Understand that services operate in social dimensions beyond mere functionality. Service outcomes affect your face (面子)—your standing, reputation, and how others perceive you. Services that make you look good, that contribute to visible success, that enhance your standing succeed on dimensions beyond technical delivery. Services that cause embarrassment, that damage your reputation, that make you look bad fail on important dimensions even if technically adequate.
Good providers understand these face considerations and orient their service accordingly. When selecting providers for situations where face matters—events visible to important others, decisions that will be judged socially, contexts where reputation is at stake—weight this dimension appropriately. Communicate face considerations to providers when relevant; good providers will understand and respond.
Comments