판매 매장은 소비자가 기업의 제품 구매를 위해 방문하는 장소이자 소비자의 제품 구매 전 제품, 더 나아가서 기업 자체의 품질을 평가할 수 있는 척도로 활용될 수 있는 중요한 공간이다. 특히 판매 매장에서 판매원은 소비자와의 상호작용을 통해 제품 구매를 이끌어내는 역할을 담당하므로 기업에서는 기업의 전략 목표에 맞춘 판매원의 판매 전략 수립을 위해 노력하고 있으며, 이러한 일환으로 판매 상황에서 판매원과 소비자의 접점에서 상호작용을 위한 수단으로 사용하는 언어적․비언어적 커뮤니케이션에 대한 판매 전략을 제시하고 성과향상을 위해 노력하고 있다. 본 연구는 판매 접점에서 판매원과 소비자가 상호작용의 일환으로 사용하는 언어적, 비언어적 커뮤니케이션이 소비자의 태도 형성과 구매행동에 미치는 영향력을 분석하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이를 위하여 판매원의 언어적 커뮤니케이션을 중심경로․주변경로 언어적 커뮤니케이션의 2가지 요소로 분류하고 비언어적 커뮤니케이션을 신체언어, 공간적행위, 소리행위, 신체적외형의 4가지 요소로 분류하여 언어적 커뮤니케이션과 비언어적 커뮤니케이션의 요소가 소비자의 태도를 매개로 하여 실제 구매행동인 재구매의도와 구전 효과에 미치는 영향을 살펴보았다. 연구 결과 판매 접점에서의 언어적․비언어적 커뮤니케이션은 소비자의 태도 형성에 정(+)의 영향을 미치고 있으며 실제 구매행동인 재구매의도와 구전효과에도 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 즉, 판매 상황에서 판매원의 적절한 언어적․비언어적 커뮤니케이션은 소비자의 제품에 대한 호의적 태도 형성에 영향을 미치며 이러한 태도 형성은 소비자의 실행을 촉구하는 요소인 재구매의도와 구전효과에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 다만, 언어적 커뮤니케이션과 비언어적 커뮤니케이션 영향력 비교에 대한 검증 가설은 기각되었는데 이는 판매 상황의 상호작용은 특정 제품에 대한 구매를 가정하고 있기 때문에 판매원과의 언어적 커뮤니케이션을 통한 객관적인 정보 제공이 중요하게 작용하며 이와 함께 소비자의 감정과 주관적인 판단을 자극하는 비언어적 커뮤니케이션이 소비자의 제품 선택과정에 동등한 중요성을 지니고 있기 때문으로 판단하였다. 이러한 분석 결과를 통하여 본 연구에서는 기업경쟁력 강화를 위한 구체적인 수단으로 판매원의 언어적․비언어적 커뮤니케이션을 제시하고 향후 판매원의 성과향상을 위해 필요한 커뮤니케이션의 요소를 제시하였다는 점에서 연구의 의의를 갖는다. 즉 판매 상황에서 판매원과 소비자의 상호작용하기 위한 구체적인 수단으로 언어적․비언어적 커뮤니케이션의 세부 요소를 제시하였으며 판매원의 적절한 활용 여부에 따라 소비자의 태도에 긍정적인 영향력을 발휘하여 실제 구매를 유도할 수 있는 재구매의도와 구전효과에 영향을 발휘하게 됨을 학문적으로 밝혀내었으며 이에 따라 향후 기업에서 판매원의 성과향상을 위한 교육 및 판매 스킬 강화를 위하여 언어적 커뮤니케이션과 비언어적 커뮤니케이션에 동등한 가치를 부여하고 활용 방안을 강구할 필요성에 대한 실무적 시사점을 제공하고 있다.

The communication between a salesman and a consumer affects substantial influence on the consumer when he/she is about to purchase a product in the sales contacts. Companies take efforts for establishing salesman's sale strategies meeting their strategic goals, and as a part of such efforts, they suggest some sales strategy of verbal and nonverbal communication being used as the tool for a salesman and a consumer's interaction at their contact point in a sale situation, and companies also try to improve their performances. This study aimed to analyze the influence of verbal, nonverbal communication being used as a tools for a salesman and a consumer's interaction on the consumer's attitude and purchase behavior. Referring to previous researches, this study classified the communication into the verbal communication and the non-verbal communication. And a salesman's verbal communication was reclassified into the central-route verbal communication focusing on the provision of objective information about a product and a service, and the peripheral-route verbal communication generating the consumer's positive impression and behavior by verbally expressing that the salesman's empathy with the consumer or praise toward the consumer, and were applied to this study. Meanwhile, for the non-verbal communication, this study classified the non-verbal communication into 4 factors of kinesics expressing intentions through actions connected to physical movement, the proxemics delivering messages through the distance space between the salesman and the consumer, the vocal behavior delivering messages through various sound not having any linguistic meaning, and the physical appearance including the physical attractiveness and appropriate dress codes. As the research model, this study set the model that the factors of verbal, nonverbal communication influence on the consumer's purchase intension and word of mouth by mediator of the consumer's attitude, and conducted a research. Also this study verified whether there would be any difference in verbal communication's influence on the consumer's attitude from the non-verbal communication's influence. The hypothesis verification for the research model was carried out through the structural equation model utilizing the high-order construct. As the results of this study, it was appeared that the verbal, nonverbal communication in the sale contact point affected positive (+) influence on the consumer's attitude. And it was found that the consumer's attitude positive (+) influence on the consumer's repurchase intention and word of mouth. The results identify that a salesman's appropriate verbal, non-verbal communication in a sales situation positively influence on forming a consumer's favorable attitude on a product. But the hypothesis of this study that verbal communication would have stronger influence than that of non-verbal communication is rejected, so it is appeared that the verbal communication and the non-verbal communication equally influenced on the consumer's attitude. The reason that there was no difference between the verbal communication's influence and the non-verbal communication's influence on the consumer's attitude is because that the interaction of salesman and consumer in a sale situation assume the purchase of a certain product. Because the purchase of a product is assumed and then the consumers consider the action to acquire objective information about the product through his/her verbal communication with a salesman importantly as well as the consumer's emotional aspect, so this study presumed that the non- verbal communication stimulating subjective judgement has the equal importance with that of verbal communication in the consumer's product choice process, contrary to the findings from previous researches. The meanings of this study are as follows. First, this study is meaningful in that this study researches the communication between salesman and consumer from an entire aspect. While a lot of existing studies mainly have focused on one aspect of verbal communication or non-verbal communication, but this study's theoretical meanings is found in that this study integrated previous communication researches and construct a research model and empirically verify it. Second, contrary that most of existing researches about verbal communication and non-verbal communication are carried out targeting hotels and airlines aiming to the services being provided after a product's purchase, but this study is meaningful in that it carries out a research focusing on the consumer's purchase behavior by applying the verbal communication and the non-verbal communication to the sale situation. Third, it can find some practical meanings from this study in that it suggests a model about what communication program should be provided to employees by companies by empirically verifying the influence of verbal communication and non-verbal communication being utilized as a part of salesman's interaction with a consumer in a consumer's purchase behavior. Companies using salesmen in sale contact point need to the both verbal communication and non-verbal communication. The findings of this study imply that for the verbal communication, companies would need the communication education about the salesman's praise and empathy toward a consumer as well as the simple delivery of information about a product, and for the non-verbal communication, companies would need some comprehensive education about the improvement of salesman's spatial behavior, sound behavior, physical attractiveness and physical appearance management as well as the greeting manners.

salespeople, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, consumer buying behavior, selling point