Charismatic public figures are often associated with personal magnetism, a captivating aura, and an ability to influence their counterparts. Over the last 25 years, the concept of charisma has gained considerable interest among social scientists, and its positive effects on performance have been reported in multiple research areas (Vercic & Vercic, 2011). Nevertheless, there exists scarce research on charisma in marketing and little is known about specific nonverbal behaviors that predict charisma (Heide, 2013). Additionally, for decades a substantial body of sales research has been focusing on identifying characteristics of sales personnel that predict performance (Bauer & Martin, 2009). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify nonverbal behaviors that lead to a salesperson’s charisma in a personal selling context by posing the following research question: Which aspects of body language differentiate salespersons from each other and are such differences antecedents for perceived charisma?Charismatic public figures are often associated with personal magnetism, a captivating aura, and an ability to influence their counterparts. Over the last 25 years, the concept of charisma has gained considerable interest among social scientists, and its positive effects on performance have been reported in multiple research areas (Vercic & Vercic, 2011). Nevertheless, there exists scarce research on charisma in marketing and little is known about specific nonverbal behaviors that predict charisma (Heide, 2013). Additionally, for decades a substantial body of sales research has been focusing on identifying characteristics of sales personnel that predict performance (Bauer & Martin, 2009). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify nonverbal behaviors that lead to a salesperson’s charisma in a personal selling context by posing the following research question: Which aspects of body language differentiate salespersons from each other and are such differences antecedents for perceived charisma?in front) should be used more frequently in a personal selling situation to increase a salesperson’s charisma. These studies represent an important first step in conceptualizing charismatic sales behaviors and provide valuable insights for further research.

• Sandra Pauser(University of Vienna, Austria)
• Udo Wagner(University of Vienna, Austria)
• Claus Ebster(University of Vienna, Austria)