Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales.
J Appl Psychol. 2014 Mar;99(2):341-50. doi: 10.1037/a0034428. Epub 2013 Sep 30.
The impact of emotional labor on customer outcomes is gaining considerable attention in the literature, with research suggesting that the authenticity of emotional displays may positively impact customer outcomes. However, research investigating the impact of more inauthentic emotions on service delivery outcomes is mixed (see Chi, Grandey, Diamond, & Krimmel, 2011). This study explores 2 potential reasons for why the service outcomes of inauthentic emotions are largely inconsistent: the impact of distinct surface acting strategies and the role of service delivery context. Drawing on social-functional theories of emotions, we surveyed 243 dyads of employees and customers from a wide variety of services to examine the links between employee surface acting and customer service satisfaction, and whether this relationship is moderated by relationship strength and service personalization. Our findings suggest that faking positive emotions has no bearing on service satisfaction, but suppressing negative emotions interacts with contextual factors to predict customers' service satisfaction, in line with social-functional theories of emotions. Specifically, customers who know the employee well are less sensitive to the negative effects of suppressed negative emotions, and customers in highly personalized service encounters are more sensitive to the negative effects of suppressed negative emotions. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.
情绪劳动对顾客结果的影响在文献中受到了相当多的关注，研究表明情绪表达的真实性可能对顾客结果产生积极影响。然而，研究调查了更不真实的情绪对服务交付结果的影响却存在分歧（参见 Chi、Grandey、Diamond 和 Krimmel，2011）。本研究探讨了不真实情绪的服务结果为何在很大程度上不一致的两个潜在原因：不同表面行为策略的影响和服务提供背景的作用。本研究借鉴情绪的社会功能理论，调查了来自各种服务行业的 243 对员工和顾客的关系，以检验员工表面行为与顾客服务满意度之间的联系，以及这种关系是否受到关系强度和服务个性化的调节。研究结果表明，假装积极情绪对服务满意度没有影响，但抑制消极情绪与情境因素相互作用，预测顾客的服务满意度，这与情绪的社会功能理论一致。具体来说，对员工了解较多的顾客对抑制消极情绪的负面影响不太敏感，而在高度个性化的服务接触中，顾客对抑制消极情绪的负面影响更加敏感。最后，我们讨论了理论和实践意义。
