Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
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to be at least as important as the verbal components of interpersonal communication in shaping the outcome of 
employee-customer interactions (Barnum and Wolniansky, 1989; Burgoon et al., 1990, cf. Sundaram and Webster, 
2000). According to Mehrabian, nearly half of the variations in response to interpersonal communication can be 
attributed to nonverbal factors (Mehrabian, 1981, Barnum and Wolniansky, 1989, cf. Sundaram and Webster, 2000; 
Sommers et al., 1988). Furthermore, studies show that verbal interactions need the support of non-verbal 
communications (Sommers et al., 1988).
Departing from inadequate research on this subject, this article explores whether nonverbal communication 
in the form of body posture and eye contact could effect customers’ perceptions of service personnel’s affective 
qualities, customer emotions and their behavioral intentions in a service recovery situation. The following is divided 
into three sections. The first section undertakes a review on customer complaint behavior and nonverbal 
communication. The second section presents details of the methodology followed in the study. The final section 
discusses research findings in the light of previous results.