This Customer is Complicated and Tedious!!!: Investigating Maxim Flouting and its Functions in Business E-mail Correspondence

Abstract

Email correspondence is a significant part of business transactions in the age of digital technology. Writers of business emails should therefore conform to the widely accepted etiquettes such as clarity, conciseness, politeness and relevance (Gimenez-Moreno, 2011). This can contribute to the success of business partnership in the long run. Interestingly, in the real world communication, all the etiquettes are not always observed because of different circumstances. Based on the framework of Grice’s Cooperative Principle and maxims (1975), the purpose of this research was to examine the functions of maxim flouting done by the relevant parties while discussing their business transactions. The data came from email correspondence among the three business partners: a Thai export company, a European sales representative and two European clients. The findings suggested that the correspondents flouted the four maxims to serve specific purposes: to prompt actions, to show sincerity, to show strong intimacy, and to exercise solidarity. I therefore concluded that breaking the maxims did not necessarily jeopardise business partnership. In contrast, it could even be beneficial to the parties involved.