Scott Motyka

The value of knowing what customers really want: The impact of salesperson ability to read non-verbal cues of affect on service quality

Abstract Despite recognition of the importance of the retail environment to customer experience, relatively little systematic research considers how social environmental cues might affect this experience. Two experimental studies test the relationship between salesperson ability to read customer affect and perceived service quality between two samples of student participants. Consistent with the hypotheses, when a salesperson demonstrates an ability to read customer affect, customers perceive higher service quality (Study 1). Interestingly, it seems these effects hold only for customers who interact with the salesperson and not for those who observe an interaction between a salesperson and another customer (Study 2). For each study, participants imagined they were customers and judged scenarios that depicted a salesperson demonstrating ability or inability to read non-verbal cues to customer affect.

The Evolution and Future of Retailing and Retailing Education

The pace of retail evolution has increased dramatically, with the spread of the Internet and as consumers have become more empowered by mobile phones and smart devices. This article outlines significant retail innovations that reveal how retailers and retailing have evolved in the past several decades. In the same spirit, the authors discuss how the topics covered in retail education have shifted. This article further details the roles of current technologies, including social media and retailing analytics, and emerging areas, such as the Internet of things, machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and robotics, all of which are likely to change the retail landscape in the future. Educators thus should incorporate these technologies into their classroom discussions through various means, from experiential exercises to interactive discussions to the reviews of recent articles.