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2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition
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the manner information is exchanged and the outcome is communicated will impact on the quality of exchange
relationships (Smith, Bolton and Wagner, 1999).
Sundaram and Webster have developed a conceptual model with an attempt to highlight the role of
nonverbal communication in service interactions (Sundaram and Webster, 2000). The model suggests that both
verbal and nonverbal elements of communication between the service provider and the customer influence
customers' affect or subjective feelings, which in turn influence their evaluation of the service encounter. Sundaram
and Webster’s model groups multitude of nonverbal communication cues into four major categories: paralanguage,
kinesics, proxemics, and physical appearance. Bodily appearance is the first noticeable nonverbal communication
behavior and conveys specific information about a person’s character and social behavior (Breytenbach, 2001).
Kinesics entail all facial expressions, movements and eye contact and can be defined as the study of body
movements (Breytenbach, 2001). Paralanguage entails all forms of verbal communication, which are produced by
the voice. Proxemics refers to spatial relations of individuals (closeness/distance). Of particular interest here are the
two non-verbal communication variables of eye contact and body posture
i
. Eye contact and body posture have been
studied in numerous laboratory and natural settings but very few empirical studies were conducted in a service
recovery context. Studies on these kinesics variables show that taken in combination, “high” levels lead to both
greater liking of the sender of the message and greater agreement with the message itself (Mehrabian, 1972, cf.
Sommers et al. 1988). Eye contact with the individual in a service recovery context can be claimed as perhaps the
most important characteristic a frontline staff should have. Experts advise connecting with individuals rather than
letting the eyes sweep over the place without making an eye contact with the individual (Chaney and Green, 2006).
Eye contact, accompanied by a smile gives the impression that the staff is happy to be there. Posture is another
important aspect of nonverbal communication projecting a positive image when listening to/talking with a customer.
It is suggested that the extremes of being too stiff, which is perceived as being uptight, or too loose, which comes
across as sloppy or careless, should be avoided.
The model postulates that NVB influences customer emotions, which in turn influence their evaluations.
Emotions evoked due to service failure and subsequent recovery attempts are likely to be decisive in customers’
evaluations (Yuksel, 2006). Emotions - a positive or negative sensation that accompanies a reaction to a perceived or
remembered object, event, or circumstance, can influence the overall degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with
the service failure (Zeelenberg and Pieters, 2004). Due to disruption of the consumption experience, service failure
encounters can be a source of such negative emotions as anger and frustration (Bigne and Andreu, 2004; Nguyen
and McColl-Kennedy, 2003; Zeelenberg and Pieters, 2004). Sparks (2003) identified anger, pleasure and
embarrassment as three key affective responses representing typical feelings reported by customers. Unfavourable
outcome, poor quality of the interpersonal treatment and the level of service provider's defensiveness would evoke
anger in customers (Sparks, 2003). Embarrassment or feeling humiliated is another negative emotion that, broken
promises and under rewarding could evoke in customers. When the recovery is poor, verbal and/or nonverbal, this
may enflame customers’ negative emotions (Nguyen and McColl-Kennedy, 2003). Negative emotions are expected
to lead to more dissatisfaction, whereas positive emotions are expected to lead to more satisfaction (Zeelenberg and
Pieters, 2004). Zeelenger and Pieters (2004) report that specific emotions - regret and disappointment - have a
significant impact on satisfaction and subsequent consumer complaining behaviours. Regret was found to be directly
related to switching behaviour. They also found that the more customers experience regret, the more inert they were.
In another study, Chebat and Sluarsczyk (2003) identified a strong relationship between negative/positive emotions
and customers
’
exit and loyalty behaviours. They suggest that contact employees should be aware of the emotional
climate of customer's complaints and should be trained to monitor it. They state that even if the problem, which
triggered the complaint can be fixed, the customers do not necessarily remain loyal if the emotions are not properly
attended to. Most service failure/complaint handling studies however have not taken into account that failures and
subsequent recovery attempts, through perceived nonverbal cues, could trigger emotional responses in addition to
cognitive appraisal (Dolen et at., 2001; Yu and Dean, 2001).
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