1 CUSTOMER FEEDBACK AT ONLINE BOOKSTORES: Comparison of Comments Posted on British and Latvian Websites Zilgme Eglīte School of Business Administration Turiba 10th EUKO conference Local Aspects of European Business Communication Riga, August 2010

2 Research Purpose and AssumptionsTo analyse online texts by customers to identify typical functional moves to understand the goals customers try to achieve To compare online customer texts on websites in 2 countries Hypothesis – understanding of what customers do can give valuable insights to website owners and developers

3 Theoretical BackgroundBhatia, Swales – functional linguistics who have developed theoretical framework for studying texts as genres Fairclough – framework for social scientists to benefit from textual analysis Motta-Roth has elaborated on the genre of book review Gea Valor has written on negative reviews on amazon.co.uk website Herring and Crystal has written on the particularities of language use on the Internet

4 Data to be studied One book chosen for looking at customer feedbackThe book should be published in both English and Latvian The book should have received customer feedback on the websites in the UK and Latvia

5 The Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownPublished in English in 2003 Translated and published in Latvian 2004 1338 customer reviews on amazon.co.uk 31 customer comments on 2 Latvian sites: amizante.lv

6 Research Method Genre analysis – the typical moves of a book review according to Motta-Roth Comparing UK review against the typical rhetorical structure of academic reviews. Comparing UK reviews and Latvian comments

7 Results and DiscussionGenre: Community Text Purpose Book review genre: Move 1: Introducing the book Move 2: Outlining the book Move 3: Highlighting parts of the book Move 4: Providing closing evaluation of the book

8 Move 1 examples: The TopicThis book is a thriller, mystery and even a healthy measure of counter-factual history.. . (21 Mar 2003) Note: In this and further examples original spelling and orthography of customer texts kept, my underlining for highlighting the points of interest - ZE

9 Move 2 examples: The PlotThe story follows Robert Langdon (a symbologist) on an incredibly journey of discovery, both of himself and of the origins of Christianity. (15 July 2003) Jacques Saunierre is a curator at the Louvre Museum in Paris. He is murdered by a giant albino assassin who is seeking... (20 Aug 2003)

10 Move 3 examples: Highlights with EvaluationThe mystery is complicated but the author explains the intricate solution in detail as the plot unfolds. (20 Aug 2003) The story may seem a little too imaginative at times but that is exactly what makes the book so entertaining. (20 Aug 2003) Characterisations relating to nationality were truly awful. Cliches and stereotypes stormed through the pages. (5 Sep 2003)

11 Move 4 examples: The VerdictThis book is a fantastic ride... (21 Mar 2003) The Da Vinci Code is gripping and you will want to stay up all night to finish it(Like i did!!) (23 July 2003) This book is just Masonic propaganda run amok! (2 Aug 2003) A good beach read but nothing more than that. (18 Aug 2003)

12 ‘Irregular’ moves I Move 4 – the verdict is at the beginningFantastic, this is the fourth book by Dan Brown I have read. (1 May 2003) First of all, this is a good book. (A beginning of a 3-star review) (23 July 2003) This is hardly great literature. (10 Oct 2003)

13 ‘Irregular’ moves II Personal narrativeI did not put the book down once! (1 May 2003) I have to admit i totally fell for the red herring as to who was the teacher but i thought that part of the plot was brilliantly written. (16 Aug 2003) I read this book on holiday and instead of sitting outside in the hot sun, I sat indoors and read this book as I just couldn't put it down! (27 Aug 2003) As I read this book, I began to compile a list of the author's blatant inaccuracies. (6 Sep 2003)

14 ‘Irregular’ moves III Criticism of factual data... Dan Brown says that England is the only country in Europe that drives on the left. I’m sure any Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Maltese and Cypriot readers would disagree. (23 July 2003) The fact is the Priory of Sion [..] is not dedicated to TRUE Gnosticism and the Arts, but to a FEUDAL world vision and the return to direct power of their elite bloodlines. (2 Aug 2003) Where did he get this information? I can't find any support for his explanation of the pentacle, for example, even from pagan sources! (6 Sep 2003)

15 ‘Irregular’ moves IV Reacting to other reviewsi think some of these other reviews have been a bit overly critical - it is after all a novel not a history book.. (16 Aug 2003) Be careful when you read the reviews! (Title) You will find a lot of people in this page discussing this novel as if it were not a fictional literary work. (4 Oct 2003)

16 Comparison with .lv customer comments IAverage length on amazon.co.uk words on .lv sites - 10 words superiiga graamata!!!! ( on the book is superb!!!! Ir ok. Gaidam filmu. ( on It’s ok. Waiting for the movie. Parasts detektīvs. :( ( on Commonplace detective story 

17 Comparison with .lv customer comments IIThe comments resemble a chat or a dialogue Zeel, ka naacaas naudu lieki teereet, jo graamata nav no leetajaam. ( ) Pity to have spent the money as the book is not among the cheapest. Nav jau tik dārga! ( ) It is not that expensive!

18 Comparison with .lv customer comments IIIOpinion on a topic raised by other comment lielais pieprasījums ir labs rādītājs patiesajai grāmatas vērtībai, jo autora spēja noturēt lasītāja uzmanību, [..] ir apsveicama!! ( ) The huge demand proves the real value of the book, as the ability of the author to keep readers attention is commendable!! Lielais pieprasījums ir labs rādītājs cilvēku stulbumam. ( ) The huge demand is a good indicator of stupidity of people.

19 Comparison with .lv customer comments IVSharing a theme, sharing a personal experience: cik labi, ka sāku lasīt to sestdienas rītā, ja tas būtu bijis darbadienas vakars, iespējams, būtu izdomājusi iemeslu, kāpēc nākošajā dienā nevaru aiziet uz darbu..(Temīda) Good that I started reading on Saturday morning, if it was a weekday evening, perhaps I would have invented a reason for not going to work next day. Njā, es viņu paņēmu vakarā, lasīju visu nakti, tad skolā matemātikā aizmigu! (Ieva) Yeah, I took in the evening, read all night, then fell asleep in school in math class. Paredzu ,ka rīt darbā būšu neizgulējusies... (Anna) I predict that tomorrow at work I will be tired.

20 Evaluation and ConclusionsThe strength of the customer reviews on amazon.co.uk is that they respond to the invitation to recommend a book. The strength of the comments on and amizante.lv is that they provide customers to give vent to their feelings and to community building. Bookseller websites should not be afraid to provide space for customer reviews or comments.

21 References Bhatia, V. (1993) Analysing Genre: Language in Professional Settings. Essex: Addison Wesley Longman Fairclough, N. (2003) Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge Herring, S.C. (2003) Computer-Mediated Discourse. In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin and H. Hamilton (eds.), Handbook of Discourse Analysis. (pp ) Oxford: Blackwell. Motta-Roth, D. (1995) Book Reviews and Disciplinary Discourses: Defining a genre. TESOL 29th Annual Convention & Exposition, Long Beach USA. Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

22 Thank you!