SYMPOSIUM

LANGUAGE IN WEBCARE: INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES

Third edition

We are pleased to announce the third edition of the symposium on Language in Webcare: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (two days), which will be held in person at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in Austria on Thursday, July 2 and Friday, July 3, 2026.

Call for papers

Digital business communication has witnessed a constant increase since the introduction of new digital media in the mid- to late-2000s, including social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter as well as photo- and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. At the same time, research on digital business communication has been streamlined through the introduction of the webcare framework, targeting in particular the study of online interactions with (complaining) consumers (van Noort and Willemsen 2012). Since then, more than a decade has passed and it is time to assess where we stand in webcare research. How have recent technological advancements, such as AI and the use of chatbots, influenced digital business communication? What advantages do these developments entail and what are some of the challenges businesses face as a consequence? Which role does multimodality play in webcare interactions? To what extent do recent findings in webcare research contribute to shaping the field and its focus? Are we entering the next phase of webcare and webcare reasearch – the era of webcare 3.0? This symposium aims to address these next steps in webcare research. Based on the findings that webcare reasearch has uncovered over the last ten years, it aims to pave the way for the future of webcare. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, combining theories and methods from linguistics, service-oriented marketing, and public relations, this symposium aims to bring together scholars in language, communication, and marketing studies who all share an interest in the linguistic, communicative and multimodal intricacies of online service management. With this theme in mind, we would like to invite submissions that focus on (responses to) consumer reviews and complaints, webcare and/or online crisis communication from different theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Submission

We kindly invite proposals for 20-minute presentations (plus 10-minute discussions). Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words long (excluding references), written in English, and submitted in PDF format to webcare2026@wu.ac.at (Email subject line: Webcare Symposium 2026: Abstract submission). The deadline for receipt of abstracts is November 1, 2025. You will receive a notification of acceptance by December 15, 2025. For all enquiries regarding the symposium, please contact us via: webcare2026@wu.ac.at