• Management & Information Systems Review
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.45-71
• /
• 2011

This study aims at reviewing the effect of the non-verbal communication of salespersons at service encounter on customers' non-verbal communication and responses. The previous studies overlooked the correlation between salespersons' non-verbal communication and customers' non-verbal communication at service encounter, although non-verbal communication of salespersons has potentialities evoking customers' non-verbal communication and emotional responses in various ways. If it is a salesperson who a customer first encounters within a shop, the non-verbal communication of salesperson affects his/her non-verbal communication and these non-verbal communication affect his/her emotional responses, and these emotional responses affect his/her behavior. This phenomenon is based on the theory of emotional contagion, mimic, and face feedback. Therefore the non-verbal communication such as greetings, postures and eye-contact manners through the personal interactions between salespersons and customers, can be said to be an antecedent variable which affects the positive responses of customer. As a result of the study, the kinesic of salesperson's non-verbal communication was found to affect customers' non-verbal communication, and customers' non-verbal communication affect emotional responses experienced at service encounter, and customers' positive emotion affect customers' behavior responses. This result provides an opportunity which makes one turn eyes on salespersons' non-verbal communication at sales encounter both practically and scientifically, through introducing salespersons' non-verbal communication as an important factor which can enhance customers' positive responses but has been passed over by the previous studies.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.55-76
• /
• 2007

This study investigated the relationship between emotional contagion and altruistic behaviors and also examined the moderating effect of self-construals(independent and interdependent self) in this relationship. It was hypothesized that the emotional expression of people in need would be caught by others through automatic mimicry, that emotional information would be internalized through the facial-feedback process and that the transferred emotion would eventually result in a motive to call for altruistic behaviors. In Study 1, participants watched a video clip about a disabled student reporting difficulties in school life but showing facial expression opposite to the contents of message to separate emotional contagion and empathy. Participants' decision to participate in voluntary works for the disabled student was measured. As a result, it was found that the more participants experienced emotional contagion, the more they participated in altruistic behaviors. Study 2 measured the vulnerability to emotional contagion, actual experiences of altruistic behaviors, and self-construals. The results of hierarchical regression showed that interdependent self moderated the influence of emotional contagion on altruistic behaviors whereas independent self moderated the relationship in an opposite direction. The implications of emotion and altruistic behaviors in human evolution process are discussed.