An investigation of salespeople’s nonverbal behaviors and their effect on charismatic appearance and favorable consumer responses

Abstract

The concept of charisma has gained considerable interest among social scientists in multiple disciplines. Nevertheless, research on charisma in the marketing field is scarce, and little is known about which specific nonverbal behaviors predict perceived charisma and lead to positive consumer responses. Therefore, the aim of this article is to identify nonverbal behaviors that lead to a salesperson's perceived charisma in a personal selling context by means of high-precision, time-locked coding. This research explores aspects of body language that differentiate salespeople from each other and investigates whether such differences are antecedents of perceived charisma. The findings indicate that certain arm actions, arm postures, and action functions have a significant effect on charismatic appearance and can in turn produce favorable attitudes toward the salesperson.

A wearable sales assistant: capturing dynamic nonverbal communication behaviors using sensor technology

“…Given their appeal, individuals who are perceived as more charismatic gain more attention and are more likable (Heide 2013), which in turn most likely leads to approachability behaviors. Customers' attraction to salespeople who they perceive as charismatic may also increase their attitude toward the salesperson (Pauser, Wagner and Ebster 2018). Sy, Choi, and Johnson (2013) confirm this mediating role of perceived charisma between nonverbal communication and outcome variables in a leadership context.…”

A Model of Sustainable Consumer Behaviour, Personal Development, and Attitudes Toward Marketing

“…Consumer attitude toward salespeople can be defined as response to salespeople in general in either a favorable or unfavorable manner (Brown, 1995). Communication ability (Pauser, et al, 2018) and education (Halperin and Hall, 1974) are linked to more positive consumer attitudes toward salespeople. A reputation of high-level consumer ethics improves attitudes toward salespeople (Baer, 1990;DeCarlo, 2005), as does a good reputation of the company employing the salesperson (Brown, 1995).…”

Is beauty more than skin deep? Attractiveness, power, and nonverbal presence in evaluations of hirability

“…One reason for this is that effective nonverbal communication is a powerful means of motivating or influencing others (Darioly & Mast, 2013). Supervisors who employ nonverbal immediacy elicit stronger satisfaction and perceptions of credibility from subordinates (Teven, 2007), and salespeople who demonstrate effective nonverbal behaviors in sales talks are perceived as more charismatic, leading to positive customer responses (Pauser et al, 2018). Nonverbal behaviors also foster the development of high-quality relationships (Bonaccio et al, 2016), and aid employees in producing appropriate emotional displays (which are associated with beneficial organizational outcomes such as customer satisfaction; e.g., Grandey et al, 2005).…”