Importance of nonverbal communication in hospitality industry

COURSEWORK 2

“NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION LEADING TO PERCEPTION:

THE INTERSECTION OF RELIGION AND GENDER IN HOSPITALITY

INDUSTRY”

Date of submission:

8th of March, 2021

Words of count: 2,826

Written by:

Michelle Marvin (739615)

Victoria Trinanda Millenia (739849)

Ylva Louise Banelind (740522)

Submitted to:

Dr. Evelina Gillard

Social Psychology

PSY350

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

INTRODUCTION 2

BODY OF CONTENT 3 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION LEADING TO PERCEPTION 3 GUEST-EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION 5 GENDER 7 RELIGION 9

CONCLUSION 12

REFERENCES 14

INTRODUCTION

Existing in the hospitality field requires people to easily meet and connect with hundreds,

thousands, and even millions of people in a day. This industry predominantly uses verbal and

non-verbal communication to interact with their customers, clients, colleagues, and partners

(Sundaram and Webster, 2000). However, in this fast-paced world of the service, non-verbal

communication often creates different signals that intrigued people to build perceptions in their

minds especially in zero acquaintance cases or first encounter scenarios (Vinciarelli Et al., 2012).

Perception in hospitality also occurs a lot from the guest's side to the employee’s side and vice

versa.

Non-verbal communication often creates a perception especially when it intersects with religion

and gender (Islam and Kirillova, 2020). This paper will help people to understand better how

non-verbal communication could create a perception between employees and guests in

hospitality sectors especially when it intersects with gender and religion.

BODY OF CONTENT

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION LEADING TO PERCEPTION

There are 4 common ways for people to communicate and build their connections (Sen, 2007).

Firstly, is verbal/spoken communication which allows people to talk face to face, calls, etc.

Secondly, it is non-verbal communication where people communicate through facial expression,

body language, etc. The third one is the written communication where people usually write

comments in social media, letters, books, etc. Lastly is the visualizations, it is communication

through charts, maps, logos, etc.

Several types of non-verbal communication are important to pay attention to in this industry.

Firstly, it is Kinesics which means movements that include body gestures, facial expression, and

eye contact (Islam and Kirillova, 2020). Secondly is Haptics, which represents touch by any

means. There are different types of touch in non-verbal communication including professional,

social manner, friendship, love-intimacy, and sexual-desire touch (Schutte et al., 2010). The third

one is paralinguistic, which represents the vocal communication that indicates how loud people

speak, intonation, pitch, etc. Lastly is gaze, which is an important non-verbal communication

skill that is needed in this industry (Mandal, 2014). By looking at the people it could reflect their

emotion, feelings, interest, and more.

People sometimes neglect the importance of non-verbal communication. Thus, non-verbal

communication is crucial to truly analyze one’s behavior. Non-verbal behavior can identify not

only people’s outer condition but also their inner condition (Kassin et al., n.d.). Therefore,

non-verbal communication means a lot more than it seems. In this industry, we are expected to

act and react by just analyzing the guest's gestures and cues. Sometimes, it added an extra point

for the hospitality industry workers that could know what the guest wants without them saying it

out loud (Gabbott and Hogg, 2000). That is why it is really important to have a good

understanding of non-verbal communication to be attentive and detailed in this industry.

Therefore, when people just analyze one’s behavior without exactly really knowing what they

want, who they are, and what their expectations are, sometimes it projects certain perceptions in

their minds. Perception is a process where people formed an impression towards others through

several stimuli (Vinciarelli Et al., 2012). Gender and religion are common factors that make

people build a perception in their mind without even communicating verbally. As an example,

according to the research that is conducted in Dhaka with 384 hotel guests' feedback, the effects

of religion with non-verbal communication perception depends also on its gender (Islam and

Kirillova, 2020). One of the reasons why people are easily made perceptions of these factors, is

because these factors are really visible from the eyes. After finding that gender and religion are

affecting the perception in a nutshell, it would be explained even further from guest employees'

perception in the hospitality industry.

GUEST-EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION

Communication is one of the key skills a hospitality employee should possess to be seen as

well-trained and experienced personnel. According to some researchers, hospitality employees

must be proficient in both verbal and non-verbal communication (Islam and Kirillova, 2020).

Furthermore, interpersonal skills and high-quality guest interaction are other skills that an

employer often looks for in an employee when considering recruitment. Unlike verbal

communication, non-verbal communication obtains specific indications that are recognized and

decoded by both guests and employees. When looking through the perspective of the employees,

non-verbal messages generated by the guests may consist of certain information that will be

valuable for the employee to use for reciprocity and the other way around. Moreover, one should

not forget about the non-verbal behavior amongst employees and guests’ perception of it. This

non-verbal aspect between employee and guest interaction is often forgotten and there has been

little academic research on this type of perception (Islam and Kirillova, 2020).

The research examined at a restaurant in Hong Kong has found that guests easily pick up on

non-verbal cues of the employees. During a dining experience, a guest is often greeted upon

arrival, they order from a menu, and are directed to the restroom. When discussing the best or

worst experience during a visit, guests usually acknowledge facial expression and eye contact

which are kinesics cues, when it comes to non-verbal behavior. Moreover, paralanguage cues

such as speaking with a relatively quiet voice and slowly, tended to be favorable for the guests.

Furthermore, restaurant staff examining unfavorable cues, even without any actual failure in the

service, were perceived as untrained personnel from the guests’ point of view (Islam and

Kirillova, 2020).

A study done in Hong Kong examined guest's and hospitality employee's non-verbal behavior

towards one another. One result was mutual recognition. The guest appreciated being

acknowledged, the employee smiled at them, was nodding, and kept eye contact. This was

favorable for the guest since they felt seen by the employee. On the other hand, when the guests

appreciate being acknowledged by the employees, the same situation also happens with the

employees (Kueh and Bagul, 2013). The employees also felt recognized and positive energy

towards the guests when they do the same thing. The employees practically felt needed and

appreciated by the guests when they finally can help the guests with their problems. This can be

described as a two-sided affirmation experienced by both parties. On the other hand, some

experts examined how multiple sequential behavioral shows by employees influence guests'

negative emotions in a formal situation using an experimental approach focused on video-based

stimuli. The outcome of this experiment indicated that higher levels of negative behavioral

displays by employees increased guest negative emotion during service outages (Kueh and

Bagul, 2013).

Another result was meaning exchange. The study also discovered that by observing one another's

body attitudes and movements, the guest and the employee will stimulate each other's

observations, allowing messages to become mutually dependent. Guests were noticing the body

language of the employees and if the staff was standing up straight and appearing to be alert, that

was appreciated by the guests. This gave an impression of a glad and satisfied employee. A third

result was trust-building. The findings say that exchanging kinesics cues appropriately would

start building trust between the guest and the employee. After exchanging warm-oriented cues

and reciprocating symbolically, hotel guests and employees were both pleased with one another.

They went on to say that mutual respect is a good place to start when it comes to building trust.

Also, the findings say trust is often developed by the sense of fairness, and distributing kinesics

cues could maintain trust and respect that is mutual (Islam and Kirillova, 2020).

Furthermore, the influence of service employees' non-verbal communication on customer

satisfaction has been examined in several aspects. While only a few scholars have clarified this

relationship in terms of emotional reaction or emotional contagion theory (Kueh and Bagul,

2013), it is commonly accepted that customer satisfaction in service interactions is often the

product of a positive feeling or perception of the service employee.

GENDER

As it is known, a face-to-face instance between guest and employee includes both verbal- and

non-verbal communication. Looking at it from a gender perspective, studies previously done

examine that non-verbal expressions between women and men are often related to the

stereotypes of genders. Research shows that women are more complex and descriptive in their

non-verbal behavior, they are as well finer at comprehending non-verbal cues than men.

Nevertheless, women are associated with being more discerning to the requirements of others.

On the other hand, women seem to expect likely behavior from their conversational partners. For

instance, studies have shown that women initiate eye contact longer and more often than men,

while on the contrary men can have less eye contact but still pay full attention and listen (Islam

and Kirillova, 2020).

Gender differences additionally exist at the degree of non-verbal correspondence all in all.

Contrasted with men, females are by and large more expressive in their showcase of non-verbal

behavior and are additionally more exact in disentangling others' enthusiastic articulations,

especially when the articulations are negative or unpretentious (Katsumi et al., 2017).

In addition, studies also show that men are twice as much probable to commence physical touch

with women than the opposite way around in social and business relationships. Although, a

woman’s touch is often comprehended as a sort of sensual invitation (Islam and Kirillova, 2020).

Another form of non-verbal behavior is handshaking, which can influence dramatically the

perception and evaluation of involvement that is social. The precise origin of the handshake is

still unclear, although historically it has been seen as a form of hospitality, friendliness, trust, and

formality. Moreover, there are characteristics of a handshake, such as frequency and intensity,

that have impacts on individual discernment and assessment appear to differ as a component of

individual contrasts, like ethnicity and gender (Katsumi et al., 2017).

Furthermore, the handshake is more frequently used by the male gender and is therefore

expected to be used more by males than females. Reliable with the assumption mentioned , are

men bound to frame impressions that are positive of the others by following up with a handshake

amongst them than females. Besides, regardless of if handshaking is done with a female or male

individual, it appears to impact the examination of the perceiver of social connection. However,

this might likewise rely upon a setting in particular. For instance, a handshake with female

individuals expands an apparent suspicion that all is well and good when making hazardous

monetary choices contrasted with handshakes with male focuses, in both male and female

members. Nonetheless, with regards to interviews in the business, the nature of handshakes with

male individuals was evaluated with greater emphasis than that with female individuals,

however, the poorer handshakes by females did not affect the interviews as much. Also, a

handshake was most often seen in male to male duos, and an improvement in the precision of

deciding others' characteristics (i.e., honesty) because a handshake seems altogether larger in

male–male collaborations contrasted with blended gender or female-female communications.

Considering the evidence presented above, looking at the strong relationship involving the

handshake and masculinity, it is believed that the outcome of the handshake consideration in

social instances is less positive with females than with male participants, and as well that the

positive outcome would be greatest in a male dual social instance (Katsumi et al., 2017).

These non-verbal behaviors are not only present from a gender point of view but also from a

religion point of view.

RELIGION

Religion is one of the culture's most fundamental components for some individuals. It is

considered to have an effect on guest's actions and the relationship between the employees and

the guests. When talking about communication, whether verbal or non-verbal, it is the form by

which people communicate with one another. There is just a limited amount of direct contact

between guests and employees. Non-verbal communication, on the other hand, occurs during

guests' spiritual encounters, resulting in an emotional connection between them. Non-verbal

communication and some variables in daily life affected one and another in some ways. Religion

is one of the variables that are influenced by non-verbal communication. The study examined

whether individuals' interpretations of non-verbal communication shared between them can be

related to different religious norms whether it is Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, or Christianity

since religious views can have a direct influence on non-verbal or emotional gestures exchanged

face to face (Islam and Kirillova, 2020).

When looking at the point of view from the perspective of religion, studies examined that

pro-religious service practices take part in the growth of guests' consumption motivation. When

guests interpret service experiences, religious differences come into play, indicating the

successful service participation of guests in service delivery. Experts believed that individual

preferences are related to the essence of emotional expressions along the lines of non-verbal

communication during real-life interaction (Vukonic, 2002). As one result, the world at this

present time wishes to acquire emotional expressions from their religious colleagues. However,

there are still some misperceptions that occur throughout religious beliefs. These misperceptions

and perceptions could lead to unreliable and incoherent judgments among the individuals

(Croucher & Cronn-Mills, 2011).

Non-verbal messages that are permissible in one religion may be unacceptable in another,

according to the latest research. Respect and dignity may involve not touching anyone of the

opposite sex for some Muslims, even when exchanging a handshake. Another example, for

instance, waving "come over here" with an upward hand or gesturing at an individual is

considered impolite in some Muslim countries (Islam and Kirillova, 2020). The head should not

be touched by other individuals in some Muslim communities in some Muslim countries such as

Malaysia as this act is considered shameful, but Muslims in Arab countries have no such

constraints (Eaves and Leathers, 2017). Some individuals even regard head rubbing as an act of

religion and reverence.

In addition, the non-verbal greeting of Buddhists is defined in existing literature as a novel when

compared to other religions, but it is identical to Hindus. Their hands are pressed together in a

small bow, palms and fingers reaching forward, fingertips near to the chest. As a show of

gratitude, they use a gentle bow (Andersen et al., 2003). As a sign of admiration and reverence,

in Hinduism’s point of view, the younger individual may welcome the elderly by touching his or

her feet. Gender-based interaction or contact actions such as male and female touching behavior,

including such handshaking, may be offensive to religious Buddhists and Muslims, whereas

shows of non-verbal displays of affection are usually acts within Christians (Islam and Kirillova,

2020).

Nonverbal attitudes are perceived differently in Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity.

When analyzing hospitality employees' nonverbal communication, Muslim and Christian guests

had different physical appearances and gestures. Muslim and Buddhist guests reacted differently

to the presence of employees than Christian guests.

Substantial variations in perceptions of hotel employees' paralanguage were found within

Muslim and Buddhist guests, as well as Christian guests. This happened possibly because they

selected specific voice sounds. A certain explanation is possible given that Muslims and

Buddhists use self-cultured sounds as part of religious practices (Islam and Kirillova, 2020).

In general, current research indicates that non-verbal messages are transmitted and interpreted

differently throughout religions. It's still uncertain how these discrepancies would express

themselves in the hospitality service experience.

CONCLUSION

To conclude this paper, it is true that the presence of communication is really important in any

industry. However, non-verbal communication is especially important in the hospitality industry

as the workers are required to be attentive and reactive towards its customer without asking too

many things (Kassin et al.,n.d.). Therefore, non-verbal communication is one of the skills that

need to be acquired in this field.

Firstly, looking at the perception of the employees, by using non-verbal communication they

already could actually sense whether the customers are satisfied with their services or not. Since

everything about this industry is about paying attention to details. On the other hand, from the

perspective of the guest, if they feel appreciated or satisfied with the services, they share their

positive vibes. This mutual respectful behavior will grow their relationship (Islam and Kirillova,

2020).

Lastly, gender and religion that easily creates a perception in people’s mind. Starting with

gender, the research mentioned men are more comfortable with sharing physical touch compared

to women in business relationships. As for women sometimes it could be interpreted as a sensual

invitation (Islam and Kirillova, 2020). Next is religion, sometimes non-verbal communication is

allowed in one religion but not in another religion. However, in the hospitality industry, people

usually do physical touches like handshakes or even share hugs. Therefore, it could create

misjudgments for people that don't truly understand the reasons why people with certain beliefs

do those actions thus, this is often misinterpreted in non-verbal behavior. Until now, people are

still struggling to reduce the discrepancies about the perception in gender and religion with

non-verbal communication. Therefore, one thing to keep in mind is to always respect everyone,

because everyone holds different values, beliefs, and conditions in their lives. This is one of the

ways to reduce the misperception and misjudgments in every industry.

REFERENCES

Andersen, P.A., Hecht, M.L., Hoobler, G.D., Smallwood, M., 2003. Nonverbal communication

across cultures. Cross-cultural and intercultural communication. Pp. 73-90.

Eaves, M., Leathers, D.G., 2017. Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and

applications. Routledge.

Fatik Baran Mandal (2014) Nonverbal Communication in Humans, Journal of Human Behavior in

the Social Environment, 24:4, 417-421, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2013.831288

Gabbott, Mark & Hogg, Gillian. (2000). An empirical investigation of the impact of non-verbal

communication on service evaluation. European Journal of Marketing. 34. 384-398.

10.1108/03090560010311911.

Islam, M. and Kirillova, K., 2020. Guests’ Perceptions of Hospitality Employees’ Non-Verbal

Behavior: Insights from a Restaurant Sector. EasyChair,.

Islam, M. and Kirillova, K., 2020. Non-verbal communication in hospitality: At the intersection of

religion and gender. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 84, p.102326.

Islam, M. and Kirillova, K., 2020. Non-verbal behaviour as driver of reciprocity in a hospitality

encounter: A video elicitation study. EasyChair,.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2013.831288
Jung, H.S., Yoon, H.H., 2011. The effects of nonverbal communication of employees in the family

restaurant upon customers’ emotional responses and customer satisfaction. International Journal of

Hospitality Management 30 (3), 542–550.

Kassin, S., Fein, S. and Markus, H., n.d. Social psychology.

Kueh, S. and Bagul, A., 2013. The Effects of Nonverbal Communication of Hotel Employees upon

Emotional Responses of Hotel Guests. International Journal of Research in Management &

Technology (IJRMT), 3(4), p.126-135.

Schutte, N., Malouff, J. and Adams, C., 2010. A Self-Report Measure of Touching Behavior. The

Journal of Social Psychology, 128(5), pp.597-604.

Sen, L., 2007. Communication skills. New Delhi: PHP Learning.

Sundaram, D.S. and Webster, C. (2000), "The role of nonverbal communication in service

encounters", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 378-391.

Jiang, X., Paulmann, S., Robin, J., Pell, M.D., 2015. More than accuracy: Nonverbal dialects

modulate the time course of vocal emotion recognition across cultures. Journal of experimental

psychology: human perception and performance 41 (3), 597.

Katsumi, Y., Kim, S., Sung, K., Dolcos, F. and Dolcos, S., 2017. When Nonverbal Greetings

“Make It or Break It”: The Role of Ethnicity and Gender in the Effect of Handshake on Social

Appraisals. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 41(4), pp.345-365.

Vinciarelli A., Salamin H., Polychroniou A., Mohammadi G., Origlia A. (2012) From Nonverbal

Cues to Perception: Personality and Social Attractiveness. In: Esposito A., Esposito A.M.,

Vukonic, B., 2002. Religion, tourism and economics: A convenient symbiosis. Tourism Recreation

Research 27 (2), 59–64.

MICHELLE MARVIN (739615) ; VICTORIA MILLENIA (739849) ; YLVA BANELIND (740522)

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION LEADING TO PERCEPTION: THE

INTERSECTION OF RELIGION AND GENDER

PSY350 COURSEWORK 2

TABLE OF CONTENT

RELIGION & GENDER 03.

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION01.

GUEST-EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION02. 04.

INTRODUCTION01.

WHAT IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION & TYPES

KINESICS

HAPTICS

PARALINGUISTIC

GAZE

1

2

3

4

HOW NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION CREATES A PERCEPTION

STAGE 1

First Meeting

STAGE 2

Non verbal communication interaction

STAGE 3

Perception are being made

GUEST- EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION

02.

GUEST-EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION

Hospitality employees must be proficient in both

verbal and non-verbal communication.

GUEST-EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION

A study done at a restaurant in Hong Kong

● Guests greeted upon arrival → order from a

menu → directed to the restroom

● Best and worst experience → kinesics cues

● Paralanguage cues, also favorable

● Unfavorable cues → untrained staff

G U

E ST-E

M P

LO YE

E ’S

P E

R C

E P

T IO

N Another study done in Hong Kong

● Mutual recognition

● Meaning exchange

● Trust building

GENDER & RELIGION03.

GENDER

● Often related to the stereotypes of genders

● Women are more expressive and complex in non-verbal behavior

● Women also seems to expect likely behavior from their conversational partner

● Men are twice as much probable to commence physical touch

● Handshaking

○ Characteristics

○ More frequently used by themale gender

○ Business interviews

RELIGION

● One of culture's most fundamental components

● Religious views can have a direct influence on non-verbal gestures exchanged face to face

● Takes part in the growing of guests' consumption motivation

● Misperceptions that occur throughout religious beliefs

● Nonverbal attitudes are perceived differently in Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity.

→ E.g Gender-based interaction for Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians

● Still uncertain how these discrepancies would express themselves in the hospitality service

experience.

CONCLUSION04.

THANK YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

REFERENCES Andersen, P.A., Hecht, M.L., Hoobler, G.D., Smallwood, M., 2003. Nonverbal communication across cultures. Cross-cultural and intercultural communication. Pp. 73-90.

Eaves, M., Leathers, D.G., 2017. Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and applications. Routledge.

Fatik Baran Mandal (2014) Nonverbal Communication in Humans, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24:4, 417-421, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2013.831288

Gabbott, Mark & Hogg, Gillian. (2000). An empirical investigation of the impact of non-verbal communication on service evaluation. European Journal of Marketing. 34. 384-398. 10.1108/03090560010311911.

Islam, M. and Kirillova, K., 2020. Guests’ Perceptions of Hospitality Employees’ Non-Verbal Behavior: Insights from a Restaurant Sector. EasyChair,.

Islam, M. and Kirillova, K., 2020. Non-verbal communication in hospitality: At the intersection of religion and gender. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 84, p.102326.

Islam, M. and Kirillova, K., 2020. Non-verbal behaviour as driver of reciprocity in a hospitality encounter: A video elicitation study. EasyChair,.

Jung, H.S., Yoon, H.H., 2011. The effects of nonverbal communication of employees in the family restaurant upon customers’ emotional responses and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management 30 (3), 542–550.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2013.831288
REFERENCES Kassin, S., Fein, S. and Markus, H., n.d. Social psychology.

Kueh, S. and Bagul, A., 2013. The Effects of Nonverbal Communication of Hotel Employees upon Emotional Responses of Hotel Guests. International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), 3(4), p.126-135.

Schutte, N., Malouff, J. and Adams, C., 2010. A Self-Report Measure of Touching Behavior. The Journal of Social Psychology, 128(5), pp.597-604.

Sen, L., 2007. Communication skills. New Delhi: PHP Learning.

Sundaram, D.S. and Webster, C. (2000), "The role of nonverbal communication in service encounters", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 378-391.

Jiang, X., Paulmann, S., Robin, J., Pell, M.D., 2015. More than accuracy: Nonverbal dialects modulate the time course of vocal emotion recognition across cultures. Journal of experimental psychology: human perception and performance 41 (3), 597.

Katsumi, Y., Kim, S., Sung, K., Dolcos, F. and Dolcos, S., 2017. When Nonverbal Greetings “Make It or Break It”: The Role of Ethnicity and Gender in the Effect of Handshake on Social Appraisals. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 41(4), pp.345-365.

Vinciarelli A., Salamin H., Polychroniou A., Mohammadi G., Origlia A. (2012) From Nonverbal Cues to Perception: Personality and Social Attractiveness. In: Esposito A., Esposito A.M.,

Vukonic, B., 2002. Religion, tourism and economics: A convenient symbiosis. Tourism Recreation Research 27 (2), 59–64.