Arndt, A. D., Khoshghadam, L., & Evans, K. (2019). Who do I look at? Mutual gaze in triadic sales encounters. Journal of Business Research.
Mutual gaze (i.e., eye contact) is linked to both positive outcomes such as trust and liking, and negative outcomes such as dominance and hostility. When selling to multiple people, salespeople must decide how to divide mutual gaze between customers. Too much or little time spent looking at a particular customer could reduce rapport. This research addresses two research questions: (1) Are salespeople more inclined to share mutual gaze with certain customers? And (2) What is the effect of mutual gaze focused primarily on one particular customer compared to sharing mutual gaze with both customers more equitably? Using real sales encounters and multiple studies, the results show that salespeople tend to share mutual gaze with customers who are similar when first meeting, and those who speak more. Sharing mutual gaze equitably between customers when first meeting is typically more beneficial than focusing on a particular customer.