Immigrant customers’ service encounters: a thematic analysis and fsQCA study

Purpose This study aims to examine immigrant customers’ service experiences with local employees during daily service encounters. It identifies key factors affecting these experiences and explores how combinations of such factors shape particularly positive and negative encounters. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a retrospective experience sampling approach to collect detailed descriptions of immigrant customers’ real-life encounters with local employees, along with complementary quantitative data. They applied thematic analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to explore critical factors and configurations associated with distinct encounter outcomes. Findings Language barriers, insufficient service knowledge, and the broader immigrant condition often cause difficulties, negative emotions and experiences of vulnerability during daily service interactions. Yet, immigrant customers’ experiences are not shaped by individual factors in isolation, but by how conditions combine and interplay. Employee-related factors, particularly dedication and benevolence, can mitigate challenges and play a decisive role in shaping the overall experience and outcome of the encounter. Practical implications The findings offer practical insights to improve service provision for immigrant customers and provide a foundation for further research involving various immigrant subgroups or other types of customer groups that are likely to experience vulnerability in service contexts. Originality/value This study advances understanding of immigrant customers’ daily service experiences through a holistic, interactional perspective, offering comprehensive and nuanced insights into how these experiences unfold. It also highlights the transformative potential of daily service encounters, which have so far been underexplored.