Salespeople think physical interaction with a customer will be awkward, but the customer does not think the same and will actually spend more if they are touched, according to research from BI Norwegian Business School.
Professor Anders Gustafsson and colleagues conducted a series of studies examining the effects of asking individuals to initiate touch in a service encounter. The first two studies asked participants to act as a salesperson with some being instructed to touch the upper arm of a customer. Those instructed to touch exhibited higher levels of stress and perceived the situation to be more awkward than those not instructed to touch.
The third study involved telling participants they were going to act as the server in a restaurant. Some participants were provided with the information that touching the upper arm of a customer is a good way to connect. They then answered a questionnaire before being told they wouldn’t actually be interacting with anyone. When given the suggestion to touch, participants believed interaction would be more awkward, expected the customer would feel worse, and were concerned customers would think they are being inappropriate.
