1 Introduction
2 Literature review
2.1 The importance of nonverbal communication in sales
2.2 The effects of nonverbal communication on perceptions of charisma
2.3 The effects of nonverbal communication on customer responses
2.4 The relationship between nonverbal communication, perceived charisma, and customer responses
3 Empirical study
3.1 Research design and sample characteristics
3.2 Measurement
3.2.1 Measurement of nonverbal behaviors
Category/technology | Variables of interest/intuitive interpretation | Technical specifications |
---|---|---|
Body motion (3-axis accelerometer) | (a) Posture activity Small values indicate less posture activity (high values indicate high posture activity) | Mean energy of accelerometer signal |
(b) Posture (front/back) Small values indicate more forward lean (high values indicate upright position) | ||
(c) Posture (left/right) Small values indicate upright position (high values indicate sideward lean) | ||
Speech (microphone) | (d) Volume Small values indicate low volume (higher values indicate high volume) | Volume speech amplitude |
(e) Volume consistency Small values indicate a variation in loudness (high values indicate no variation in loudness) | Standard deviation | |
(f) Pitch Small values indicate a low pitch frequency (high values indicate a high pitch frequency) | Pitch frequency | |
Face-to-face interaction (infrared sensor) | (g) Total time of face-to-face interaction Small values indicate less time of face-to-face interaction (high values indicate more time of face-to-face interaction) | Badge is facing the other badge within a 30-degree cone and 6-ft distance |
Proximity (Bluetooth module) | (h) Total time of close proximity Small values indicate less time of close proximity (high values indicate more time of close proximity) | Badge is in close proximity to the other badge (less than 1 m) |
3.2.2 Measurement of customer responses
3.3 Results
3.3.1 Classification of nonverbal behaviors
Nonverbal variables (salespeople)
|
Total sample
|
Dynamic actives
|
Adhesive statics
|
p
level
| ||
Posture activity | 0.43 | 0.52 | 0.09 | < 0.01 | ||
Posture (front/back) | 0.59 | 0.54 | 0.76 |
n.s.
| ||
Posture (left/right) | 0.27 | 0.28 | 0.25 |
n.s.
| ||
Volume | 0.29 | 0.34 | 0.11 | < 0.01 | ||
Volume consistency | 0.52 | 0.44 | 0.79 | < 0.01 | ||
Pitch | 0.47 | 0.52 | 0.27 | < 0.01 | ||
Face-to-face | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.33 | < 0.01 | ||
Proximity | 0.25 | 0.16 | 0.59 | < 0.01 | ||
Nonverbal variables (customers)
|
Total sample
|
Dynamic actives
|
Adhesive statics
|
p
level
| ||
Posture activity | 0.46 | 0.53 | 0.17 | < 0.01 | ||
Posture (front/back) | 0.66 | 0.61 | 0.88 | 0.02 | ||
Posture (left/right) | 0.60 | 0.64 | 0.49 |
n.s.
| ||
Volume | 0.33 | 0.54 | 0.12 | 0.02 | ||
Volume consistency | 0.58 | 0.38 | 0.73 |
n.s.
| ||
Pitch | 0.50 | 0.53 | 0.35 | 0.07 | ||
Face-to-face | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.37 | < 0.01 | ||
Proximity | 0.25 | 0.16 | 0.66 | < 0.01 | ||
Profiling of clusters (salespeople)
|
Profiling of clusters (customers)
| |||||
Descriptives
|
Total
|
Dynamic actives
|
Adhesive statics
|
Total
|
Dynamic actives
|
Adhesive statics
|
Cluster size | 32 | 25 | 7 | 32 | 26 | 6 |
Gender (females) | 63% | 68% | 43% | 75% | 73% | 83% |
Age (mean) in years | 34 | 31 | 47 | 36 | 34 | 41 |
Age (range) in years | 21–56 | 21–49 | 38–56 | 18–71 | 18–71 | 22–67 |
Purchase frequency | 53% | 68% | 0% | 53% | 65% | 0% |
Median purchase amount | 34.95 € | 110.00 € | 0.00 € | 34.95 € | 95.00 € | 0.00 € |
3.3.2 Mediation analysis
Predictor variables | Direct effects | Indirect effects | Total effects | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unstandardized regression coefficient | p level | Confidence interval (a) | p level | ||||
Investigation of H1
| |||||||
Response variable: perceived charisma | |||||||
Dynamic actives | 2.38 | < 0.01 | |||||
R2 = 0.42 | F = 21.84 | < 0.01 | |||||
Investigation of H2 and H3
| |||||||
Response variable: attitude toward salesperson | |||||||
Dynamic actives | − 0.32 |
n.s.
| 2.36 | [1.44; 3.10] | 2.04 | < 0.01 | |
Per. charisma | 0.99 | < 0.01 | |||||
R2 = 0.89 | F = 114.20 | < 0.01 | κ2 = 0.73(b) | ||||
Response variable: perceived product quality | |||||||
Dynamic actives | − 0.41 |
n.s.
| 1.90 | [1.07; 2.98] | 1.49 | < 0.01 | |
Per. charisma | 0.80 | < 0.01 | |||||
R2 = 0.75 | F = 43.39 | < 0.01 | κ2 = 0.62 | ||||
Response variable: intention to recommend store | |||||||
Dynamic actives | 0.11 |
n.s.
| 2.63 | [1.57; 3.74] | 2.74 | < 0.01 | |
Per. charisma | 1.11 | < 0.01 | |||||
R2 = 0.90 | F = 136.49 | < 0.01 | κ2 = 0.71 | ||||
Response variable: purchase (yes/no) (c) | |||||||
Dynamic actives | 20.61 |
n.s.
| 5.93 | [1.73; 23.29] | 22.96 |
n.s.
| |
Per. charisma | 2.49 | 0.05 | |||||
R2 = 0.76 | χ2 = 27.05 | < 0.01 |