The silence at trade shows: : A case study at Hannover Messe

Abstract: This thesis studies the non-verbal communication such as the body language in the context of a trade show. The non-verbal communication is one of the primary conveyors of messages and trade shows are one of the major channels were firms attract new customers. However the combination of trade shows and non-verbal communication is overlooked. The method consists of interviews with visitors and observations of the booths and the visitors. The setting was chosen as the annual Hannover Messe were five booths of Swedish firms were studied. The result indicates that firms can further improve their body language. Suggested improvements involve to not having the sales representative work in the booth. This is remarked as a taboo by authors within the area; still this action commonly occurs.  The booth design plays a prominent role in the visitor interactions so does the staffing. The way to approach a visitor is not differing much between the booths in the study however there are three possible ways to physically approach visitors as a sales representative. The best way has not been established and the visitor interviews gave a mixed result regarding this matter. Although the best way is not found all observed booths missed out on dialogs with prospective customers much due to that full attention was not directed towards the visitors. The authors want to emphasis on the adaptation towards visitor as an important pawn in the exhibiting, some sales representatives automatically does this.