Personalization in Lower Class Consumer Interaction

Lower class buyer-seller interaction is examined in 13 types of local consumer establishments to determine whether primary type relationships emerge. Of the 4,324 interactions studied, 492 or 11.4 percent are construed as Friendships. Of the three variables introduced to account for variation in Friendship, “frequency” of interaction picks up 50 percent of explained variance, “intensity” of interaction 38 percent, and locational “accessibility” of establishment four percent. Since those interactions which exhibit high intensity and low frequency occur in service relationships that involve expert others, it is hypothesized that friendship is a protective device used by the defenseless consumer to change the normative ground of interaction from universalism to particularism.