high touchn.adj.
/hʌɪ ˈtʌtʃ/, U.S. /ˌhaɪ ˈtətʃ/ A. n.
Chiefly Business. Human contact or interaction, esp. as a means of compensating for the impersonal or dehumanizing aspects of technology; the personal touch; (now chiefly) spec. highly personalized customer service or support; direct personal contact with customers, clients, etc.Originally in or with reference to the work of John Naisbitt (1929–2021), U.S. futurologist and author. Usually contrasted with high-tech.
ΚΠ
1980 J. Naisbitt New Econ. & Polit. Order in Vital Speeches 1 July 557/2 The American society is moving in dual directions of high tech/high touch. The introduction of every new technology is accompanied by a compensatory human response—or the new technology is rejected.
1982 J. Naisbitt Megatrends ii. 46 Talking with people via television cannot begin to substitute for the high touch of a meeting, no matter how rational it is in saving fuel and overhead.
1997 R. J. Swansburg in R. C. Swansburg Budgeting & Financial Managem. for Nurse Managers iv. 144 Helping nurses provide high touch while using high-tech should be a primary goal of nurse managers.
2005 Wired Feb. 72/3 High touch involves the capacity to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one's self and to elicit it in others.
B. adj.
1. Chiefly Business. Of a service provided to a customer, client, etc.: highly personalized; specifically tailored to individual needs; (also) involving or relying on direct personal contact, instead of or in addition to the use of technology.
ΚΠ
1980 Amer. Banker 15 Sept. 25/1 Personalized banking in the automated age will require ‘high touch’ technology allowing customers to communicate on more intimate levels.
1996 Mortgage Banking Dec. Although technology will vastly speed and simplify the process, homebuying, selling and financing will remain largely a ‘high-touch’ activity.
2005 E. Seidman & J. Tescher in N. P. Retsinas & E. S. Belsky Building Assets, Building Credit xiii. 337 Finding the right balance between high-tech delivery and high-touch service, while also keeping costs low, will be important.
2. Of an object, surface, etc.: regularly touched by many different people, and therefore likely to be contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or other infectious agents.
ΚΠ
1994 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) 15 Aug. v. 3/5 Wipe down ‘high touch’ surfaces often. ‘As a doctor and a mom, I know how quickly illness can spread among family members,’ she says.
2013 PR.com (Nexis) 23 May Every day high-touch devices in the home are exposed to millions of germs brought in by [the] family.
2020 i (Nexis) 4 July 15 Every car is thoroughly disinfected between each rental, making sure that high-touch areas—such as the steering wheel, gear stick, handles..—are completely..safe before each use.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2022).
<
n.adj.1980