How the Employee Looks and Looks at you: Building Customer–Employee Rapport

Abstract

Despite the prominence of customer–employee relationships in service contexts, little empirical research examines the antecedents of rapport in relation to service providers’ attributes. Furthermore, while prior studies examine only piecemeal aspects of employee attributes, this research uses a more encompassing approach by considering multiple attributes simultaneously. The results from a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design suggest that employee eye contact and courtesy are critical components of building customer–employee rapport, and subsequently customer satisfaction, while appearance surprisingly did not affect customer–employee rapport. A significant interaction effect between employee eye contact and courtesy was found. The findings build on the rapport literature and have important managerial implications for high-contact services, such as hospitality and tourism.