Nonverbal Service Behavior and Customer's Affective Assessment

Abstract

Body language has its own words, sentences, and punctuation. Yet, despite its significance in service interactions, the effect of nonverbal behavior (NVB) on service recovery evaluations of customers has been inadequately examined in the tourism and hospitality literature. This study explored whether nonverbal behavior could alter customers' emotional reactions, their evaluation of service employees, and their behavioral intentions in a recovery situation. Compared with a closed body posture, an open body posture accompanied by appropriate eye contact resulted in more positive emotions and favorable perceptions about the service employee. Service employees who displayed positive NVB were found by customers to be highly credible, competent, courteous, and trustworthy. Effects of NVB on behavioral intentions differed significantly as a result of the type of the NVB expressed by the service employee. These findings have significant implications for the hotel and hospitality industry.

Keywords:

• Service recovery
• complaint management
• nonverbal behavior
• emotions

Notes

1. This study tests effects of kinesics on service recovery evaluations. It is important to note that nonverbal responses of service employee may be shaped by customers’ verbal and/or nonverbal communication.

2. Analyses of comparison between verbal and nonverbal cases will be discussed in another paper.