The impact of linguistic style on customer satisfaction: a cross-cultural empirical study in Ecuador

Purpose– Drawing on the dual process theory and the cultural dimension of power distance, the current research investigates the impact of a specific service clue—the linguistic style of address forms (salutation) in hotel manager letters to guests—on customer satisfaction in a hotel context in Ecuador. Design/methodology/approach– Following an experimental design research approach, this research conducted a series of two studies to examine how customers’ cultural values (high vs low power distance), linguistic style of address forms (formal vs casual) and service valence (service success vs service failure) together influenced customer satisfaction. Specifically, Study 1 examined the service success condition, and Study 2 investigated the service failure condition. Findings– The research results show that, in the service success condition, customers follow their distinct cultural orientations (high vs low power distance) when responding to the different linguistic styles (formal vs casual). On the other hand, in the service failure situation, as customers desire for expressions of respect that canbereflected in aformaladdressform, thelevelofsatisfaction is lower whenthecasualaddressform isused in guest communications, regardless of customers’ cultural orientations in power distance. Originality/value– This research adds to existing cross-cultural service research, particularly in terms of service valence, and provides practical implications for enhancing service providers’ cultural awareness and sociolinguistic competence to effectively communicate with customers from diverse cultural backgrounds.