Emotional labor in a non-isolated service encounter - The impact of customer observation on perceived authenticity and perceived fairness

Emotional labor is a frequently discussed topic in the service literature because of its varying effects on customers' evaluation processes. Previous research has primarily investigated the effects of emotional labor from an employee-customer perspective. This article considers customer copresence and argues that the observed interaction between an employee and another customer affects the focal customer's evaluation process. An extended customer-employee-customer model is presented and empirically tested in a pharmacy setting. The findings show that distinctive emotional labor affects customers' perceptions of authenticity and fairness. This study presents a more nuanced account of the effectiveness of emotional labor and provides managers with advice to enhance point-of-sale interactions.     

The happy versus unhappy service worker in the service encounter:Assessing the impact on customer satisfaction

This paper assesses the impact of the service worker's display of emotions (i.e., one aspect of functional service quality) on customer satisfaction under the conditions of different levels of technical service quality by means of an experimental approach (N=600), in which display of emotions (unhappiness vs. happiness) and technical service quality (poor vs. good) were manipulated. The results indicate that the impact of the service worker's emotional display behavior on customer satisfaction is contingent on the level of technical service quality, in the sense that customer satisfaction is affected only when technical service quality is good rather than poor. Encouraging a positive display (e.g., by a smile policy), which many service firms do, is thus not a panacea for improved customer satisfaction. The moderating effect is explained in terms of service encounter congruency, which influences the mediated process by which emotional displays by service workers come to affect customer satisfaction.     

Psychological contracts and fairness: The effect of violations on customer service behavior

A conceptual model of the effect of psychological contracts and associated fairness perceptions on customer service organizational citizenship behaviors (CSOCB) is presented. Psychological contracts, individually held beliefs regarding employer-employee reciprocal expectations and obligations, provide a basis for the comprehensive perception of organizational justice. In turn, justice perceptions result in CSOCB, or externally directed extra-role behaviors. When customer contact employees perceive violations, these behaviors are likely to be either negative or a reduction of positive behaviors. Future research is discussed.     

Exploring the customer's intention to switch firms: The role of customer‐related antecedents

This study examined the customer‐related antecedents of the customer's intention to switch firms. Customer citizenship behavior was a key element in this study. Scholars have extensively studied the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior. However, the way that customer citizenship behavior relates to other attitudinal variables and the intention to switch has scarcely been analyzed. The proposed hypotheses were verified using partial least squares variance‐based structural equation modeling applied to 947 users of beauty care service firms in five countries. The results suggest that customer citizenship behavior is an antecedent of satisfaction, trust, and attitudinal loyalty. Two of these variables influence customers’ intentions to abandon relationships with the service provider. The implications of these findings enhance managers’ and scholars’ understanding of the determinants of customers’ intentions to switch firms.     

The influence of emotions on customer's cognitive evaluations and satisfaction in a service failure and recovery context

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between customers' negative emotions after a failure, their cognitive evaluations of the recovery process, and the overall or cumulative satisfaction in a service context. Two different constructs measure a customer's cognitive evaluations of the recovery process: disconfirmation of expectations and perceived justice. The proposed model is tested on a sample of financial service customers who suffered some type of failure. The results indicate that emotions have an indirect effect on overall or cumulative satisfaction through cognitive evaluations.     

The happy virtual agent and its impact on the human customer in the service encounter

Few existing virtual agents (VAs) that customers interact with in service encounters can experience emotions, but they can be (and often are) designed so that they appear to have this capability. The purpose of this study was to assess VAs' display of happiness in service encounters when the only means they have to express themselves is the text that they transmit. Linguistic elements that influence the perceived happiness of a (human) sender of text messages were identified in a pilot study, and they were used to manipulate VA display of happiness in two experiments. In addition, a field study was carried out to capitalize on customers’ existing experience of service encounters with VAs in bona fide commercial settings. The experiments showed that VA text manipulated to signal VA happiness boosts overall VA evaluations, and the field study showed that perceived VA happiness is positively associated with overall VA evaluations. Taken together, the findings indicate that we humans are so hardwired for interactions with other humans that we react to VA display of happiness in ways that resemble our reactions when we are exposed to happy humans. The findings also provide designers of VAs and service marketers with a set of easily implemented linguistic elements that can be employed to make VAs appear happy in service encounters.     

Brand preference in the face of control loss and service failure: The role of the sound of brands

This research shows that consumers compensate for a loss of perceived control inherent to service failure by extracting sensory information from brand names, and specifically from plosive consonants. Across three experimental studies, we show that in contexts of reduced control, which characterizes service failure, consumers prefer brand names containing plosives (versus fricatives) as a way of reasserting personal control because plosive sounds elicit a disposition to act. In doing so, we highlight the use of brand name innovation to anticipate low control state, and thus, the psychological discomfort experienced by customers following service failure.     

Consumer advocacy: Examining the feeling and doing following a failed service encounter

Dissatisfactory service experiences and consumer complaints following such experiences are everyday occurrences. Prior research has not only examined the emotions experienced because of failed service encounters but also has explored the resultant behaviours towards the service provider and the service. However, prior research does not distinguish between negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) motivated by marketplace-helping behaviour such as consumer advocacy and NWOM as venting triggered by emotions such as anger and frustration. The current study examines the direct relationship between regret and disappointment and consumer advocacy. Unlike past studies, the current study explores two types of customer dissatisfaction: agent based and outcome based. Study 1 uses a vignette methodology, and Study 2 uses experience sampling in which respondents provide personal episodes of failed service encounters. In contrast with a previous proposition, we find that regret has a significant negative relationship with consumer advocacy. Disappointment based on external events demonstrates a significant positive relationship, whereas disappointment caused by another person has a weaker relationship with consumer advocacy.     

Service worker appearance and the retail service encounter: the influence of gender and age

This study explores how the age and gender of service workers influence customers' perceptions of the retail service encounter in a health and beauty retailer. An analysis of qualitative interviews with 40 customers and 20 service workers suggests that customers seek reassurance in the service encounter by ‘matching’ and ‘mirroring’ the age and gender of customer-facing staff with their expectations of who should deliver appropriate service during the retail service encounter. These non-verbal cues, as a way of assessing the credibility of the service provider, are particularly important when customers are involved in high-involvement purchase occasions.     

Leveraging perceived HPWS to improve service encounter quality in high-contact service industries

This study utilizes social exchange theory to explicate how perceived high-performance work systems (perceived HPWS) improve service encounter quality through overall justice and psychological contract fulfillment processes. We amassed survey responses from focal employees and their respective customers in three waves. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the impact of perceived HPWS on service encounter quality via overall justice and psychological contract fulfillment. Results from structural equation modeling affirmed a positive and direct association between perceived HPWS and service encounter quality. Additionally, the positive relationship between perceived HPWS and service encounter quality was uniquely and serially mediated by overall justice and psychological contract fulfillment. The current study makes a novel contribution by revealing how high-contact service organizations can leverage frontline employees' (rather than managers') perception of HPWS to optimize service encounter quality.     

The role of organizational service climate in generating control and empowerment among workers and customers

Previous studies have found a relationship between service climate and customers’ satisfaction. This paper presents two studies that used structural equation modeling to examine the role of control and empowerment in mediating this relationship. In the first study, questionnaires were administered to 113 pairs of customers and service workers. The results show that service climate is related to a customer's satisfaction through the mediation of a service worker's self-reported control of the service situation. In the second study, the service worker's sense of empowerment was predicted with service climate and the supervisor's empowering behavior. The data was gathered with questionnaires administered to 255 workers in service roles. Service climate was found to have a positive effect on empowering leadership behaviors of the service worker's supervisor which, in turn, enhance the service worker's sense of empowerment. The results are discussed in regard to the role of control and empowerment in service organizations.     

Behavioural responses to service encounter involving failure and recovery: the influence of contextual factors

This study investigates two features of customer satisfaction within the context of service failure and recovery: (i) the effect of perceived justice on customer satisfaction and (ii) the effect of customer satisfaction on repurchase intentions, negative word-of-mouth, and intention to complain. The study takes into account the influence of important contextual factors, including severity of failure, recovery responsiveness, attitude toward complaining, switching cost, and the relationship level. Based on a survey of 556 customers with complaints in Brazil, the results supported the influence of perceived justice on satisfaction and of satisfaction on behavioural responses. Specifically, findings revealed that perceived failure severity, attitude toward complaining, and switching costs were the more relevant contextual factors, as these were significantly associated with satisfaction, intention to complain, and negative word-of-mouth.     

The effects of behavioral,cognitive, and decisional control in co-production service experiences

Companies are encouraging customers to participate in the process of creating and delivering their offering(s). In this strategy, not only do providers select a level of customer co-production, but also the level of customer control. This study examines the effects of control types (cognitive, behavioral, and decisional) and their interaction on customers’ affective responses in service operations with varying levels of co-production. An extensive two-study design, across two service contexts, tests the interaction of different levels of co-production and control types on customers’ affective responses. Results show when decisional control is low, one additional control type (behavioral or cognitive) in the operational process can compensate for low decisional control. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Knowledge management and organizational performance in the service industry: The role of transformational leadership beyond the effects of transactional leadership

This study examines a comprehensive model comprising of various relationships between transformational and transactional leadership, knowledge management (KM) process, and organizational performance. Data are collected from human resource managers and general managers working in 119 service firms. Exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis are used to analyze the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that transformational leadership has strong and positive effects on KM process and organizational performance after controlling for the effects of transactional leadership. Further, KM process partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance after controlling for the effects of transactional leadership. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.     

When service fails: The role of the salesperson and the customer

Service failures and consequent recoveries have been identified as a critical determinant of customer retention. Hence, effective service recovery programs warrant further exploration. In particular, with the current emphasis on relationship selling, salespeople should learn how to improvise to serve their customers effectively, including solving problems when service failure occurs. Therefore, alternatives to current common practices in industry should be investigated. The results of the present study suggest that by providing customers a choice of service recovery options, salespeople can augment customers' sense of control and ultimately their satisfaction with the service recovery and the overall service transaction. The investigation also proposed that customer satisfaction would be contingent upon the importance of the service. However, study findings revealed that this was not the case. Implications of the findings are also discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The role of emotions in utilitarian service settings: The effects of emotional satisfaction on product perception and behavioral intentions

The role of emotions in hedonic service settings is well established, but their role in utilitarian service settings has received scant attention. This research attempts to fill this gap by investigating the effects of customers’ perceptions of service quality and servicescape on their emotional reactions, and their perceptions of product quality and subsequent behavioral intentions. Data are collected from 189 clients/patients who visited an optometry clinic. The study reports that perceived service quality (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) and service environment (atmosphere and layout) both increase positive emotional satisfaction. In turn, positive emotional satisfaction leads to a high perception of product quality, high recommendation, patronage intention, and likelihood of purchase. Additionally, product quality perceptions have a significant positive impact on behavioral intentions.     

Employee encouragement of self-disclosure in the service encounter and its impact on customer satisfaction

In the service encounter, the employee must often encourage customer self-disclosure (i.e., revealing of personal information) to be able to match the customer's needs with what the firm has to offer. This study uses an experimental approach to manipulate employee encouragement of self-disclosure (low vs. high) to explore its impact on the customer. It was found that encouraging self-disclosure enhanced customer perceptions of customization, employee effort, own effort, privacy concerns, and employee humanness, and that these responses influenced customer satisfaction. In addition, because many firms are beginning to replace human employees with various forms of virtual agents (and it has been argued that we humans may find it less threatening to self-disclose to such agents), the identity of the employee (virtual agent vs. human employee) was manipulated, too. The identity factor, however, did not influence customers' responses.     

Employee display of burnout in the service encounter and its impact on customer satisfaction

This study examines if employee display of burnout symptoms in service encounters has an impact on customer satisfaction. An experimental approach was used in which the employee's display of burnout (absent vs. present) and the service performance level (low vs. high) were the manipulated factors. The results show that employee display of burnout had a negative impact on customer satisfaction, that this effect was mediated by customers’ appraisals of the employee's emotional state, and that the effect was stronger under the condition of low service performance.