This study presents an in-depth analysis of talk between Korean immigrant shopkeepers and their African-American customers in service encounters. The data were collected through 9 months of fieldwork in Korean immigrant-owned stores. Despite the widely publicized conflict and tension between African Americans and Korean immigrants in service encounters, the results of this study reveal frequent incidents of positive and harmonious encounters between the participants in the stores. The study argues that a disproportionate focus toward the negative and conflictive nature of African American-Korean interactions is evident in existing research in the field. The study claims that there exists an equally positive aspect of interactions between African-American customers and Korean shopkeepers during service encounter interactions that is obscured by prevailing research. This article focuses on describing this positive and friendly aspect of interactions realized through the participants’ use of specific rapport-building strategies.
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