Giving advice on a consumer‐run warm line: Implicit and dilemmatic practices

Consumer‐run warm lines are typified by a dilemmatic ideology, consisting of contrary themes, that leads to working consumers putting forth advice in implicit ways. Using conversation analysis, I describe features of 3 methods working consumers used to put forth options for clients to act upon: incorporating a solution within a query; sharing one's own problems and solutions; and merely giving information about a solution. These methods tied to contrary themes by fitting the form [speaker appears to be doing X while also doing Y], where X and Y related to contrary themes. By carefully combining a relevant theory with conversation analysis, this study further illustrates the complexity and situated nature of advice‐giving, and connects interactional features with organizational goals.