| Author: | Islam, Mohammad Shahidul |
| Title: | Nonverbal communication in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation |
| Advisors: | Kirillova, Ksenia (SHTM) Xiao, Honggen (SHTM) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Subject: | Nonverbal communication Body language Hotels -- Employees Customer relations Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | xvi, 305 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Different from verbal interaction, nonverbal communication comprises expressive emotions, subtle cues, or gestures, that customers and service providers (e.g., hotel employees) mutually detect and decode. Like verbal cues, these signs can induce a change in attitude, belief, or behavior and shape individuals' mutual experiences. On the basis of such co-creation potential of nonverbal communication, this study refers to service-dominant (S-D) logic to utilize its principles (i.e., co-creation process). The logic suggests that interactional value or value in exchange that occurs in guest-employee dyads triggers experiences. Thus, these values must (1) be nested within the broad organizational structure, such as operant resources (combination of knowledge and skills; e.g., employees' interaction expertise), philosophy, and culture; and (2) influence service delivery and customer perception of service quality. Nonetheless, explorations of nonverbal communication, which is an effective tool of guest-employee engagement, have been academically overlooked and practically underemphasized in the hospitality industry. Such explorations shed light on high-quality interactions (i.e., the psychological value of relationships in guest-employee dyads) and economic leverage. Therefore, given the importance of high-quality interactions in hotels for the sake of memorable experiences for guests, the co-creation potential of nonverbal communication in the hospitality industry should be explored in addition to the widely known phenomenon of co-creation principles between consumers and firms (i.e., information technology, computer software, and website and online reservation within hotels). The current study focuses on the dyadic kinesic (i.e., body language) interactions between frontline employees and customers in the hotel lobby as a unit of analysis. Kinesics is the most dominant and noticeable component of nonverbal communication. Particularly, this study seeks to (1) identify the dimensions of kinesic experiences of hotel guests and employees during face-to-face interactions; (2) identify kinesic cues that engage hotel guests and employees in terms of co-creation of experience during face-to-face interactions; and (3) outline the process that underlies kinesics-based experience co-creation between guests and employees in hotels. Given the exploratory nature of this study, a qualitative approach was adopted with the implementation of a constructivist stance as a research paradigm. This study underwent two phases. In Phase I, covert nonparticipant observation was performed in lobbies of eight full-service hotels in Hong Kong to develop and design stimulus video scenarios. Three videos of guest-employee encounters were produced in total, that is, (1) an employee greets a guest at the front door, (2) interaction with a lobby greeter, and (3) check-in. Hospitality and tourism graduate students were hired and trained to enact typical kinesics scenarios, which were video-recorded and later acted as video stimuli in Phase II. Four video elicitation focus group discussions (FGDs) of more than 11 hours were conducted with 12 hotel employees and 12 guests in Phase II. Each focus group consisted of three employees and three guest participants recruited based on purposeful sampling. Hotel employees had at least two years of frontline experience in a full-service hotel in Hong Kong, and guests stayed in a similar type of hotel in the previous six months across the world. Inductive six-step thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. All FGDs were video-recorded and transcribed verbatim into English. Findings of this study provide a rich description of the phenomenon of experience co-creation in hotel guest-employee dyads by concerning its core dimensions of experience together; that is, how the dimensions of kinesic experience that occurred between hotel guests and employees during face-to-face interactions, such as (1) reciprocity ((i) mutual recognition, (ii) exchanged insights, and (iii) expectation formation) and (2) engagement ((i) customized attention, (ii) building relationship, and (iii) sense of affinity) are unearthed concerning the co-creation process attributed in employees' imperative and guests' complacent expressiveness. In reciprocity, hotel guests and employees experienced interaction in a mutually beneficial manner to fulfill expected objectives and build kinesic experience. In engagement, guests and employees were motivated to build a relational foundation of loyalty to each other in moderating the means to foster mutual relationships. Findings of this study further depict their dyadic engagement process in terms of experience co-creation. Hotel employees and guests articulated imperative kinesics expressions (i.e., exhibiting willingness to help and understanding needs and requirements toward guests) and complacent kinesics expressions (i.e., exhibiting satisfaction, no complaints, and anxiety toward employees), respectively, by decoding (affective, affiliative, and cognitive) the motives. They seemed interested to co-create their experience while perceiving value in kinesic exchange (i.e., sense of safety, confirmation of pleasurable moments, less workload, and a deep relationship). This study contributes to the empirical literature in the hospitality domain by enriching our understanding of nonverbal communication in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation. It also extends the discourse on operant resources management in the S-D logic in the pursuit of employees' interaction competencies to develop and succeed experience co-creation practices in hotels. In terms of practical implications, hotel managers may take insights from this study as reference points. Particularly, the styles of recognizing guests, letting guests judge the value of interaction, fulfilling guests' kinesic expectation, adapting kinesic measures for guests' favorable feelings, and enhancing and fostering relationship with guests through kinesics exchange are the central elements of guests' memorable experience. Hotel managers may also understand the effects of kinesic cues by specifically understanding the method of employees' imperative or necessary kinesic expressions in pursuit of managing and promoting their hospitality experience co-creation explicitly and effectively. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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