Effects of face masks and photo tags on nonverbal communication in service encounters

Facial expressions convey critical information for customers to evaluate a service encounter. Widespread maskwearing since the pandemic began has brought challenges in decoding individuals' facial expressions. This study investigates the effects of face masks on customers' interpretations of frontline employees' facial expressions across retailing and healthcare service contexts. The findings show that mask-wearing improves customer perception of service employees and behavioral intention when the employees display neutral or negative emotions. Photo tags, as an additional nonverbal signal, can enhance the positive perceptions of masked employees. This research suggests that service companies could incorporate face masks and photo tags as a costeffective practice to improve service encounters beyond the current pandemic.