Whether high or low, perceived cultural distance (PCD) can create situations and behaviour that result into either a satisfactory or unsatisfactory service outcome from the point of view of the customer. As discussed previously, cultural background is assumed to have an effect on PCD. Because of this, it was decided to break this section in two parts and analyse separately what kind of service behaviour is seen as satisfactory or unsatisfactory by customers of Asian and Western cultural backgrounds.
By this the writer also aims to present possible ideas for service employees about satisfactory service interactions with customers from different backgrounds.
7.1.1 The Asian group
Interviewees in the Asian group were generally pleased that they were able to communicate in English with Finnish employees although it is not an official language in Finland and were often quite impressed with the level of English proficiency of Finnish service employees. They also praised the “humane” demeanour of the employee in interaction with the customer as opposed to sometimes cold professional types of
employees they may have come across in their home country. The interviewees also expressed positive emotions towards the relaxed atmosphere and freedom that was given to the customer while shopping (see example 17 and example 18).
EXAMPLE 17 (Female, China)
1 C: I think quite a lot- quite a lot like uh the clo- the shop selling clothes in China 2 they have many service- service man- sales man or woman and then just when 3 you step into the shop the sales woman or man will come to you and then talk 4 with you and then will recommend you some clothes or trousers or shoes (.) 5 like they cares about you a lot
6 J: yeah
7 C: and they want to keep you company when you are dressing (.) you get 8 dressing and they just like push you to buy the products
9 J: yeah
10 C: but in Finland I- I never made that situation like when you stepped into a shop 11 it's very relaxing and flexible atmosphere like the sales man or woman maybe 12 say hello to you but they don't care as much about your behaviour in the shop 13 just (.) mm just want to give people more space and more time to select what 14 they want
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EXAMPLE 18 (Female, South-Korea)
1 M: they just come to me and aah hey what do you need do you need this one or 2 blablabla they say a lot of things to us but here they’re a bit don’t care ((laugh)) 3 I cannot find the clerk or workers working in the market and actually they just 4 do what they (.) should and just calculated the price and just (.) like that but (.) 5 mmm I think the Korean customer service the lip service is more- much better 6 than here
7 J: oh really
8 M: and more- actually sometimes I feel very uncomfortable because they just th- 9 follow me and took clothes approach to me and just suggested- really 10 comment everything so it’s really difficult to say that I don’t want to buy this 11 one or I just look around without any buy something but it’s very difficult 12 ((laugh)) but here it’s very free ((laugh)) and (.) um they more (.) feel relaxed 13 they don’t have any burden to behave toward the customer like that or like that
In examples 17 and 18, C and M first describe the behaviour of service employees in their home countries and then continue to compare it to what they have experienced in Finland. In both cases the service employees in their home country are active in selling and recommending products to the customer. However, in the case of Finland, both
sides to service interactions that were mentioned were the lack of service, small talk or overall strong customer orientation that they were used to in their home culture.
EXAMPLE 19 (Female, China)
1 J: have you noticed any discrimination towards you in Finland because you are 2 Chinese have you noticed any discriminations
3 C: mm sometimes I can see from the eyes of the sales person they see me in a 4 strange way like oh it's a Chinese (.) I don't know what they are thinking about 5 maybe they seldom see Chinese ((laugh)) or I don't know if it's discrimination 6 or not but I feel a little diff- I feel a little uneasy
7 J: ok so you kind of notice when they see you as a different person than Finnish 8 C: yeah
9 J: do they behave differently (.) to you
10 C: sometimes they will ask where are you from? If – in a very strange way like 11 where are you from? Like in this way (.) but I- I really feel uncomfortable 12 when people ask that (.) I just want to be like a normal people yeah talk with 13 then normally
In example 19, which was also used in chapter 6.5.2 as example 13, C explains how it feels uncomfortable for her when she is being treated differently than other customers.
As she continues to explain on lines 5 and 6, she is not sure if discrimination is involved, but it nonetheless makes her feel uneasy.
7.1.2 The Western group
As discussed before during the first analysis in chapters 6.1.2 and 6.2.2, the Western group generally showed lower PCD than the Asian group, therefore the influence of PCD to the satisfactory outcome of the service was smaller. As PCD was seemingly small between the customer and employee, the interviewees often felt that they were mistaken for Finns and did not feel they were treated differently from other customers (see example 20).
EXAMPLE 20 (Female, England)
1 J: have you noticed like any kind of uh (.) difference umm that they might like 2 treat you differently because you’re not a Finn?
3 E: mm well actually I do say like (.) kiitos when I’ve finished (.) and sometimes 4 they like smile because they realize I’m like trying ((laugh))
5 J: ok ((laugh))
6 E: even though it’s one word but um (..) I think I don't I don't know if they think 7 I'm Finnish or foreign
8 J: oh
9 E: I don't know because sometimes they don't even speak to me so
In the case of E, she explains that she doesn’t think that she is always even recognized as a foreigner. An interviewee from the Czech Republic also reported similar cases and said she was often mistaken for a Finn.
It was interesting to notice that contrary to the Asian group, the Western group felt like they were getting more service because they were foreigners or because they did not speak Finnish. Extra services often lead to satisfactory service outcomes (see example 21). On the negative side it was only mentioned that Finnish customer service employees should be more open and flexible towards customers in their service.
EXAMPLE 21 (Female, England)
1 J: mm well do you have any like specific situations that you have been in that 2 you have got really nice service for example
3 E: mm do you want to know the shop 4 J: yeah
5 E: ok um when I need like an ingredient or something I-I have to like Google 6 translate or something and um occasionally I go into umm (.) S-market I think 7 and I’ve given them my sheet of paper (.) and I’ve- they’ve like looked around 8 the shop willing to help me
9 J: ooh
10 E: and then they collect the ingredient for me so that’s really really nice
11 J: oh that’s nice so you go with a piece of paper and I says everything and they 12 help you
13 E: yeah well just like one key ingredient but I can’t find it or know what it is 14 J yeah
15 E: so yeah they’re always willing to help
Above E describes a situation when she has gotten really good service in Finland. In this case because of the language barrier extra help was needed from the service employee. An interviewee from Spain also mentioned that because of language issues she gets more service than regular Finnish customers would. Also a Polish interviewee mentioned a situation when she was served really well in a Finnish pharmacy. The service was given in English and the employee also printed out detailed information for her as an extra service.
7.1.3 Summary
Several differences were found between the Asian and Western group when it came to the influence PCD has on the satisfactory outcome of the service situation. Being treated as a regular customer was perceived positively by Westerners while being treated as different from other customers was generally viewed negatively by the Asian
group. Furthermore, the Asian customers often felt they were not getting enough service or were not given enough attention by the employee while Westerners generally did not report such incidents but rather reported positive situations when they are given extra service. From this it may be concluded that PCD has a strong influence on satisfaction in intercultural service encounters.