Maximizing the persuasiveness of a salesperson: An exploratory study of the effects of nonverbal immediacy and language power on the extent of persuasion

• Natavan M. Gadzhiyeva ^[1] ; Kevin L. Sager ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Alaska Fairbanks

     University of Alaska Fairbanks

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Revista de psicología del trabajo y de las organizaciones = Journal of work and organizational psychology, ISSN 1576-5962, Vol. 33, Nº 2, 2017, págs. 83-93
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rpto.2017.03.001
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Cómo maximizar la capacidad de persuasión de un vendedor: Estudio exploratorio de los efectos de la cercanía no verbal y el poder del lenguaje en el grado de persuasión
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    Este estudio investiga los efectos de la utilización por parte de los vendedores del poder del lenguaje y de la cercanía no verbal en la persuasión del vendedor. Se postula que un grado elevado de poder del lenguaje y de cercanía no verbal aumentarán tanto individualmente como conjuntamente el nivel de persuasión del vendedor. Una muestra compuesta por 211 estudiantes universitarios cumplimentó voluntariamente una encuesta online que mostraba un video de una presentación de ventas. Cada participante vio al azar uno de los cuatro videos, que se diferenciaban en el grado de poder del lenguaje (poderoso vs. incapaz) y de cercanía (elevada vs. baja) no verbal del vendedor. Un ANOVA de tres factores indicaba que el poder del lenguaje tenía un efecto principal significativo en la persuasión en la dirección esperada, así como una interacción significativa entre la proximidad no verbal y el sexo biológico de los participantes. No obstante, no había efectos principales para la cercanía no verbal o el sexo biológico de los participantes ni se encontró interacción entre el poder del lenguaje y la proximidad no verbal. Un análisis de datos posterior reveló que el poder percibido del hablante mediatizaba la relación entre el poder del lenguaje y el grado de persuasión. El artículo finaliza con un debate sobre las implicaciones de los resultados para investigadores y los profesionales.

  • English

    The present study investigated the effects of a salesperson's use of language power and nonverbal immediacy on the persuasiveness of the salesperson. A high level of language power and a high level of nonverbal immediacy were hypothesized to singularly and jointly increase a salesperson's level of persuasiveness. A sample of 211 undergraduate students voluntarily completed an online survey, which displayed a video clip of a sales presentation. Each participant randomly viewed one of four video clips, which differed in terms of the salesperson's levels of language power (powerful vs. powerless) and nonverbal immediacy (high vs. low). A three-way ANOVA indicated that language power had a significant main effect on persuasion in the expected direction, and also revealed a significant interaction between nonverbal immediacy and participant biological sex. However, there were no main effects for nonverbal immediacy and participant biological sex, and no interaction effect was found between language power and nonverbal immediacy. Subsequent data analysis revealed that the perceived power of the speaker mediated the relationship between language power and the extent of persuasion. We conclude the article with a discussion of the implications of our findings for both researchers and practitioners.

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