> focuses on the structure and incentives of various customer service centers to explain why consumers perpetually experience hassles when seeking refunds.</p>
<p>What we found is not encouraging.</p>
<p>Many complaint processes are actually designed to help companies retain profits by <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/02/why-is-customer-service-so-bad-because-its-profitable">limiting the number of customers</a> who can successfully resolve their complaints.</p>
<p>The process involves a tiered structure in which all incoming inquiries start at “Level 1.” Level 1 may be a call center operator who listens to a complaint but acknowledges that there is nothing he can do.</p>
<p>Only by insisting to talk to a manager or threatening to leave the company do consumers come closer to obtaining a refund.</p>
<p>Forcing customers to talk to a computer, circulate through phone menus or sit on hold “while serving other customers” serves the same deterring role as that Level 1 call-center agent.</p>
<h2>Saving money with smart tech</h2>
<p>By design, Level 1 agents are <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/customer-service-representatives-deliberately-making-experience-worse/story?id=29926935">limited in their authority</a> to compensate customers.</p>
<p>For example, one Indian call center that we visited forbade Level 1 agents from offering any monetary refunds.</p>
<p>Consumers may have noticed that companies’ call centers increasingly use automated chatbots to serve as Level 1 “agents.” The caller can talk with a human agent – at Level 2 or even higher – only after the chatbot’s AI technology recognizes that a customer is sufficiently unhappy with the process.</p>
<p>These smart technologies determine the caller’s level of anger by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/everyone-hates-customer-service-this-is-why-11564804882">remotely monitoring the tone and pace of voice</a>. If the level of anger reflects a chance the customer may leave the company, then the call is transferred to a more experience operator to handle the complaint.</p>
<p>This allows companies to exploit customers’ individual differences in age, race and gender so that only the “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2016/12/05/a-squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease-and-why-it-pays-to-be-an-angry-customer-2/#182eb03e610e">squeakiest wheels</a>” are compensated.</p>
<p><iframe id="UzQbw" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/UzQbw/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Who struggles with bad customer service?</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2018/08/27/chatbots-are-killing-customer-service-heres-why/#e2f232113c5a">surveys show that chatbots are not improving customer service</a>. This is especially true for certain segments of consumers above others.</p>
<p>Consumers experience hassles in different ways. For instance, navigating an online complaint process is generally harder for <a href="https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/demographics-impact-live-chat-customer-service/">older people</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/reports/combating-fraud-african-american-latino-communities-ftcs-comprehensive-strategic-plan">African American and Latino</a> customers are less inclined to complain than college-educated whites.</p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2011/06/women-get-more-annoyed-than-men-with-aspects-of-bad-customer-service/index.htm">women get more annoyed</a> than men when dealing with bad customer service.</p>
<p>This all suggests that the tiered process may hit vulnerable groups in our society harder. Therefore, elderly customers and some minority groups will be less inclined to obtain a refund.</p>
<h2>Bad customer service doesn’t harm profits</h2>
<p>It seems puzzling, therefore, to see companies repeatedly pledge that they are committed to great customer service.</p>
<p>For example, Comcast states that “<a href="https://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/our-new-head-of-customer-experience">Our customers deserve the best experience every time they interact with us</a>,” but consumers are <a href="https://fortune.com/2018/05/23/hate-cable-tv-comcast-frontier/">increasingly unsatisfied</a> with their service.</p>
<p>Even United Airlines, whose poor customer service inspired a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo">song and video</a> with nearly 20 million views, claims to offer a “level of service to our customers that makes [United] a leader in the airline industry.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5YGc4zOqozo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">United Airlines customer service inspired this video on YouTube.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But our research suggests that in markets without much competition, companies are more likely to implement a tiered complaint process and profit from the reduced payouts to customers.</p>
<p>This explains why <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/4/1/8321437/maps-show-why-internet-is-more-expensive-us-europe-competition">internet service providers</a>, <a href="https://www.travelagentcentral.com/running-your-business/stats-flight-prices-set-to-rise-2-9-2019">airlines</a> and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/media/2018/01/05/tv-rate-hikes-why-cable-bills-rising-again-and-what-can-you-do/1006639001/">cable companies</a> consistently receive <a href="https://www.customercaremc.com/insights/2017-us-customer-rage-study/">the ire of survey respondents</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Dukes receives funding from the Marketing Science Institute. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yi Zhu receives funding from the Marketing Science Institute and 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Grant.</span></em></p>Bad customer service is actually good for companies’ bottom lines.Anthony Dukes, Professor of Marketing, University of Southern CaliforniaYi Zhu, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of MinnesotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/925142018-06-04T20:28:34Z2018-06-04T20:28:34ZFed up with always being in the slow queue? That’s why queues are being ‘designed out’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208792/original/file-20180304-65529-12e8sjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5076%2C3381&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Businesses are weighing up the costs of queuing and using innovative ways to do away with queues, or at least make the perceptions of waiting less painful.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/1O77vgBVkXQ">Michal Parzuchowski/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the second article in our new series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/moving-the-masses-54500">Moving the Masses</a>, about managing the flow of crowds of individuals, be they drivers or pedestrians, shoppers or commuters, birds or ants.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p>Remember that time is money. <strong>– Benjamin Franklin, 1748</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whether it is lining up to pay for your groceries, making a bank transaction, or waiting for a table at a trendy restaurant, time costs money. As businesses become aware of the direct and indirect costs of waiting, they are looking at innovative ways to reduce these expenses by “designing out” queues. The challenge for anyone serving the public in a way that involves waiting is that they must manage people’s perceptions as well as optimising the rate at which they are served. </p>
<h2>People are not ships</h2>
<p>In a logistics context, say stevedoring, managers can to some extent <a href="http://www.deshlergroup.com/portclosure/">predict delays or weather conditions</a> that have impacts on efficiency. They have historical data about how long it takes to unload a ship, normal volumes of containers and how much labour is required. Using this data, they can set delivery windows so that ships can deliver quickly. Less queuing takes place and therefore less time and money is lost. </p>
<p>These <a href="http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/cutting-transportation-costs/">delivery window times and optimised routes</a> are communicated to pilots. Accordingly, they sail into ports “just in time” to be unloaded. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, unlike ships, people enter queues randomly, which creates a problem in providing optimal service. Companies cannot control this type of customer demand. </p>
<p>For example, people don’t consistently arrive at the supermarket checkout area in five-minute increments, with exactly six items. If they did, retailers could <a href="http://people.revoledu.com/kardi/tutorial/Queuing/Arrival-Distribution.html">mathematically determine</a> exactly how many staff to employ, and when to employ them, to maximise service levels and minimise costs. </p>
<h2>Hitting the queuing ‘sweet spot’</h2>
<p>Businesses face the challenge of identifying the <a href="https://www.isixsigma.com/industries/retail/queuing-theory-and-practice-source-competitive-advantage/">optimum point</a> where the costs of providing the service equal the costs of waiting. People in queues behave in ways that create direct and indirect costs for businesses. Sometimes customers will <em>baulk</em> and simply refuse to join the queue. Or they join the queue but <em>renege</em>, leaving because wait times are too long. </p>
<p>This behaviour leads to <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/09604520710735182">measurable costs</a>. These costs are both direct, like abandoned carts, and indirect, like perceptions of poor service quality, increased dissatisfaction and low levels of customer loyalty. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207990/original/file-20180227-36686-10b17x1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The inverted curve describes the optimum balance between the costs of providing service with the costs of making customers wait.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Queuing theory and the evolution of the queue</h2>
<p>Queuing theory evolved from the work of Danish engineer A.K. Erlang. In 1909 he experimented with fluctuating demand in telephone traffic. By the end of the second world war, Erlang’s early work had been extended to more general problems and business applications, such as <a href="https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00263072/document">airports</a>. Queuing theory is now widely used to examine arrival characteristics, waiting behaviours and queue performance to <a href="https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2016/04/predict-waiting-time-queuing-theory/">predict waiting times</a>. </p>
<p>Airports have also sought to reduce the waiting time for luggage collection by moving the carousel further away from the arrival gate. Passengers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/why-waiting-in-line-is-torture.html">spend their time walking instead of waiting</a>.</p>
<p>The nature of a queue has changed and will continue to change, as <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/futurepopulation">populations increase</a> and consumers become increasingly time-poor. In a retail context, the traditional grocer, who would hand-select products for customers in a first-come-first-serve manner, has given way to self-service supermarkets since the first such store, <a href="https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/first-self-service-grocery-store/">Piggly Wiggly</a>, opened in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1916. Promoting lower prices and better value, these supermarkets were the first to provide “checkout stands” where shoppers lined up after selecting their own products.</p>
<p>The original “grid-style” checkout allowed retailers to serve multiple shoppers at multiple checkouts while also presenting them with a small range of impulse items, such as chocolates, soft drinks and magazines. Known as a <a href="http://www.zainbooks.com/read.php?i=chapter-4--relational-models-qualitative-methods-analysis-theory-effective-management-decision-making&b=177&c=4">single-channel, single-phase system</a>, this is still the dominant format. </p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/151/single_single_v2.gif?1528081550" width="100%"> </p>
<p>However, more and more retailers are moving to a longer single line, with customers being served by multiple devices. An example is banks of self-serve checkouts. This is referred to as a multi-channel, single-phase system. </p>
<p>These longer “snake” single lines achieve three things:</p>
<ol>
<li>they provide the illusion that the line is moving faster because it is always moving forward</li>
<li>they enable retailers to present even more tempting “impulse” treats in a longer linear flow</li>
<li>they reduce <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/why-waiting-in-line-is-torture.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">customer anxiety and frustration</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/150/single_multiple_v2.gif?1528081550" width="100%"></p>
<p>The reason for the third benefit is that with two or more queues, versus a single queue, you don’t know which one is going to move faster. This creates an unpleasant feeling and a sense of inequity, which the multiple-channel format seeks to diminish.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/149/multiple_multiple_v2.gif?1528081549" width="100%"></p>
<h2>Why does your queue always seems slower?</h2>
<p>Two interrelated theories explain this perception. <a href="http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/decision-making/illusory-correlation/">Illusory correlation</a> refers to an error in human judgment when a person perceives a relationship between two salient variables that are not in fact correlated. Consider washing your car and it starts to rain – we might think washing the car “causes” it to rain. Or we might think red cars attract more police attention – there is an “association” between driving a red car and getting a speeding ticket. In a queuing context, two important variables are at play, “speed of queue” and “your time”. </p>
<p>Added to this is amplification theory. This draws on <a href="http://assets.csom.umn.edu/assets/71516.pdf">research</a> published in 2001 that proposed that “bad is stronger than good” and “bad memories have a more powerful psychological impact on us than do good events”. In other words, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130827-why-other-queues-move-faster">we are more likely to remember slow queues</a> than times when we have been in faster queues. </p>
<p>In addition, unoccupied time always seems to pass more slowly than occupied time. This is why businesses are increasingly <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/simple-ways-to-improve-your-customers-waiting-experience/">giving you something to do while you queue</a>. There may be magazines close at hand, or a TV screen mounted on the wall in a bank.</p>
<p>The most obvious solution is to keep you moving. It’s a strategy used at festivals and tourist attractions where “snake” lines are common. The snake line also helps free up space, makes everything appear more orderly and equitable and prevents queue-jumping. People prefer movement, so standing still or waiting in a queue with nothing to do can create a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00078.x/abstract">negative experience and negative evaluations of service</a>. </p>
<h2>Moving beyond the queue</h2>
<p>Many sectors are designing out the queue altogether, or at least the perception of queuing. For example, in many banks, government departments, libraries, retail stores and airports, the queue is beginning to disappear. </p>
<p>At <a href="https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2054&context=thesesdissertations">airports</a>, check-in kiosks have replaced queues and counters. The kiosks are dispersed widely throughout the terminal, thus providing travellers with <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJRDM-08-2013-0153">perceptions of spatial convenience</a>. In retail and service landscapes our perception of convenience diminishes the further we have to walk, so clustering of essential services, including check-in kiosks and retail outlets, is replacing the traditional linear design of airports. Spatial convenience gives people the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5511147/">perception of less crowding, no queues, ease of access and mobility</a>. </p>
<p>Retailers are <a href="https://unita.com.au/work-category/retail/">playing with innovative layouts</a> and removing the queue altogether. Bank queues are also becoming <a href="https://thefinancialbrand.com/52315/future-banking-concept-branch-design-showcase/all/">a thing of the past</a>; a new <a href="http://publicdesigngroup.com/">Bank of Queensland branch fit-out</a> invites customers to “take a seat” rather than line up for service.</p>
<h2>So, are we still queuing?</h2>
<p>Well, yes and no. We still have to wait, but the ways in which we wait, especially the perception of how we wait, is definitely changing.</p>
<p>The new <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011">Amazon Go store</a>, for instance, has completely removed all the checkouts. This ensures customers will never have to queue for service. The only problem now is <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/the-future-of-shopping-amazon-go-launches-cashless-supermarket-with-no-cashiers-lines-or-registers/news-story/43bc168c8d47cd9fb2e65bcd0c629642">the long line-up</a> to actually get inside the store! </p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can find other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/moving-the-masses-54500">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Businesses are weighing up the costs of queuing and using innovative ways to minimise these costs by doing away with queues.Gary Mortimer, Associate Professor in Marketing and International Business, Queensland University of TechnologyLouise Grimmer, Lecturer in Marketing, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/916462018-02-16T05:09:07Z2018-02-16T05:09:07ZCustomer service staff need to be problem solving not apologising<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205887/original/file-20180212-31374-d6k2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The study examined more than 100 interactions and found that when airline staff were effusive in their apologies it actually diminished their ability to be efficient problem solvers. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Hodson/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Customers are good at troubleshooting the small stuff and research shows when they come to customer service staff they expect complex problem solving, options or answers - not apologies.</p>
<p>My research used video recordings of interactions between airline staff and customers to analyse the behaviour of both the staff and the passengers. I examined the non-verbal cues of the airline staff in more than 100 interactions and found that when they made effusive apologies it actually diminished their ability to be effective problem solvers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/business-briefing-when-robots-and-customers-meet-70400">Business Briefing: when robots and customers meet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Businesses have been trying to be better at customer service since it was invented. But unfortunately it seems like they aren’t making much progress.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2017/11/03/top-takeaways-from-the-2017-customer-rage-study/#595fc6d94385">A 2017 study</a> showed that 62 million families in the US are estimated to report at least one service problem a year. This left 56% customers in a “rage” or extremely upset. </p>
<p>According to the same study, only 25% of the customers were able to resolve the service problem in one contact with the company. In fact, 19% reported having to contact the company more than seven times to resolve the problem. Despite this, 80% of the customers remained unhappy even after the resolution.</p>
<p>Cost of ineffective problem solving is estimated at <a href="https://research.wpcarey.asu.edu/services-leadership/research/research-initiatives/customer-rage/">US$313 billion in sales</a> for US businesses alone. </p>
<p>But below par customer service is not unique to US businesses. One <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY_-_Customer_Experience_Series_-_Cost_of_complaining/$FILE/EY---Cost-of-Complaining-report.pdf">Ernst-Young survey</a> showed that Australian consumers fare no better. 56% experienced unacceptably poor service in a 12-month period and 57% of those who complained were very or fairly dissatisfied with the way the problem was resolved. Also, 47% upset customers posted their complaint on social media but in 75% of the cases, the company didn’t respond. </p>
<p>The loss to Australian businesses from these problems: A$720 for every negative customer experience, and A$40 billion per year.</p>
<h2>How customers are changing</h2>
<p>Over time, the nature of customer’s problems have changed with the internet and social media.</p>
<p>Now customers prefer to solve simple and typical problems on their own using online resources provided by companies. My research shows they increasingly reach out to companies with complex, unexpected and urgent problems.</p>
<p>Customers are also now connected to a community of consumers who actively vocalise and report their service problems on social media. This community are increasingly aware and confident about the what (outcomes) and how (process) of problem solving.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/arena-attachments/1473625/7d58138302c4acbdd075652a1b3932f6.pdf?1512143568">2017 market research survey</a> of consumers in North America, found that consumers actively and increasingly use a range of self-service channels including FAQs (60%), online community forums (38%), online virtual agents (37%), mobile apps (35%) and chatbots (32%). Many of these options did not exist just a few years ago. </p>
<p>According to this same report, intelligent assistants like Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa will make it easier for customers to use self-service options. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206495/original/file-20180215-124905-pcsptm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Voice recognition assistants like this Amazon Echo will make it easier for customers to use developing self-service options.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Leading service organisations are developing and prototyping new artificial intelligence tools to respond to these trends. For instance, Vanguard, an investment advisor group, is piloting an artificial intelligence project to assist customer service staff answer questions and problems posed on inbound calls from customers. </p>
<p>Vanguard’s plan is to have customers engage directly with this bot and transition customer service staff to handle more complex activities.</p>
<h2>What customer service providers should be doing</h2>
<p>My research shows customer service staff should only empathise or apologise to customers in the first five to seven seconds before moving on to creative problem solving. We found customers view “small” talk in customer service interaction as a sign of ineffectiveness.</p>
<p>If customers are presented with options to solve their problem, my research shows, it gives them a sense of control over the difficult situation. In an experiment we conducted, customers were shown two scenarios, both of which were identical in nature. The problem involved a lost bag that contained materials and clothing for an important job interview.</p>
<p>The first scenario provided a single solution, while in the second scenario there were three reasonably comparable alternative solutions for the customer. At the end, the customer chose the same solution in both scenarios. </p>
<p>Our research found customers expressed greater satisfaction with the multiple choices of the second scenario. It’s the quality and quantity of the solutions given to customers that’s the crucial difference.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/martial-arts-training-for-airline-staff-is-a-new-low-for-the-budget-flights-industry-75675">Martial arts training for airline staff is a new low for the budget flights industry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet in many companies, service agents are directed, trained and monitored only to connect with customers and make them feel comfortable. This training is intuitive, easier to script, amenable to supervisory monitoring and suitable for standardised training. </p>
<p>By contrast, creative and problem solving is not intuitive or easy to train. This is the challenge for service companies. </p>
<p>Businesses must forgo the easy route to customer problem solving and take a more counter intuitive approach. By overcoming this challenge, business could see substantial payoffs and stem the financial losses that spring from bad customer experiences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jagdip Singh receives funding from Marketing Science Institute and National Science Foundation</span></em></p>Traditional customer service is struggling as consumers solve problems online and expect options in person.Jagdip Singh, Professor of Marketing, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/886262017-12-11T18:09:23Z2017-12-11T18:09:23ZHow the war on tipping harms customers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198598/original/file-20171211-27674-scwdah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Companies with no-tipping policies can affect customer satisfaction.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pra Chid/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some journalists and <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-the-holidays-upon-us-is-it-time-to-end-tipping-88141">other social commentators</a> have in recent years called for the <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/07/abolish_tipping_it_s_bad_for_servers_customers_and_restaurants.html">abolition of restaurant tipping</a>, primarily because they argue that it hurts workers. Several restaurateurs have even <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/american-restaurants-don-t-allow-tipping-usa-restaurants-banned-tipping">replaced tipping at their restaurants</a> with automatic service charges or inclusive pricing. </p>
<p>Another argument against tipping is that it detracts from customers’ dining experience. However, two studies I recently conducted – one published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431917302074">International Journal of Hospitality Management</a> and another forthcoming at the Journal of Consumer Affairs – indicate that tipping actually benefits customers, while its elimination can harm them. </p>
<h2>Debate over tipping</h2>
<p>Opponents of tipping argue it pays workers <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/waiting-for-change-tipped-minimum-wage/">low and unreliable incomes</a>, <a href="http://web.uri.edu/quadangles/150-how-tip-based-pay-discriminates/">discriminates</a> against less attractive servers as well as servers of color and empowers customers to <a href="http://rocunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/REPORT_The-Glass-Floor-Sexual-Harassment-in-the-Restaurant-Industry2.pdf">sexually harass female servers</a>. </p>
<p>Some also believe that <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.html">it leads to poorer rather than better customer service</a> and satisfaction. That’s because it supposedly attracts younger, part-time and less professional workers to tipped occupations, undermines servers’ intrinsic motivations to care for their customers, discourages service enhancing teamwork among servers and encourages discrimination in service delivery against customers believed to be poor tippers. </p>
<p>A final argument against tipping is that it puts <a href="http://abc13.com/society/group-wants-you-to-stop-tipping-restaurant-workers/2103073/">unwanted social pressures</a> on people to part with money they would rather keep.</p>
<p>On the other side of the debate, proponents of tipping claim it <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/ive-got-tip-you-keep-tipping-wait-staff-494713">increases rather than decreases customer service and satisfaction</a>. Tips are supposed to be a reward for service, so advocates of the practice argue that it helps attract more competent workers to tipped occupations and motivates them to deliver better and more personalized service. </p>
<p>Another thing in tipping’s favor is that it allows restaurants to charge <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/redeye-no-tipping-policies-in-chicago-restaurants-20151116-story.html">lower menu prices</a>, which stingier tippers like because it reduces the costs of eating out.</p>
<p>For these reasons, most consumers in the United States say that they <a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/1/26/10835696/diners-against-eliminating-tips-study">prefer tipping</a> over automatic service charges or inclusive pricing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198596/original/file-20171211-27698-1igivi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girard, a French-inspired restaurant in Philadelphia, opened in 2014 with a no-tipping policy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Crab Shack experiment</h2>
<p>Both sides of this debate can point to anecdotal or <a href="https://static.secure.website/wscfus/5261551/3761429/pihrm2017-abandon-tipping.pdf">research evidence</a> supporting their positions. However, before my studies, we did not know which of these various effects on consumers were stronger than the others or what their combined, net effect on customer satisfaction was. </p>
<p>To answer this question, I got <a href="https://www.reviewtrackers.com/">ReviewTrackers</a>, a firm that monitors online reviews for companies, to provide me the reviews of numerous restaurants that I had identified as recently changing their tipping policies. I then analyzed the data to see if customers’ overall ratings of the restaurants were higher under tipping or its alternatives. </p>
<p><a href="https://static.secure.website/wscfus/5261551/7004903/jca-tipping-experiment-final.pdf">One study</a> focused on the restaurant chain <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/business/joes-crab-shack-tried-getting-rid-of-tips-it-didnt-last-long.html">Joe’s Crab Shack</a>. This chain replaced tipping with higher service-inclusive menu prices at 18 of its restaurants, only to reverse course six months later and bring tipping back at 14 of the locations.</p>
<p>I found customers rated Joe’s Crab Shack restaurants higher – by about a third of a point on a five-point scale – when they operated under tipping than when they used service-inclusive pricing. Statistical tests indicated that this effect was highly unlikely due to chance. </p>
<p>I also found that after switching to service-inclusive pricing, reviewers’ comments were more likely to mention tipping, the server or service and price. Moreover, these comments were generally associated with lower ratings. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that displeasure with the no-tipping policy, and with service and prices under that policy, decreased customers’ overall satisfaction with their dining experiences. </p>
<h2>Different tipping alternatives</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://static.secure.website/wscfus/5261551/7004898/ijhm-tip-policy-effects-final.pdf">second study</a> focused on 31 independent restaurants from across the U.S. that changed tipping policies within the past four years. I wanted to compare the impact of two types of tipping alternatives – automatic service charges, in which a tip is tacked on to all bills, and service-inclusive pricing.</p>
<p>Restaurants that replaced tipping with automatic service charges experienced about a quarter of a point drop in online ratings, while those that switched to service-inclusive pricing saw a decline of only about a 10th of a point. As with the first study, I found that these differences were unlikely due to chance. </p>
<p>The study’s data do not tell me why service charges decreased ratings more than did inclusive-pricing, but I suspect that it was because consumers hate being forced to tip more. Higher prices, on their own, are less objectionable.</p>
<p>Another interesting finding from the second study was that the negative impact of getting rid of tipping was related to how pricey or cheap the restaurant was. That is, less expensive restaurants suffered a greater hit to their ratings relative to classier joints. </p>
<p>This helps explain why the moderately priced Joe’s Crab Shack suffered a third of a point decline in its online rating after switching to inclusive pricing, while the average in the second study (which included more expensive restaurants) was just a 10th of a point. </p>
<p>It may also explain why most of the restaurants experimenting with different tipping policies are moderately to very expensive. Their wealthier customers, who are less sensitive to the added costs of service charges or inclusive-pricing, are less likely to punish them. </p>
<h2>Bottom line</h2>
<p>The results of these new studies provide evidence that tipping enhances restaurant customers’ overall satisfaction. Presumably this is because it increases both perceived and actual service quality and allows customers to determine the cost of that service. </p>
<p>This means that social commentators advocating the abandonment of tipping and restaurateurs considering eliminating it may want to rethink their positions. There may still be a case to be made against tipping, but it is not as simple or straightforward as commonly presented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lynn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some observers say we should eliminate tipping in restaurants because of the negative impact on workers. But how do customers feel about that?Michael Lynn, Professor of Food and Beverage Management, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/881412017-12-03T22:30:24Z2017-12-03T22:30:24ZWith the holidays upon us, is it time to end tipping?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197215/original/file-20171130-30896-1sf7izm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some restaurant-owners are grappling with abolishing tipping.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tipping in restaurants is a well-established social norm in North America. </p>
<p>With the holidays upon us and many of us dining out and celebrating, there’s an ongoing discussion about ending the practice of tipping. A recent survey of Toronto Star readers, although unscientific, suggested that more than <a href="https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2017/11/10/star-readers-have-spoken-and-they-want-to-abolish-tipping.html">85 per cent preferred ending tipping</a> and instead hiking the wages of restaurant workers.</p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/earls-restaurant-mandatory-tipping-experiment-ends-1.3971409">restaurants have tried to switch to other models.</a> The highest-profile restaurant group to <a href="https://www.ushgnyc.com/category/blog/no-tipping/">abolish tipping</a> is Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, but there have been many others in both Canada and the United States. </p>
<p>Results have been mixed with some restaurants returning to a tipping model.</p>
<h2>Why do we tip?</h2>
<p>Tipping is thought to have started in English public houses, now known as pubs. Patrons gave servers a coin at the beginning of service in an attempt to ensure good and prompt service. It’s even suggested that the word tip comes from “to insure promptitude.”</p>
<p>Tipping came to North America in the early 20th century and has become well-established here. Ironically, tipping is no longer a rigid social norm in its birthplace and across most of Europe.</p>
<p>There are several arguments put forward for tipping. The <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2017/11/anthony_gill_on_1.html">first argument</a> is that it ensures good service. Managers cannot be there for every interaction and each customer will have different needs and preferences. </p>
<p>Servers can, but don’t always, customize service for the individual consumers based on their specific cues. Since customers control the tip, servers are incentivized to deliver good service to every table.</p>
<p>Another argument is that it allows for <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3070338">price discrimination</a> or <a href="https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/why-do-people-love-tip-waiters#page-2">risk-sharing</a>. These are essentially similar.</p>
<p>The price discrimination argument says that restaurateurs can keep prices lower by transferring the burden of paying servers to customers. </p>
<p>Customers who are willing to pay less for a meal tip less, those who are willing to pay more for a meal tip more, and overall demand is higher. The risk-sharing argument is that, with tipping, a customer transfers some of the risk of a bad experience to the server, whether or not they are to blame.</p>
<h2>Does tipping work?</h2>
<p>The evidence suggests that, for the most part, tipping does not meet those objectives. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840601131813">Research</a> suggests that the relationship between service quality and the size of the tips is very small. </p>
<p>Different customers tip different amounts but most of us tip within a narrow range regardless of the level of service we receive. This leads to the conclusion that tipping is not the reason for high- or low-quality service. </p>
<p>The evidence on price discrimination and risk-sharing is less definitive. </p>
<p>Given the findings that the relationship between service quality and tipping is weak, one might infer that customers are not using tipping to mitigate the risk of a bad dining experience. On the other hand, the fact that different customers tip at different rates may suggest that the price discrimination argument is valid. </p>
<p>There is no research on this, but some anecdotal results suggest that the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/12/pf/joes-crab-shack-ends-no-tipping-policy/index.html">number of customers decreased</a> in some restaurants when tipping was removed and service charges or price increases were implemented. </p>
<h2>Are there other factors?</h2>
<p>It’s clear that there are other outcomes associated with tipping that might cause concern. While there’s scant evidence of a relationship between the quality of service and the size of the tip, there is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431909000425">evidence</a> of a relationship between <em>expected</em> tip and quality of service.</p>
<p>That means that a server may use cues such as race, gender, age and attire to develop an expectation of tip, which then shapes the service they deliver. This means that customers who pay full menu rates are discriminated against because of the <em>perception</em> that they might be cheap tippers.</p>
<p>This is clearly a problem.</p>
<p>There is also evidence of “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15378020.2016.1215760">quota servers</a>.” A quota server is one who may have a particular dollar amount in mind for a total value of tips during a shift, and once that’s achieved, they mentally check out and service suffers. They work hard until the have achieved a particular target total (say $100) from all of their customers, and after that lose motivation to provide good service. This is not unique to servers and tipping. </p>
<p>This “<a href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2014/10/why-new-yorkers-cant-find-a-taxi-when-it-rains/381652/">income targeting</a>” is a phenomenon that explains the difficulty in finding a taxi on rainy days in New York City or any big city. Researchers found that taxi drivers stopped working once they achieved a certain dollar figure, rather than continuing to work during what was clearly a busy and potentially profitable night. </p>
<p>This inconsistent service delivery, which is independent of the tip from a specific customer, is also clearly not in the best interest of either the restaurant or the customer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197217/original/file-20171130-30896-132bm9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Server Macalyn Ahern attends to customers at the Earl’s 67 location Calgary, Alta., in 2016. The decision by Earl’s to eliminate tipping at a downtown Calgary restaurant and replace it with a mandatory 16 per cent ‘hospitality charge’ stirred controversy, and the restaurant later returned to tipping.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are also a number of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15378020.2016.1215760">internal factors</a> that have been identified as causing problems for restaurant managers. These include inequities in pay between kitchen workers and servers, difficulty in succession planning, rivalry among servers and loss of control of quality management. </p>
<p>And there’s a suggestion that the tipping model draws transient employees attracted by high wages rather than developing professional servers. We’ve all heard the story of the actor, writer or filmmaker who is serving until their desired profession pans out.</p>
<p>Some will argue that if tipping disappears and servers earn less money, quality will suffer because those individuals will seek other employment. It is not clear, however, that this will happen automatically.</p>
<p>One factor in favour of tipping is that it reduces payroll taxes for restaurateurs. Given tips are separate income and are supposed to be declared by the server, restaurants do not need to pay the payroll tax on that portion of wages. That means the cost of removing tipping is higher than simply transferring tips to a service charge or higher prices, and then paying it out in wages.</p>
<h2>Time for a change?</h2>
<p>It’s no longer clear that tipping is producing the benefits that motivate the system. But change will be difficult. </p>
<p><a href="http://jayporter.com/observations-from-a-tipless-restaurant-part-5-sex-power-tips/">Some will argue</a> that there are those who will resist the loss of control — particularly men interacting with female servers. Some restaurants have tried and failed but others, like Canadian Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy in New York City, have <a href="http://gothamist.com/2017/10/19/danny_meyer_no_tipping.php">persisted through the challenges</a> in transitioning to a no-tipping model.</p>
<p>It won’t be easy, but as we all divide our bills over holiday restaurant meals this and try to figure out what to tip our servers, perhaps it’s time for a change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael von Massow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Restaurant tipping came to North America in the early 20th century and has become well-established here even as the practice is less common in the U.K. and Europe. Is it time to rethink it?Michael von Massow, Associate Professor, Food Economics, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/829622017-08-30T12:49:56Z2017-08-30T12:49:56ZEmotionless chatbots are taking over customer service – and it’s bad news for consumers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183839/original/file-20170829-6747-ef2gdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s so hard to speak to a real person on the phone these days. Almost any time you need to call your bank, doctor or any other service, you’ll probably be greeted by an automated service seemingly designed to prevent you from speaking to someone who actually works for the company. And that could soon get worse thanks to the rise of chatbots.</p>
<p>Chatbots are artificial intelligence programs, often deployed in apps or messaging services. They are designed to answer people’s questions in a conversational style rather than just pointing them towards information like a search engine. Companies such as <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/uber-has-a-secret-weapon-apps-and-bots-2016-4">Uber</a>, <a href="http://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2016/11/lufthansa-launches-flight-search-chatbot-for-facebook-messenger/">Lufthansa</a> and <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/2017/02/09/pizzaexpress-order-bot-launch/">Pizza Express</a> are already using them to field customer enquiries and take bookings, and <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/04/13/here-are-all-the-facebook-messenger-bots-we-know-about-so-far/">many more</a> are on the way.</p>
<p>They have the potential to <a href="https://thenextweb.com/worldofbanking/2017/06/22/chatbots-pumping-customer-service/#.tnw_PVZGaIQ1">improve some aspects of customer service</a>, and are certainly easier to use than automated phone systems that struggle to understand even your basic personal details. But they’re also another hurdle separating customers from a human who can actually answer difficult questions and, crucially, show the compassion and good will that strong customer service is often based on. There’s a chance that chatbots could cause both consumers and companies to find this out the hard way.</p>
<p>Automating customer service, or at least part of it, is an inviting thought for many companies. Not only can it reduce the exposure of human employees to many of the unpleasantries of the job, it can also help screen out many common or trivial problems early on before the expensive attention of a human is needed. This could help companies reduce costs while calming customers who just need simple solutions to standard problems. </p>
<p>But replacing human employees with artificial ones isn’t that straightforward. To begin with, language, with all its variations and errors and despite really <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/27/13078138/google-translate-ai-machine-learning-gnmt">impressive progress</a> in automatic recognition and translation, is still a tricky issue. Automated representatives are still significantly less competent and language-aware, and for some problems would be difficult or impossible to communicate with.</p>
<h2>Good but not good enough</h2>
<p>Talent is the ability to perform well. Mastery is the ability to fix an unusually difficult situation. There is an art to handling the exception, and good customer service is often about the unusual or unanticipated cases involving potentially angry customers. While chatbots can convincingly source answers to basic questions, AI isn’t yet smart enough to deal with the rare and exceptional examples.</p>
<p>Companies might not initially see this as a problem, as it introduces a way to separate customers whose service requires going the extra mile. Only those whose problems confuse the bot need to be passed on to a human employee. But going through this frustrating process of talking with a bewildered computer is likely to make the customer more angry with the service. In the long term, this could encourage them to take their business elsewhere, especially if it is difficult to get a human representative to come to the rescue when the bot fails to help.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183453/original/file-20170825-28548-1ruqafg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘It’s like this robot has no emotions.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I experienced a version of this issue myself when trying to book a cab following a train breakdown. When I called the one local company I had a number for, I was put through to an automated service that was completely unable to understand the pickup location, in all variations of naming and pronunciation that I could think of.</p>
<p>Through some serendipity, I was connected to a human representative, but before I had time to utter my predicament, he told me “I shall put you through to the booking system” – and the infernal loop resumed. The sad story ended with a very long walk, a lucky pickup by a human-driven black cab in an otherwise utterly deserted area, and a vow to henceforth shun the first company whenever possible.</p>
<p>Automated systems might be able to handle regular cases. But they can’t yet adapt themselves to exceptional circumstances or even recognise that the flexibility of human intervention is needed. And the problem, from the consumer’s point of view, goes further than that. Some situations require not just human understanding and problem-solving, but a level of compassion and empathy.</p>
<p>A chatbot can be programmed to adopt a <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/03/23/microsoft-sarcastic-millennial-chat-artificial-intelligence/">certain style</a> of interaction, but that will still sound oddly out-of-place in unexpected or difficult contexts. There is currently no practical road map in AI research for how to implement something that convincingly resembles human compassion. </p>
<p>Sometimes angry customers need kind words and the chance to express themselves to someone willing to listen, as well as or even sometimes instead of actually having their problem resolved. And often good customer service relies on gestures of good will made at the discretion of individual employees following their own feelings of empathy rather than a set of fixed rules.</p>
<p>This would be very hard for AI to replicate because it depends so heavily on the context of the situation. In my opinion, context understanding is still one of the major elusive and unsolved problems of AI, and is likely to remain so for quite a few years to come.</p>
<p>Despite this, the cost-saving promise and other benefits of automation appear so appealing that chatbots and other AI customer services are still set to drastically expand over coming years. The likely outcome, at least in the mid-term, seems to be an even more technocratic treatment of complaints with less flexibility. Or worse, once the algorithms become increasingly refined, an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/27/ai-artificial-intelligence-watchdog-needed-to-prevent-discriminatory-automated-decisions">opaque decision-making process</a> with very little room for the mellowing intervention of a human supervisor.</p>
<p>If we want to avoid this, we need to realise that the way to help is not paved with good intentions, but found in appreciating how limited AI currently is at understanding contexts, exceptions and the human condition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Polani receives funding from Horizon 2020 socSMCs and WiMUST projects, and is currently president of the RoboCup Federation.</span></em></p>Expect customer service to get worse as artificial intelligence steps in.Daniel Polani, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/801722017-07-10T16:35:56Z2017-07-10T16:35:56ZUsing data visualisation to beat the call centre curse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177337/original/file-20170707-23720-q96r8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C35%2C2941%2C1908&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/isometric-office-cubicles-men-women-working-230150206?src=AUIZWsnHIiEeDHyVz2ktyw-1-87">Jesus Sanz/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever found yourself locked in a circular conversation about a missing bolt for your barbecue? Have you ever listened to classical hits for ten minutes while you wait to argue about a discrepancy on your bank statement? If so, then you will understand the pain of the call centre. The good news is that a dive into call data can help make the pain go away. </p>
<p>The past two decades have seen a massive expansion of the call centre industry. In the UK alone, there are now an <a href="https://www.unison.org.uk/at-work/energy/key-issues/call-centres/">estimated 5,000 in operation</a>, employing about a million workers and <a href="https://www.statista.com/forecasts/397597/united-kingdom-call-centers-revenue-forecast-nace-n8220">generating revenue of £2.3 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12691704">liken call centres</a> to the modern equivalent of factories; the public face and first contact in an economy now dominated by the services industries. Long wait times and extended conversations where customers are bounced from operator to operator have the potential to create negative, long-lasting impressions. These are situations everyone wants to avoid. </p>
<p>But how to make sense of all the calls? Across the UK, over <a href="https://www.unison.org.uk/at-work/energy/key-issues/call-centres/">a quarter of a million calls</a> provide more than 4m data points (or so-called “call events”) every day. When data is recorded at this scale, it is easy to get lost in the weeds and lose sight of the bigger picture.</p>
<h2>Call and answer</h2>
<p>But when we visualise this data, there is a way to sift through this massive amount of information to reveal larger trends and find trouble spots. We find ways to help callers and managers smooth the whole experience.</p>
<p>Our team created software to build images from 24 hours of anonymised call centre activity data of over 200,000 calls from a local company, QPC Ltd, which has a range of clients including Vodafone and Virgin. The sample image below may look complicated, but it shows how hot spots can be easily identified and targeted. Each tiny, individual rectangle represents a single phone call. And each rectangle, or cell, is ordered by the time at which the call started. The size and colour of the cells represents the length of each call.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176090/original/file-20170628-31284-43amhv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sample image generated using the software. Red spots indicate problematic areas that users can zoom in to inspect.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These images can be modified to focus on call length, wait times, resolved calls and so on. And we can zoom in and out to get either a high level view or a detailed inspection of a particular record. The information gets broken down into more meaningful blocks of information. So each hour is broken into into six ten-minute blocks, and each call split into the period when the caller is listening to a pre-recorded message, the time queuing, and the time talking to an actual human.</p>
<p>If you have ever dialled in to a call centre you’ll know that there can be multiple times that all of these happen on a single call. And so we gave each of these “events” their own time stamps so we could better gather detailed information. </p>
<p><a href="http://cs.swan.ac.uk/%7Ecsbob/research/callCenter/treemap/roberts16interactive.pdf">This approach</a> is a simpler way to gather insights for those managing the call centre and trying to handle the huge flow of calls. Call centres can find patterns in caller behaviour and spot any outliers. They can identify when we, the callers, abandon ship and hang up in frustration. They can work out how to filter calls more sensibly, and discover the moments when wait times increase and decrease.</p>
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</figure>
<h2>Beating the odds</h2>
<p>Perhaps more importantly this data visualisation offers some simple tips to make callers lives easier too. Next time you grit your teeth and dive into a world of hold music and apologetic recorded messages, consider these three simple pieces of advice.</p>
<p><strong>Don’t call at lunchtime.</strong> Not only are you on your lunch break, so are a number of staff at the call centre. Expect to wait. Or to give up.</p>
<p><strong>Avoid evening calls.</strong> The rate of abandoned calls increases during the day and peaks in the evening from 8pm. </p>
<p><strong>Bite the bullet and call early.</strong> Our visualisation shows early morning calls yield the shortest queue and call times. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6g4dkBF5anU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>There are some <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2312/stag.20161370">worthwhile insights</a> behind this advice. Using the visualization software, we can observe a dense cluster of abandoned calls typically between 1.10pm and 1:15pm. Perhaps these are the callers who thought they could get everything done while unwrapping a ham sandwich, but who soon think better of it.</p>
<p>The number of abandoned calls is clearly linked to wait time. You might wonder who is calling in between midnight and 8am, and they might be thinking twice too, as callers during these hours are twice as likely to abandon as those that dial in during normal business hours. We also get impatient after 8pm, when the percentage of callers who abandon takes another sharp rise.</p>
<p>One reason that those evening calls start to clog up the system might be that this is when the furious are calling in. Staff at QPC Ltd identified a special group which calls in the evening, waits longer than 15 minutes to talk to an agent, and then speaks to the agent for up to 15 minutes. It thought this is indicative of dissatisfied customers, prepared to wait to get the point across, and stick around until they get results. The normal average call length is a little over five and a half minutes. </p>
<p>Just be thankful you are not in that small but unfortunate group which suffers more than five “queue events” and ends up speaking to the agent for more than an hour. The only hope is that the call centre managers can spot these outliers in the data and call them back to check the pain was all worth it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Timing your call can be crucial to fend off frustration.Robert Laramee, Associate Professor in Data Visualization, Swansea UniversityRichard Roberts, PhD Candidate in Data Visualisation, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/791992017-07-03T20:09:08Z2017-07-03T20:09:08ZGig economy businesses like Uber and Airtasker need to evolve to survive<p>The honeymoon is over for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/gig-economy-19448">gig economy</a>. The loose collection of online platform companies – from Airtasker to Uber and Deliveroo – has long trumpeted its difference from the business norm, but is starting to lose its shine. Now these companies must own up to the limits of their business model. </p>
<p>Murmurs of criticism that always existed around aspects of the gig economy’s operation have turned into a chorus of challenge. Labour activists <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022185617697760">take aim</a> at platforms’ treatment of workers and their refusal to define themselves as employers. Tax regulators are following the money and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/small-business/tax-office-cracks-down-on-sharing-economy/news-story/55bfade6f14168c42bc7f9f444e781f7">checking</a> whether gig companies pay their fair share. Even some of the investors who bankroll these platforms are <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/magellans-hamish-douglass-says-uber-is-a-ponzi-scheme-20170523-gwb701.html">wondering</a> if they are really just get-rich-quick schemes for their owners. </p>
<p>Some observers even <a href="https://theconversation.com/ubers-problems-highlight-silicon-valleys-faltering-vision-for-the-future-79891">suggest</a> that gig economy leaders are deliberately ignoring serious flaws in their business models. The most recent example is former Uber boss Travis Kalanick, who was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/technology/uber-travis-kalanick-final-hours.html">forced to resign</a> after a series of scandals centred on the organisation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/fixing-a-toxic-culture-like-ubers-requires-more-than-just-a-new-ceo-79102">toxic work culture</a>. </p>
<p>Platform companies cannot ignore these controversies and hope to ride out the storm. The sector as a whole needs to change to survive, and there are potentially large competitive advantages available for firms that respond quickly to these emerging opportunities and constraints.</p>
<h2>The business cycle</h2>
<p>Right now, business and employment conditions <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022185616634716">are weak</a>. Firms are slow to hire and there is an oversupply of workers. Many platform companies <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2017/03/gig-economy-freedom-boss-or-just-con">exploit this</a>, offering new recruits attractive starting pay rates and then <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/88fdc58e-754f-11e6-b60a-de4532d5ea35">reducing them</a> as more people join the app.</p>
<p>The crunch will come when labour market conditions improve and workers have more alternatives. Then, the balance of costs and benefits will look very different for potential gig workers, and the attractions of flexibility may not be enticing enough. </p>
<p>At that point, platform companies will not have a long queue of eager workers at their door. They will have to improve (and maintain) the conditions they offer - <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/publications/all-publications/what-is-a-skill-shortage">just as other firms do</a> when facing skill shortages.</p>
<p>This will be a difficult adjustment for many platform companies. Most have simply <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-way-they-manipulate-people-is-really-saddening-study-shows-the-trade-offs-in-gig-work-79042">not built the culture</a> of trust and reciprocity that would help them to retain their most capable workers in the longer term.</p>
<p>Instead, most platforms have viewed workers as interchangeable units whose jobs can be done easily by anyone with a little training. Few companies would be so sure about finding good replacements for their current workers or so unfazed about the costs of doing so. But many platform companies continue to drive a hard bargain with their workers.</p>
<h2>Moving upstream</h2>
<p>Jobs in the gig economy today are <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/871-Peer-to-peer-pressure.pdf">mostly at the low end</a> of the labour market. The work often involves “one-off” tasks where formal training requirements are low and personal interaction is limited or absent - things like painting a wall, delivering a parcel, or checking digital media content. </p>
<p>The platform model is much less prevalent higher up the occupational ladder. This is partly because skilled workers prefer and can demand the better conditions of traditional employment, and also because licensing and accreditation barriers make it difficult for platforms to employ professionals.</p>
<p>However, there is evidence that platforms are starting to gain a foothold in some professional labour markets. New platforms exist for services in accounting and the law, and even in more sensitive areas such as personal care. One example is <a href="https://bettercaring.com.au">Better Caring</a>, an online marketplace for aged and disability support workers. </p>
<p>The emergence of these new types of platforms suggests that the platform model may be capable of adapting itself to a wider range of labour markets. Expanding into professional, caring and other skilled occupations is a survival imperative for the platform economy, given the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-labour-market-projections-2014-to-2024">many</a> <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/07/23/humans-are-underrated/">projections</a> about where the future jobs are likely to come from.</p>
<p>Yet the challenge for the gig economy to transcend its origins is also about the platform model’s suitability for a different and more discerning group of customers. The person ordering a meal delivery has little need to know the name and life story of the rider who brings it. But a person arranging a carer for an elderly parent will want to know a great deal about the person they are employing.</p>
<p>Platform companies may become more permanent players in our economy if they evolve to add value even for customers making choices about these very different types of transactions.</p>
<h2>Competition</h2>
<p>Past experience suggests that, once an app is operating, its functions can be easily copied by rival firms. Uber and Lyft offer similar platforms, as do Deliveroo and Foodora. </p>
<p>The platform model can be copied by other types of businesses offering similar services but with different ownership models and better working conditions.</p>
<p>One example of this are “<a href="http://www.rosalux-nyc.org/wp-content/files_mf/scholz_platformcoop_5.9.2016.pdf">platform cooperatives</a>” that mimic the leading platforms but are owned by their workers. Unionised taxi drivers in the United States have developed apps that channel profits back to drivers through healthcare and other benefits. </p>
<p>By carving out a niche of the market, these new rivals pose a potential competitive threat. Perhaps more importantly, they serve as a reminder of some fundamental flaws in the “default” model used by more mainstream platform firms. </p>
<p>The cooperative model is just one option towards making the gig economy more resilient to the business cycle.</p>
<p>Today’s manifestations of the gig economy are tilted in favour of too few beneficiaries and are not built to last. To prosper in the longer term, platform companies must do what they claim to do best: innovate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Today’s manifestations of the gig economy are tilted in favour of too few beneficiaries, and are not built to last.Josh Healy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of MelbourneAndreas Pekarek, Lecturer in Management, The University of MelbourneDaniel Nicholson, Research Assistant, Industrial Relations, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/784872017-05-29T20:58:24Z2017-05-29T20:58:24ZBA meltdown: crisis researcher caught in the chaos reports on a massive airline failure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171328/original/file-20170529-25210-1izp8lk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C759%2C2206%2C1702&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Has someone tried switching it off and on again?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Denis Fischbacher-Smith</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For an academic who has spent more than 30 years researching organisational crises it was something of an odd experience to be in the middle of the British Airways IT foul-up on Saturday May 27. And it provided a textbook example of how organisational systems need backup and effective communications if chaos is to be avoided when they fail.</p>
<p>I started my journey in the morning in Copenhagen, with no reported issues from the airline, and the first mention of a problem came close to the end of the flight as the pilot announced that we were being delayed on the way into Heathrow. This was explained as being a result of thunderstorms taking place in the south east of England. </p>
<p>After more than 20 minutes of circling over the North Sea, we were told the delays were a result of congestion due to the storm. On landing, however, passengers were told that there had been a lightning strike which had resulted in a catastrophic failure of the communications system at Heathrow. The pilot said he could not contact BA ground staff to find out which gate to head for. </p>
<p>So, the aircraft sat on the taxiway until contact could be made. Some 40 minutes passed as the pilots seemed to try all means possible – including mobile phones and email – to establish contact. The pilot then announced that we had been given a gate, but that there would be a further delay as it wasn’t possible to communicate with the ground staff to ensure that there would be buses available to move passengers. This was the first indication that passengers on the plane had that the problem wasn’t a temporary loss of communications. </p>
<p>Having cleared customs and moved to the BA lounge to wait for my connecting flight to Glasgow, it was clear that Terminal 5 was in a state of chaos. Few BA flights had left as scheduled and the lounges and open access areas were teeming with passengers. BA staff in the lounges were not able to provide any further information and rumours were flying around among passengers that rather than a storm, the IT system may have been brought down by a ransomware attack – much like the one which had <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/12/nhs-hit-major-cyber-attack-hackers-demanding-ransom/">caused huge problems</a> for the UK’s National Health Service earlier in May.</p>
<p>The company <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40075721">has blamed a “power supply issue”</a>, but in truth, we are still waiting for the full picture to emerge.</p>
<h2>Technical flaws</h2>
<p>Either way, if these issues were the root causes of the company’s IT outage then it would have implied that the company’s surge or virus protection processes were somewhat inadequate to deal with the problem and that there was no effective backup. The speculation swept through the lounge, and the lack of communication to passengers was starting to show the company in a bad light. </p>
<p>At about 2.30pm rumours spread that media outlets were stating that no BA planes were going to be leaving Heathrow and Gatwick before six o'clock that evening: cue a flood of passengers to the lounge desks trying to find out what was happening. BA staff were adamant that this wasn’t an official BA statement and a public announcement was made in the lounge that it was a false news report. However, this narrative of events was not to last. Just 20 minutes later, it was announced that all BA flights before 6pm were cancelled. It looked like reporters were getting the correct information before customers or even staff; British Airways internal communications were looking shaky. At this point some passengers, who had been starved of information, resorted to asking the lounge catering staff for information. They didn’t work for BA, but they were the only people in the lounge at that point who weren’t passengers.</p>
<h2>Staff absent</h2>
<p>Eventually, passengers were told to go to collect their baggage and exit the airport. Again, an absence of staff left confused passengers with no way to seek clarification. Again, the catering staff seemed to be the ones that passengers approached.</p>
<p>Almost inevitably there were large queues for baggage collection and there was still a lack of clear information from the small number of BA staff present. The most insightful information came from two pilots who were also stranded, and who were working tirelessly to help passengers. But where were other staff? There also did not appear to be any managers in attendance to deal with the ongoing issues. </p>
<p>After waiting in a queue for about 30 minutes, passengers were herded into the domestic baggage claim area where, despite previously being told that their bags would be available, they were not. Instead, passengers had to search out a form, fill it in, and get in line once again. The person giving out the forms was at the front of the queue, leaving those at the back of the queue in the dark. Some passengers were given different forms to complete as the company seem to have run out of the appropriate forms at the desk. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171349/original/file-20170529-25261-1glt8qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Going nowhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielmennerich/8044656324/in/photolist-dfSY47-R1Zn3D-Udw16y-v1GG5m-atsz1F-UqPpD5-dbBv9X-oFK7Zz-TKDLqg-RL7RgZ-4EMSsc-nurAZt-ijUXnj-UMr3p4-UMr4tD-nurAPt-9PQfFR-onKhVX-ayTfi8-4umoYm-5no488-7mmKzN-6voRBz-a3WWY2-9Pq3eD-sge9rb-TbJTNd-Ji6Lsj-4dCLRe-TKDK1c-SP5422-7t8gMw-nuZN7H-TTngyc-omqyyE-pPvvrH-owor1H-6ThgPh-6Tdg4P-2xhgXR-pLZMXw-SCCeMX-nJ6v5c-jDEv9H-3fdAbF-4umofu-7Bxuu9-rj95wM-qcb8eS-ry5sGp">Daniel Mennerich/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After waiting in line for another half hour, a member of BA staff stated that passengers could fill in the form on-line and that they didn’t have to wait in the queue. Of course, the web site was down at this point. When asked for clarity, the rather confused looking members of staff were forced to say that they had no additional information. Passengers were seemingly left to their own devices to make their way home – there was no advice from the staff other than to keep receipts for any costs that were incurred. In my case, this involved getting the Heathrow Express into London Paddington, the underground to Kings Cross, the train back to Glasgow Central, and then a further train - an eight-hour journey that saw me arrive home at midnight. </p>
<p>These were some of the issues that I directly witnessed airside. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/27/british-airways-system-problem-delays-heathrow">Media reports</a> have confirmed a very similar experience for customers in the booking hall. And, of course, other passengers were stranded at airports across the world and faced many of the problems we had to cope with at Heathrow. Many passengers left Terminal 5 with no bags, no material support from the company, and no idea when their bags might be returned. It wasn’t long before some passengers were heard to rename the company Bags Anywhere.</p>
<p>By any measure, this incident has been a <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/29/british-airways-could-face-150000000-compensation-bill-after-it-disaster-6668884/">public relations fiasco</a> for British Airways. The company’s apparent fall from grace – from that period where it could bullishly advertise itself as “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/05/28/travel-chaos-adds-demise-worlds-favourite-airline/">the world’s favourite airline</a>” to its performance on Saturday – is stark. </p>
<p>The managerial behaviour shown by BA on the day was typical of organisations in crises: the lack of effective communication; the growth in conflicting information and rumour; an absence of any apparent contingency plan on the ground; and a sense of confusion among staff. These are all elements that are often displayed in the early stages of a crisis event. The fact that social media and other web sites were the main source of information for passengers simply highlighted the poor practices of communication on the ground. It was certainly not clear from a passenger’s perspective who had taken ownership of this event. There was no obvious central source of information and passengers had to queue for what limited information was available.</p>
<h2>Embedded errors</h2>
<p>This was not, however, the first IT failure that the company had experienced. Media were quick to <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wireStory/british-airways-computer-outage-causing-global-delays-47676395">point to previous problems</a>, hardening the perception that BA was a company in crisis. This particular failure was not an isolated event. It served as a graphic representation of the potential for disruption that seems to have been embedded within the strategic decisions taken around the design, testing, and implementation of the new system, the development and testing of contingency plans, and the provision of an effective communications policy for use in such events. Put another way, the costs of errors were embedded into the system and they became all too apparent as the system failed. </p>
<p>The events of May 27 illustrated the problems that can occur in those socio-technical systems that are optimised for a just-in-time form of delivery. When the system operates in a degraded mode, or fails catastrophically, then it is often too complicated for staff to revert to a more manual basis of operations because they are so reliant on the technical elements of the system and have often not been trained in an alternative way of working. </p>
<p>What lessons does the BA incident offer other organisations? Firstly, if an operating system or process is central to performance and reputation, then the organisation needs to ensure that it has considered how it will function if it fails catastrophically. Managerial assumptions about the nature of risk are important factors in shaping their willingness to consider the worst case scenario and to prepare effective contingency plans. Lightning strikes or computer hackers are not unknown, or even particularly surprising, dangers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171348/original/file-20170529-25210-1qcll3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not the first time BA has fumbled.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jorge Quinteros</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Secondly, it highlights the importance of having an effective communication strategy in which staff at the sharp end of the operation are kept fully informed as to what the company is doing to contain the crisis. Organisations should not be providing information to the media while failing to inform local staff about the situation – or worst still, providing alternative accounts of the problem. There is also a need to ensure that there is sufficient information provided to customers who are directly affected by the event. </p>
<p>Thirdly, there need to be additional resources provided to deal with the demands of a crisis. Not only do staff need the right tools to respond effectively, but they themselves need to be robustly trained to cope when it comes to the crunch. Customers and service users need to be told the correct information and provided with the appropriate documents that are needed to process claims. </p>
<h2>Learn from near misses</h2>
<p>Finally, BA’s woes point to the importance of organisational learning from early warnings and near-miss events. This is a challenge for all organisations as there is often a sense of denial that such catastrophic failures can happen on home turf. After all, staff at every level of an organisation often believe that theirs is a tight ship, well-managed and reliant on well-designed technical systems. It is this process of denial that invariably prevents managers from reflecting on their own capabilities under crisis and prevents them from questioning what they would do in similar circumstances. </p>
<p>The aviation industry has a well-established process for collecting information on near-miss events in relation to the performance of pilots and aircraft. It is so effective that it has been seen as the gold standard for other sectors, such as healthcare. Given the history of problems with BA’s IT systems, one might be forgiven for thinking that it has not been as diligent when considering its own managerial early warning processes for core business processes. Organisations need to overcome the barriers to learning that can damage the ability to cope with a crisis. A failure to do so can be hugely damaging, as BA is now discovering.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Fischbacher-Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How not to handle it – British Airways have offered up a textbook example of getting almost everything wrong.Denis Fischbacher-Smith, Research Chair in Risk and Resilience, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.