Current research in service research and sociolinguistics proposes that customers who are served in their native language hold more favorable impressions of the service provider than customers served in their second language. This paper challenges that perspective. Two studies show that consumers served in their first language after initiating contact in a second language feel humiliated. The results show that consumers exhibit a backfire effect to the service provider’s language change, and this backfire effect is due to a perceived identity threat. Consumers who are served in their first language when trying to speak a second language assume the service provider doubts their language skills, causing perceived humiliation. As even minor variations in humiliation might have negative consequences for service providers, the findings carry important implications for both theory and practice
