Smile and the World Smiles Back at You - Essay Example

Smile and the World Smiles Back at You: But Will a in a Retail Store of San Francisco Smile and the World Smiles Back at You: But Will a Customer in a Retail Store As noted by Babin, Babin, and Boles (1999), "in retailing contexts where there is considerable contact with the salesperson, the customer-salesperson dyad is the primary determinant of how the customer views the retailer/dealer." They continue, "retail salespeople can have a strong influence on customer purchase decisions." Since purchases keep retailers in business, making sure salespeople get the best "return on investment" for every minute spent with a customer - from first impression to assisting the customer to finalizing the sale (or losing the customer) - is critical. There are countless variables that can interfere with the customer-salesperson relationship that the salesperson cannot control. There is one area the salesperson can control, though - how they use nonverbal communication to demonstrate genuine interest in the customer. According to Grandey, Fisk, Matilla, Jansen, and Sideman (2005a), it is particularly important to appear both competent and likeable in making a good impression. Any part of the body can be used in nonverbal communication. However, one part, the face, is the most expressive. Various parts of the face and how they are used are strong ways of communicating: eye contact, frowning, dropping one's jaw, pouting, crying, smiling, and more. Though each of these topics can be a paper in and of themselves, it is the last - smiling - that will be the focus of this paper, specifically its role in retail sales. The paper will look at two factors: 1) Whether the salesperson smiled at a new customer as a function of whether the salespersons' previous customer interaction resulted in a sale or not and, 2) Whether the different conditions (smile/no-smile) led to a visibly different response (positive/engaged or negative/distanced) from the new customer. Further detail on the research hypotheses will be presented at the end of this section. There is a lot of literature on nonverbal communication and smiling. The words of Grandey et al. (2005a) therefore should be repeated, "All smiles are not created equal." Specifically, there are two distinctly different "types" of smiles: Duchenne and non-Duchenne. Duchenne smiles use specific muscles around the cheeks and the eyes, and raise the cheeks. Some authors refer to these as a "felt" or "authentic" smiles, and they are consistently preferred by observers to the non-Duchenne smile as reported by Ekman, 1992; Ekman & Friesen, 1982; and Frank, Ekman, & Friesen, 1993 (as cited in Grandey et al. 2005a). This division, while valuable for some research, also makes comparing research studies difficult as not all studies detail the "type" of smile of the person being observed. In addition, not all researchers are knowledgeable in the differences between the two types and how to assess if a subject (i.e. observed salesperson during field study) exhibited one or the other. However, given the many references to the two types of smiles, it is important to discuss the two types here. Swinyard (2003) completed a complex, multi-hypotheses study on the effect of salesperson mood, shopper behavior, and customer service looking at two store types (department store, discount store). He did not, however, articulate how "mood" was shown in the study, thus introducing complications, such as whether a smile (seemingly evidence of a good mood) was Duchenne or non-Duchenne, and the possible impact that might have had. Expectedly, he found that "store salespeople in a good mood will provide better customer service than those in a bad mood." This may seem to be a statement of the obvious, but "better customer service" is a hallmark of successful companies, particularly as he cited, Nordstrom. "Better customer service" does not always have to be complicated, it can be a genuine smile and a warm greeting. Hall and Horgan (2003) substantiate the benefits of smiling. They write, "Smiling is not only believed by observers to reflect happiness, research also indicates that smiling is actually associated with happiness and positive effects." Considering this, a smiling salesperson would be perceived to be happier than one not smiling, likely eliciting a more positive response from the customer, hopefully satisfying both the customer and the retailer. Although there does not appear to be any literature that currently that looks specifically at the impact of a smile from a salesperson on a customer, from analyzing relevant works, it appears a salesperson's smile can, but may not always, have a positive effect on a customer. Probably one of the most overused phrases in American service industries is "Service With a Smile." Unfortunately, Service With a Smile went from being the title of a 1961 P.G. Wodehouse novel set in Great Britain to salespersons being sent to "smile school" (Curtis, 1998 as cited in Grandey et al., 2005a) if they did not display an appropriate image as defined by management. Indeed, Grandey, Fisk, and Steiner (2005b), in their article aptly titled, "Must 'Service With a Smile' Be Stressful The Moderating Role of Personal Control for American and French Employees," discussed the perils to employees of "response-focused emotion regulation" They define response-focused behavior as "modifying behavior once emotions are experienced by suppressing, faking, or amplifying an emotional response." For example, having to always have a cheek-to-cheek grin when this is not consistent with the salesperson's internal feelings. They also noted, "expressions are what influence the observer (in this case, the customer or client)." If the employee is stressed or knowingly faking their emotional state, this can be evident to customers, and it is unlikely customers will respond well to feeling duped or patronized. Grandey et al. (2005a) concluded, "This research has been important to identify that a smile does not always have positive effects on observers; it depends on the authenticity of the smile." They did focus on Duchenne/non-Duchenne smiles, finding subjects were not as favorable about the non-Duchenne smiles as the Duchenne. It is worth noting that the Grandey et al. (2005a) study, though not undertaken as field research, did involve both social and economic elements. To address the need for field-based research looking at the impact of nonverbal communication specifically in retail, for this project a team of students will visit several retail stores to observe and monitor specific aspects of salespersons' nonverbal communication. This project will focus on smiling by the salesperson and its proposed impact on more positive customer interactions. As previously described, the project will involve observation of a salesperson following a customer interaction. The observer (student) will note if the salesperson's first customer interaction was a sale or not. Hypothesis 1 states, "If the salesperson's first customer made a purchase, the salesperson will be in a mood where they are more likely to smile and will exhibit this with a smile." Given the inability for major controls over subjects, it is important to track what might induce a salesperson's mood when seeing a new customer. Hypothesis 2 states, "If the salesperson does smile at the second customer, the customer will respond positively/engaged, as opposed to negatively/distanced (the condition without a smile). As noted, field research does have limitations, as does research on a topic where culture is a consideration. Matsumoto and Kudoh (1993) discuss the differences between Americans and Japanese in interpreting smile faces. Grandey et al. (2005b) contrast French and Americans, looking at service expectations. They include a quote from Hallowell et al., (as cited in Grandey et al. 2005b) where the French refer to the service culture in the United States as "la culture Mickey Mouse." Other authors such as DePaulo have looked at the many other issues that are important when looking at differences in smiling or responding to a smile such as gender. The literature to date has focused on important aspects of smiling as an aspect of nonverbal communication. This project will begin to merge existing theory and data pertaining to smiling and customer service as it relates specifically to the retail environment. References Babin, L.A., Babin, B.J., & Boles, J.S. (1999). The effects of customer perceptions of the salesperson, product and dealer on purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 6, 91-97. Curtis, K. (1998). Smiley face out of place at Safeway, workers say. The Oregonian, p. 3 DePaulo, B.M. (1992). Nonverbal behavior and self-presentation. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 203-243 Ekman, P. (1992). Facial expressions of emotion: New findings, new questions. Psychological Science, 3, 34-38. Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (1982). Felt, false, and miserable smiles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 6, 238-252. Frank, M.G, Ekman, P., & Friesen, W.V. Behavioral markers and recognizability of the smile of enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 83-93. Grandey, A.A., Fisk, G.M., Mattila, A.S., Jansen, K.J., & Sideman, L.A. (2005a). Is "service with a smile" enough Authenticity of positive displays during service encounters. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 96, 38-55. Grandey, A.A., Fisk, G.M., & Steiner, D.D. (2005b). Must "service with a smile" be stressful The moderating role of personal control for American and French employees. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 893-904. Hall, J.A. & Horgan, T.G. (2003). Happy affect and smiling: Is their relation moderated by interpersonal power Emotion, 3, 303-309. Matsumoto, D. & Kudoh, T. (1993). American-Japanese cultural differences in attributions of personality based on smiles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 17, 231-243. Swinyard, W.R. (2003). The effects of salesperson mood, shopper behavior, and store type on customer service. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 10, 323-333. Read More