Appearance as Social Code in Commercial Bank Service Encounter in Ibadan, Oyo State

For service organizations like banks, the interaction between bankers and the customers is crucial as it can enhance the quality of service encounter and minimize service breakdown. Using four purposively sampled banks and Chandler’s framework for code types, the study explores physical appearance as social code explored by bankers in commercial banks during service encounters in Ibadan, Nigeria. Still life photographs were taken of appearance codes employed during banker- customer service encounters and discussed along the framework of Chandler’s typology of social codes. Findings reveal that appearance as non-verbal social code is used by commercial banks as a way of projecting the credibility, professionalism, trust worthiness and authority of the service provider which is particularly important in the corporate banking sector. This is done through the use of formal attire, same colour code, bank logo lapel badges and visual uniformity.