[pt] Na prestação de serviços, há evidência do estigma e de ações discriminantes que envolvam ações automáticas de preconceito. Diferentes tratamentos aos consumidores podem produzir e experiências problemáticas, com consequências e respostas imediatas nos negócios. Objetivamente, este estudo busca focar mais profundamente o estigma do ponto de vista do consumidor de baixa renda. Analisa os componentes racionais e emocionais das reações desses consumidores perante as interpretações da sociedade. Em parte, busca suprir a lacuna existente na literatura do marketing. A estigmatização de consumidores de baixa renda pode ter forte influência em suas ações e respostas durante o processo de decisão de escolha e compra de serviços. Isso implica num significativo impacto no desempenho dos negócios, ações de anticonsumo contra as marcas. Neste sentido, o encontro de serviços serve como palco para os atores estigmatizador e estigmatizado, sendo que o consumidor de baixa renda é o protagonista. O estudo foi dividido em três fases: a primeira levantou a preocupação destes consumidores com a estigmatização no encontro de serviços, através de entrevistas experimentais para alinhamento do roteiro. A segunda fase compreendeu uma pesquisa de campo, em que foram utilizadas 210 entrevistas. Para tanto, utilizouse a Técnica do Incidente Crítico. Os dados foram analisados, codificados através do software OpenLogos. Na terceira fase, realizou-se uma análise do conteúdo das narrativas dos entrevistados, chegando a mais de 1200 palavras, códigos e expressões que identificam as emoções, e mostrou-se como ocorre o perfil do estigma e as reações comportamentais. Os resultados indicaram uma predominância das emoções primárias (medo, vergonha e ofensa, etc) no momento imediato a percepção do estigma pelo consumidor de baixa renda. Posteriormente, inicia-se o processo decorrente (emoções secundárias e terciárias) e suas estratégias de respostas destes consumidores. Dessa forma, ratifico- se a influência e importância do estudo do estigma com suas respectivas implicações as situações de consumo. / [en] This article focuses on low-income consumers facing social stigma in service encounters with contact employees. Stigma is a pervasive aspect of our culture and has been rarely considered in services marketing for low-income consumer. In the past, research didn’t pay attention on the low-income consumer’s perspective for marketing actions. Recently, attention has turned to examining how people who are targets of negative stereotypes understand and interpret their experience as members of socially devalued groups. The method used in this article comprised three phases. The first phase explored the awareness of stigmatized service encounters by informal interviews with low-income consumers. The second phase consisted in field interviews, the collection data from 210 individuals with confirmation of discriminatory behaviors. The method utilized was the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) using Open Logos Content Analysis software for coding the emotions. The third phase consisted of detail data analysis, searching for words or concepts within texts or sets of texts, and then coded into manageable categories. In this phase, we found more than 1200 words or emotional expressions. Results showed primal emotions (fear, shame, offense) dominance in the stigma perception moment, often followed by secondary and thirdly emotions. In the last step of the process, the coping responses were important in order to understand the consumer attitudes and behaviors as part of this stigma process. The findings assure the importance of studying the stigma process to understand low-income consumer’s behaviors.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to gain a holistic understanding of the reflection ofemployee empowerment practiced in the customer's perception of service quality in serviceencounters. Research Method: Exploratory research method based on a single case study Results: Through the analysis of both primary and secondary data, it has been found thatemployee empowerment practice is reflected in customer perception of service quality through improved service delivery provided by empowered frontline employees. Research limitations: This is a single case study, which is confined to the activities of onesmall company related to the health industry in Mexico. The choice of conducting theresearch only focusing on one company ignoring others can not open a true reflection of theentire problem. Practical implications: The results may be applicable for companies which in some extenthave similar retailing and services activities. Originality/value: This research makes a contribution to the existing literature on employeeempowerment by adding relevant qualitative data.

This dissertation examines how customers' attribution for service failures and expected recovery in online service encounters are influenced by whether the recovery efforts are satisfying or dissatisfying to the customers; the relationship between satisfaction and other behavioral outcomes such as intention to remain and word-of mouth is examined. Many customers are using the Internet to purchase products and services, pay bills online, and make hotel and airline reservations. The Internet service recovery encounter warrants special attention because of its inherent ramifications such as the ease of attributing failure to the service provider after a service failure, the lack of interpersonal relationship, and the ease of leaving one service provider for another. The purpose of this study is to explore some of the importance of Internet service recovery mechanisms relative to customer's attribution for failure, expected service recovery, satisfaction, and intent to remain. This study further seek to explore how these mechanisms can be employed by the service providers to improve customer satisfaction, minimize negative word-of-mouth, and improve the firm's profitability. Many studies have examined customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction in traditional retailing, and the antecedents of the unsatisfactory behavior however, the same cannot be said of the Internet service encounters despite ecommerce revolution and its impacts on retailing and service encounters. A conceptual framework of recovery expectation and satisfaction in Internet based service encounters is presented, and a scenario-based experimental design is developed to measure the constructs. A web-based data collection was employed and the collected data were analyzed using correlation and regression analysis to provide answers to the research questions. The results of the analyzed data were discussed and presented. The findings overwhelmingly support all the hypotheses and contribute to the field of marketing by exploring some issues that might be unique to the online shopping experience and add more to the body of literature on online service failure and recovery management. The managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are also presented.

The intensifying idea that AI soon will be a part of our everyday life allows for dreams about the complex relationship we one day could have with non-biological social intelligence. However, establishing societal and individual acceptance of AI-powered autonomy in disciplines built upon to the reliance to human competence raises a number of pressing challenges. One of them being, what system components will engender respectively counteract cognitive trust in socially oriented AI-automated processes?   This masters thesis tackles the seemingly ambiguous concept of trust in automation by identifying and evaluating system components that affect trust in a confined and contextualised setting. Practically, we design, construct and test an AI-powered chatbot, Ava, that contains socially oriented questions and feedback about study- and vocational guidance. Through a comparative study of different system versions, including both quantitative and qualitative data, we contribute to the framework for identifying and evaluating human trust in AI-Automated service encounters. We show how targeted alterations to design choices constituting the system components transparency, unbiasses and system performance, identified to affect trust, has consequences on the perception of the cognitive trust concepts integrity, benevolence and ability. Our results display a way of conduct for practitioners looking to prioritise and develop trustworthy autonomy. More specifically, we account for how cognitive trust is decreased when system opacity is increased. Moreover, we display even more concerning effects on trust due to micking contextual bias in the conversation agent.

Counterproductive employee behaviors are inevitable, unpredictable, and widespread in the U.S. retail industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore U.S. midlevel retail leadership strategies used to prevent and correct employee behaviors that sabotage quality service encounters. Gilbert's behavior engineering model, which links employee behaviors to performance, was the framework used in this study. The data-collection process comprised 7 semistructured interviews with midlevel retail leaders, online company documentation, and researcher observations and assisted in achieving methodological triangulation. Member checking ensured the accuracy of participant responses, while Moustakas' modified van Kaam method was used to guide the data analysis process. Making the customer service experience special, employee rudeness and bad attitudes, and leading by example were the primary emergent themes. The participants revealed key behavior intervention and corrective strategies prior to termination consisted of only 2 steps: coaching or 1-on-1 discussions and formal training. The findings of this study may contribute to retail business practices by expanding existing leadership strategies to engineer employee behaviors that produce consistent quality service encounters, empower employees, improve consumer satisfaction, and increase retail profitability and competitiveness. Resultant retailers' profitability and consumer satisfaction may contribute to social change by directly impacting the U.S. gross domestic product, local communal tax base, and reinforce human civility throughout the retail industry.

<p><strong>Problem: </strong>The nature of insurances, and indeed the customer-provider relationship in insurance services, lends itself to distinctive characteristics. These characteristics have particular implications on overall perceived service and relationship quality, and thus customer retention. The arguably singular characteristic of mutual mistrust prevalent in insurance service relationships, is a source for costs and lost profitability for insurance companies in Sweden. Bridging the “gap of mistrust”, potentially offered by a seemingly simple service, could entail significant benefits for both parties in an insurance service relationship.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Research Questions: </strong>Does the Aronda Service have the potential to improve a damage adjustment process in a provider-customer insurance service relationship?</p><p><strong> </strong></p><ul><li>Can a more effective damage adjustment process improve an insurance service relation between provider and customer?</li></ul><ul><li>To what extent do the providers perceive that the damage adjustment process is critical to a customer’s stay or switch decisions in an insurance service relationship? </li></ul><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The aim of the thesis is two-fold:</p><ol><li>The aim is to investigate and describe the impact of the damage adjustment process in customer relationships between the privately insured and property insurance companies in Sweden</li><li>And to assess, the potential of the Aronda Service to improve customer relations for insurance companies by improving (in terms of customer satisfaction) the damage adjustment process.</li></ol><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>A qualitative method with deductive reasoning was used. The highly contextual nature of customer-provider relationships was deemed, for the purpose of the study, best suited using a qualitative method. Data collection comprised of interviewing several professionals pertaining to the field of property insurance and damage adjustment, academic literature, peer-reviewed articles, and Ph.D. Dissertations.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Theoretical Approach: </strong>The theoretical approach is based on consolidation of widely used theories in the field of service and relationship in the “Critical episode on insurance relationships” perspective, presented by Mikael Gidhagen, Senior lecturer at Uppsala University, Sweden. Although the perspective is originally created for B2B relationships, proved great applicability and relevance.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Empirical foundation: </strong>The empirical foundation consisted of a number of interviews with respondents with extensive corporate and private insurance industry experience. The secondary empirical information was gathered from governmental, consumer services, and industry regulatory bodies’ websites and publications.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The uncovered prominent issues in insurance relationships between private individuals and property insurance service providers can at the very least be aided, if not solved, to the benefit of both parties by the proposed digital version of the Aronda “Black Box”. As the importance of documentation in more cases of insurance claims than not are paramount, and by decreasing the coverage knowledge gap of customers, facilitating a matching of service expectations and actual service delivery, customer satisfaction can be more readily achievable for insurance provider. A readily achievable level of customer satisfaction, in turn, means probably prolonged customer retention, and ultimately higher profitability for the insurance companies. As “it cost more to attract a customer, than it does to keep one.”</p><p><strong> </strong></p>

Problem: The nature of insurances, and indeed the customer-provider relationship in insurance services, lends itself to distinctive characteristics. These characteristics have particular implications on overall perceived service and relationship quality, and thus customer retention. The arguably singular characteristic of mutual mistrust prevalent in insurance service relationships, is a source for costs and lost profitability for insurance companies in Sweden. Bridging the “gap of mistrust”, potentially offered by a seemingly simple service, could entail significant benefits for both parties in an insurance service relationship.   Research Questions: Does the Aronda Service have the potential to improve a damage adjustment process in a provider-customer insurance service relationship?   Can a more effective damage adjustment process improve an insurance service relation between provider and customer? To what extent do the providers perceive that the damage adjustment process is critical to a customer’s stay or switch decisions in an insurance service relationship?   Purpose: The aim of the thesis is two-fold: The aim is to investigate and describe the impact of the damage adjustment process in customer relationships between the privately insured and property insurance companies in Sweden And to assess, the potential of the Aronda Service to improve customer relations for insurance companies by improving (in terms of customer satisfaction) the damage adjustment process. Methodology: A qualitative method with deductive reasoning was used. The highly contextual nature of customer-provider relationships was deemed, for the purpose of the study, best suited using a qualitative method. Data collection comprised of interviewing several professionals pertaining to the field of property insurance and damage adjustment, academic literature, peer-reviewed articles, and Ph.D. Dissertations.       Theoretical Approach: The theoretical approach is based on consolidation of widely used theories in the field of service and relationship in the “Critical episode on insurance relationships” perspective, presented by Mikael Gidhagen, Senior lecturer at Uppsala University, Sweden. Although the perspective is originally created for B2B relationships, proved great applicability and relevance.   Empirical foundation: The empirical foundation consisted of a number of interviews with respondents with extensive corporate and private insurance industry experience. The secondary empirical information was gathered from governmental, consumer services, and industry regulatory bodies’ websites and publications. Conclusion: The uncovered prominent issues in insurance relationships between private individuals and property insurance service providers can at the very least be aided, if not solved, to the benefit of both parties by the proposed digital version of the Aronda “Black Box”. As the importance of documentation in more cases of insurance claims than not are paramount, and by decreasing the coverage knowledge gap of customers, facilitating a matching of service expectations and actual service delivery, customer satisfaction can be more readily achievable for insurance provider. A readily achievable level of customer satisfaction, in turn, means probably prolonged customer retention, and ultimately higher profitability for the insurance companies. As “it cost more to attract a customer, than it does to keep one.”

Contexte L’aphasie, conséquence d’une lésion neurologique, est une difficulté à parler, comprendre, lire ou écrire. La diminution de qualité de vie des personnes vivant avec une aphasie (PVA) ne serait pas associée à la sévérité de l’aphasie, mais à leur participation - c’est à dire la façon dont une personne fonctionne dans la société. Les PVA réalisent moins d’activités sociales, et s’en montrent insatisfaites. Elles éprouvent de la difficulté à communiquer dans leurs échanges du quotidien, y compris avec des personnes non familières de la communauté comme les commis, serveurs, etc. Quand ces interactions sont jugées trop difficiles, les PVA peuvent en venir à éviter de communiquer avec d’autres interlocuteurs que leurs proches et s’enfermer dans un environnement de communication protégé mais limité. Ceci ne leur permet plus de s'engager dans la société autant qu’elles le souhaiteraient. En s’isolant ainsi, leur qualité de vie est menacée. Il est donc à la fois nécessaire et important de favoriser les interactions des PVA en dehors du domicile, ce qui est encore peu courant dans les interventions orthophoniques proposées en réadaptation. Pour cela, il faut pouvoir comprendre les situations dans lesquelles les PVA peuvent s'engager dans le cadre de leurs activités quotidiennes. Or peu d’écrits ont étudié en détail les situations d'interaction entre des PVA et les interlocuteurs non familiers de leur communauté. Objectif L’objectif de ce projet doctoral est de comprendre la situation d’interaction entre des PVA et des interlocuteurs non familiers de leur communauté. Méthodologie Trois études furent réalisées. - Nous avons effectué une première étude à visée exploratoire avec l'objectif de décrire, grâce à l'analyse de conversation, la structure de ces interactions de service récoltées auprès de 6 PVA (étude 1).  - À partir de la première étude et toujours grâce à l'analyse de conversation, nous avons réalisé une nouvelle étude, visant à décrire comment ces 6 PVA faisaient comprendre leurs requêtes lors des interactions de service malgré leur aphasie (étude 2). - Enfin, dans une troisième étude nous avons cherché à comprendre - avec une étude de cas - comment une personne dont l'aphasie était sévère vivait la situation d’interaction de service au quotidien (étude 3). Résultats Dans l'étude 1, nous avons décrit les situations d’interaction de service de la vie quotidienne (ISQ) pour les PVA, et en avons notamment relevé la structure en quatre étapes sur le plan de la communication. Les interlocuteurs doivent s’entendre sur : 1) leur disponibilité à réaliser l’interaction, 2) l’objet de l’achat, 3) son prix, 4) le fait que l’interaction commerciale est terminée. Cette étude a également révélé que : - Les étapes 1 et 4, au cours desquelles la PVA doit faire comprendre à l’interlocuteur qu’elle est prête à commencer / clore l’interaction, ne représentent pas de défi spécifique pour les PVA. - Les étapes 2 et 3 peuvent pour leur part représenter des défis sur le plan de la communication. L'étape 2 visant à faire comprendre à l’interlocuteur l’objet de l’achat ou de l’intérêt de la PVA, l’interaction sera facilitée si la PVA peut se servir elle-même ou pointer sur des supports visuels. L'étape 3 sera facilitée si le montant est visible au moment où la PVA prend connaissance du prix qu'elle doit payer. Cette première étude a ainsi permis de mieux circonscrire les sources de défis sur le plan de la communication pour les PVA lors d’interactions à la caisse. Dans la deuxième étude, nous nous sommes spécifiquement penchées sur l'étape 2 des interactions de service afin d'analyser comment les PVA font comprendre l’objet de leur intérêt à leurs interlocuteurs. Nous avons examiné comment la PVA exprimait sa requête, et comment l’interlocuteur y réagissait. Cette étude mit en lumière la façon dont les personnes vivant avec une aphasie même sévère pouvaient faire comprendre l’objet de leur requête lors des interactions de service en appuyant leur communication non verbale dans le contexte et l’environnement physique de l’interaction. Dans notre étude 3, nous avons montré que la participation aux interactions de service de la vie quotidienne (ISQ) semblait liée chez le participant de cette étude de cas à la confiance qu’il avait dans sa capacité à réaliser l’ISQ malgré son trouble du langage. Ce participant a démontré un éventail de savoir-être et savoir-faire lissant l’interaction là où l’aphasie aurait pu l’écorcher, lui permettant d'obtenir le bien ou le service qu'il désirait, tout en donnant l'image d'un bon client, et ce malgré son aphasie. Conclusions Les interactions de service représenteraient une situation de communication dans laquelle les PVA pourraient participer de façon autonome et efficace. Leur structure, contexte et environnement physique pourraient permettre d'appuyer la communication non-verbale des PVA, et la relation de service orienterait les interlocuteurs vers une collaboration dans l'échange. Il est possible pour les PVA - mêmes celles dont l'aphasie est sévère - d'avoir confiance dans leur communication dans les situations d’interactions de service avec des personnes non familières, et de participer dans leur communauté de façon plus satisfaisante. / Background Aphasia is a difficulty in speaking, understanding, reading or writing as a result of neurological damage. The quality of life of people living with aphasia (PLWA) is not related to the severity of aphasia, but to their participation - that is, how well a person functions in society. PLWA perform fewer social activities and are less satisfied with them. They find it difficult to communicate in their daily interactions, including with people unfamiliar within their community such as clerks, waiters, etc. They have difficulty communicating in their daily interactions. If these interactions are felt to be too difficult, PLWA may avoid communicating with people other than their relatives, and remain in a protected but limited communication environment. This does not allow them to engage in society as much as they would like. By isolating themselves this way, their quality of life is threatened. It is therefore important to encourage PLWA’s interactions outside their home, which is still uncommon in speech-language pathology interventions offered in rehabilitation. This requires an understanding of the situations in which PLWA may engage in their daily activities. However, there is little literature that has examined in detail the situations in which PLWA interact with unfamiliar people in their community. Objective The objective of this Ph.D. project is to understand the situation of interaction between PLWA and unfamiliar people within their community. Methodology Three studies were carried out. The first is an exploratory study whose objective is to describe through conversation analysis the structure of service encounters collected from 6 PLWA (study 1). Based on Study 1 and still using conversation analysis, we conducted a new study to describe how these 6 PLWA made their requests understood during service interactions despite their aphasia (study 2). Finally, in a third study we sought to understand with a case study how a person with severe aphasia experienced this communication situation in everyday life (study 3). Results In Study 1, we described the Daily Service Encounter (DSE) situations for PLWA, including the four-step communication structure. Interlocutors must agree on: 1) their availability to perform the interaction, 2) the purpose of the purchase, 3) the price, 4) that the business interaction is complete. This study also found that: -Steps 1 and 4, where the PLWA must make the interlocutor understand that they are ready to begin/end the interaction, do not present specific challenges for PLWA. -Steps 2 and 3 however may present communication challenges. Since Step 2 aims to make the clerk understand the purpose of the purchase, the interaction will be facilitated if PLWA can help themselves or point to visual aids. Step 3 will be facilitated if the price is visible when PLWA are ready to pay. This initial study thus made it possible to better identify the sources of communication challenges for PLWA at the checkout. In the second study, we specifically looked at Step 2 of the service interactions in order to analyze how PLWA make the clerks understand the purpose of their interest. We looked at how the PLWA expressed their request, and how the clerks responded to it. This study highlighted how PLWA – even severe aphasia - could make the subject of their request understood during service encounters by supporting their non-verbal communication in the context and physical environment of the interaction. In our third study, we found that participation in DSE appeared to be related - in this case study - to the confidence of the participant in his ability to perform the DSE despite his language impairment. This participant demonstrated a range of interpersonal skills and abilities that smoothed interaction where aphasia might have nicked it, enabling him to obtain the good or service he wanted, while still presenting the image of a good customer, despite his aphasia. Conclusion Service encounters provide communication situations in which PLWA could participate effectively. Their structure, context, and physical environment would support the non-verbal communication of PLWA, and the service relationship would direct the interlocutors towards collaborative exchange. It is possible for PLWA - even those with severe aphasia - to be confident in their communication with unfamiliar people in service encounters, and to participate in their community in a more satisfying manner.

Denna uppsats bidrar till forskningen om social och språklig kategorisering i interaktion genom att undersöka kategoriseringsmetoder i serviceinteraktioner. Uppsatsen undersöker vilka metoder personal, kunder och personal och kunder tillsammans använder sig av för att identifiera kunderna som pensionärer i samband med rabatt, samt vilka metoder som används för att hantera aspekter av kategoriseringen pensionär som inte har med serviceärendet i sig att göra. Teoretiskt och metodologiskt bygger undersökningen på Conversation Analysis (CA), Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA) och multimodal interaktionsanalys. Studiens data består av 18 videoinspelade, transkriberade samtal vid teaterkassor. I studien identifieras och analyseras tre metoder för kategorisering: alternativa kategorier, överlämnande självkategorisering och retrospektiv nyansering. Analysen av metoderna visar bland annat att olika typer av deltagare behandlar olika aspekter av kategoriseringen som olika känsliga och olika relevanta, att deltagarna orienterar sig mot kategoriseringen som ett gemensamt projekt och att det vid vissa skeden i de i för övrigt målfokuserade servicesamtalen finns utrymme för kunder som kategoriserats som pensionärer att ge uttryck för personliga nyanseringar och positioneringar i förhållande till kategorin pensionär.

[pt] Apesar de ser um assunto já discutido em outras áreas do conhecimento como Antropologia, Sociologia e Psicologia, o encontro entre indivíduos diferentes, no caso, consumidores diferentes em ambientes de serviços ainda é pouco discutido no Marketing. Nos últimos anos, as mudanças de ordem econômica e social provocaram o acesso de uma parcela significativa da população ao consumo, entre eles o consumo de educação privada, setor que tem se expandido cada vez mais no Brasil e que também ainda carece de estudos na área de Marketing e Comportamento do Consumidor. A tese, a partir de um estudo longitudinal de natureza qualitativa e interpretativa, se propõe a investigar a trajetória universitária de 22 jovens em Instituições de Ensino Superior privadas da região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro entre os anos de 2016 e 2020. Esses jovens foram entrevistados pelo menos duas vezes ao longo desse período e têm em comum o fato de serem originários da baixa renda. A maioria deles são os primeiros da família a ingressarem no ensino superior. Analisou-se a forma como estes jovens vivenciaram a experiência de consumir os serviços das universidades e também os relacionamentos interpessoais que ocorreram no ambiente universitário. A pesquisa apoia-se na literatura de marketing sobre encontro de serviços e interações entre clientes e também recorre à literatura de outras áreas do conhecimento. A partir da perspectiva dos jovens de baixa renda (outsiders) identificou-se o caráter simbólico da educação superior e como esses jovens atribuem significados a ela e buscam transferir esses significados para eles próprios. O caráter simbólico da educação superior permeia toda a trajetória universitária: no ingresso na universidade, na vivência do ensino superior no decorrer do curso, no momento da formatura, e na experiência uma vez concluída a universidade. Os resultados obtidos também mostram que a presença do outro no ambiente de consumo impacta a forma como aquele consumo é experienciado, principalmente em IES privada de elite. Essa interação é acompanhada por estranhamento, medo e construção de estereótipos. E também por aspectos positivos como as autodescobertas, mudanças na visão de mundo e novas concepções da vida. / [en] Despite being a topic already discussed in other areas of knowledge such as Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology, the encounter between different individuals, in this case, different consumers in service environments, is still little discussed in Marketing. In recent years, changes in the economic and social order have led to the access of a significant parcel of the population to consumption, including the consumption of private education, a sector that has been expanding more and more in Brazil and which also still needs studies in the area of Marketing and Consumer Behavior. The thesis, based on a longitudinal study of a qualitative and interpretative nature, proposes to investigate the university trajectory of 22 young people in private Higher Education Institutions in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro between the years 2016 and 2020. These young people were interviewed at least twice during that period and have in common the fact that they are from low income. Most of them are the first in the family to enter in higher education. I analyzed the way in which these young people experienced the experience of consuming university services and also the interpersonal relationships that occurred in the university environment. The research is based on the marketing literature on service encounter and interactions between customers and also draws on literature from other areas of knowledge. From the perspective of low-income youth (outsiders), the symbolic character of higher education was identified and how these youth attribute meanings to it and seek to transfer these meanings to themselves. The symbolic character of higher education permeates the entire university trajectory: when entering university, in the experience of higher education during the course, at the time of graduation, and in the experience once completed the university. The results obtained also show that the presence of the other in the consumption environment impacts the way that consumption is experienced, especially high-income Higher