Nonverbal communication in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elservier
Abstract
Although the Service-Dominant Logic literature hinted on the importance of nonverbal language for value cocreation, nonverbal communication as an experience co-creation component has not been explicitly addressed
in either hospitality and tourism or general management context. Through the constructivist lens, this research
focuses on kinesics, which is the most noticeable component of nonverbal communication, in hotels as a medium
of experience co-creation in the guest-employee dyad. Four video-elicitation focus groups, with 12 hotel em
ployees and 12 guests, found reciprocity (mutual recognition, insight exchange, expectation formation) and
engagement (customized attention, relationship building, a sense of affinity) as two major dimensions of kinesic
experience. Furthermore, employees’ imperative and guests’ complacent cues act as value triggers, contributing to
experience co-creation between guests and employees. Based on empirical results and related literature, the
framework of experience co-creation centred on kinesics is proposed; practical implications regarding frontline
employees’ nonverbal communication competencies are discussed.
Description
Tourism Management 87 (2021) 104363
Keywords
Kinesics,Experience co-creation,Service-dominant logic,Video elicitation,Customer engagement,Hotel services