Service organizations encourage employees to express positive emotions in service encounters, in the hope that customers “catch” these emotions and react positively. Yet customer and employee emotions could be mutually influential. To understand emotional exchanges in service encounters and their influences on customer outcomes, the current study models the interplay of emotional contagion and emotional labor, as well as their influence on customer satisfaction. Employees might catch customers’ emotions and transmit those emotions back to customers through emotional contagion, and employee emotional labor likely influences this cycle by modifying the extent to which emotional contagion occurs. Data from 268 customer-employee dyads, gathered from a large chain of foot massage parlors, confirm the existence of an emotion cycle. Deep acting, as one type of emotional labor used by employees, hinders the transmission of negative emotions to customers, whereas surface acting facilitates it. Both customer emotions and employee emotional labor thus have critical influences on service encounters. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the potential influence of customer preservice emotions and the presence of an emotion cycle during service delivery.
AikenLeona S.WestStephen G. (1991), Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
2.
AndersonJames C.GerbingDavid W. (1988), “Structural Equation Modeling in Practice: A Review and Recommended Two-Step Approach,” Psychological Bulletin, 103 (3), 411–423.
3.
AshforthBlake E.HumphreyRonald H. (1995), “Emotion in the Workplace: A Reappraisal,” Human Relations, 48 (2), 97–115.
4.
AshforthBlake E.TomiukMarc A.KulikCarol T. (2008), “Doing Emotion in Service Encounters: Service Agent’s Perceptions of Emotional Labor and Emotional Contagion,” in Research Companion to Emotion in Organizations, AshkanasyNeal M.CooperCary L., eds. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 335–348.
5.
BargerPatricia B.GrandeyAlicia A. (2006), “‘Service With a Smile’ and Encounter Satisfaction: Emotional Contagion and Appraisal Mechanisms,” Academy of Management Journal, 49 (6), 1229–1238.
6.
BarsadeSigal G. (2002), “The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and Its Influence on Group Behavior,” Administrative Science Quarterly, 47 (4), 644–675.
7.
BealDaniel J.TrougakosJohn P.WeissHoward M.GreenStephen G. (2006), “Episodic Processes in Emotional Labor: Perceptions of Affective Delivery and Regulation Strategies,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 91 (5), 1053–1065.
8.
BrislinRichard W. (1980), “Translation and Content Analysis of Oral and Written Material,” in Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 1, TriandisHarry C.BerryJohn W., eds. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 389–444.
9.
ChiNai-WenGrandeyAlicia A. (2019), “Emotional Labor Predicts Service Performance Depending on Activation and Inhibition Regulatory Fit,” Journal of Management, 45 (2), 673–700.
10.
ChiNai-WenGrandeyAlicia A.DiamondJennifer A.KrimmelKathleen Royer (2011), “Want a Tip? Service Performance as a Function of Emotion Regulation and Extraversion,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 96 (6), 1337–1346.
11.
CloreGerald L. (1992), “Cognitive Phenomenology: Feelings and the Construction of Judgment,” in The Construction of Social Judgments, MartinLeonard L.TesserAbraham, eds. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 133–163.
12.
CôtéStéphane (2005), “A Social Interaction Model of the Effects of Emotion Regulation on Work Strain,” Academy of Management Review, 30 (3), 509–530.
13.
DallimoreKaren S.SparksBeverley A.ButcherKen (2007), “The Influence of Angry Customer Outbursts on Service Providers’ Facial Displays and Affective States,” Journal of Service Research, 10 (1), 78–92.
14.
DawsonJeremy F. (2014), “Moderation in Management Research: What, Why, When, and How,” Journal of Business and Psychology, 29 (1), 1–19.
15.
DelcourtCécileGremlerDwayne D.RielAllard C. R. vanBirgelenMarcel J. H. van (2016), “Employee Emotional Competence: Construct Conceptualization and Validation of a Customer-Based Measure,” Journal of Service Research, 19 (1), 72–87.
16.
DohertyR. William (1997), “The Emotional Contagion Scale: A Measure of Individual Differences,” Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 21 (2), 131–154.
17.
DuJiangangFanXiuchengFengTianjun (2011), “Multiple Emotional Contagions in Service Encounters,” Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 39 (3), 449–466.
18.
EkmanPaulDavidsonRichard J.FriesenWallace V. (1990), “The Duchenne Smile: Emotional Expression and Brain Physiology II,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58 (2), 342–353.
19.
FornellClaesLarckerDavid F. (1981), “Evaluating Structural Equation Models With Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error,” Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (1), 39–50.
20.
GabrielAllison S.DiefendorffJames M. (2015), “Emotional Labor Dynamics: A Momentary Approach,” Academy of Management Journal, 58 (6), 1804–1825.
21.
GrandeyAlicia A. (2000), “Emotion Regulation in the Workplace: A New Way to Conceptualize Emotional Labor,” Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5 (1), 95–110.
22.
GrandeyAlicia A. (2003), “When ‘The Show Must Go On’: Surface Acting and Deep Acting as Determinants of Emotional Exhaustion and Peer-Rated Service Delivery,” Academy of Management Journal, 46 (1), 86–96.
23.
GrandeyAlicia A.DiamondJennifer A. (2010), “Interactions With the Public: Bridging Job Design and Emotional Labor Perspectives,” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31 (2), 338–350.
24.
GrandeyAlicia A.GabrielAllison S. (2015), “Emotional Labor at a Crossroads: Where Do We Go From Here?” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2 (1), 323–349.
25.
GrandeyAlicia A.MelloyRobert C. (2017), “The State of the Heart: Emotional Labor as Emotion Regulation Reviewed and Revised,” Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22 (3), 407–422.
26.
GrossJames J. (1998), “Antecedent- and Response-Focused Emotion Regulation: Divergent Consequences for Experience, Expression, and Physiology,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74 (1), 224–237.
27.
GrossJames J.JohnOliver P. (2003), “Individual Differences in Two Emotion Regulation Processes: Implications for Affect, Relationships, and Well-Being,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85 (2), 348–362.
28.
GrothMarkusGrandeyAlicia A. (2012), “From Bad to Worse: Negative Exchange Spirals in Employee-Customer Service Interactions,” Organizational Psychology Review, 2 (3), 208–233.
29.
GrothMarkusHennig-ThurauThorstenWalshGianfranco (2009), “Customer Reactions to Emotional Labor: The Roles of Employee Acting Strategies and Customer Detection Accuracy,” Academy of Management Journal, 5 (5), 958–974.
30.
HareliShlomoRafaeliAnat (2008), “Emotion Cycles: On the Social Influence of Emotion in Organizations,” Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 35–59.
31.
HatfieldElaineCacioppoJohn T.RapsonRichard L. (1993), “Emotional Contagion,” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2 (3), 96–99.
32.
HatfieldElaineCacioppoJohn T.RapsonRichard L. (1994), Emotional Contagion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
33.
Hennig-ThurauThorstenGrothMarkusPaulMichaelGremlerDwayne D. (2006), “Are All Smiles Created Equal? How Emotional Contagion and Emotional Labor Affect Service Relationships,” Journal of Marketing, 70 (3), 58–73.
34.
HochschildArlie Russell (1983), The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley: University of California Press.
35.
HüshegerUte R.ScheweAnna F. (2011), “On the Costs and Benefits of Emotional Labor: A Meta-Analysis of Three Decades of Research,” Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16 (3), 361–389.
36.
JudgeTimothy A.WoolfErin FlueggeHurstCharlice (2009), “Is Emotional Labor More Difficult for Some than for Others? A Multilevel, Experience-Sampling Study,” Personnel Psychology, 62 (1), 57–88.
37.
Kammeyer-MuellerJohn D.RubensteinAlex L.LongDavid M.OdioMichael A.BuckmanBrooker R.ZhangYiwenHalvorsen-GanepolaMarie D. K. (2013), “A Meta-Analytic Structural Model of Dispositional Affectivity and Emotional Labor,” Personnel Psychology, 66 (1), 47–90.
38.
MartinDavidO’NeilMartinHubbardSusanPalmerAdrian (2008), “The Role of Emotion in Explaining Consumer Satisfaction and Future Behavioral Intention,” Journal of Services Marketing, 22 (3), 224–236.
39.
Mesmer-MagnusJessica R.DeChurchLeslie A.WaxAmy (2012), “Moving Emotional Labor beyond Surface Acting and Deep Acting: A Dissonance-Congruence Perspective,” Organizational Psychology Review, 2 (1), 6–53.
40.
NooneBreffni M.KimesSheryl E.MattilaAnna S.WirtzJochen (2009), “Perceived Service Encounter Pace and Customer Satisfaction: An Empirical Study of Restaurant Experiences,” Journal of Service Management, 20 (4), 380–403.
41.
ParkinsonBrian (1996), “Emotions Are Social,” British Journal of Psychology, 87 (4), 663–683.
42.
PodsakoffPhilip M.MacKenzieScott B.LeeJeong YeonPodsakoffNathan P. (2003), “Common Method Bias in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (5), 879–903.
43.
PreacherKristopher J.HayesAndrew F. (2004), “SPSS and SAS Procedures for Estimating Indirect Effects in Simple Mediation Models,” Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 36 (4), 717–731.
44.
PughScott D. (2001), “Service With a Smile: Emotional Contagion in the Service Encounter,” Academy of Management Journal, 44 (5), 1018–1027.
45.
RafaeliAnatSuttonRobert I. (1987), “Expression of Emotion as Part of the Work Role,” Academy of Management Review, 12 (1), 23–37.
46.
RafaeliAnatSuttonRobert I. (1989), “The Expression of Emotion in Organizational Life,” Research in Organizational Behavior, 11 (4), 1–42.
47.
RayGautamBarneyJay B.MuhannaWaleed A. (2004), “Capabilities, Business Processes, and Competitive Advantage: Choosing the Dependent Variable in Empirical Tests of the Resource-Based View,” Strategic Management Journal, 25 (1), 23–37.
48.
SchwarzNorbertCloreGerald L. (1988), “How Do I Feel About It? Information Functions of Affective States,” in Affect, Cognition, and Social Behavior, FiedlerKlausForgasJoseph, eds. Toronto: Hogrefe International, 44–62.
49.
ScottBrent A.BarnesChristopher M. (2011), “A Multilevel Field Investigation of Emotional Labor, Affect, Work Withdrawal, and Gender,” Academy of Management Journal, 54 (1), 116–136.
50.
SöderlundMagnusRosengrenSara (2008), “Revisiting the Smiling Service Worker and Customer Satisfaction,” International Journal of Service Industry Management, 19 (5), 552–574.
51.
SolnetDavidPaulsenNeil (2006), “Service Climate, Employee Identification, and Customer Outcomes in Hotel Property Rebrandings,” Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, 13 (3/4), 3–27.
52.
SusskindM. AlexBorchgrevinkCarl P.KacmarMichele K. (2003), “Customer Service Providers’ Attitudes Relating to Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction in the Customer–Server Exchange,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (1), 179–187.
53.
TanHwee HoonFooMaw DerKwekMin Hui (2004), “The Effects of Customer Personality Traits on the Display of Positive Emotions,” Academy of Management Journal, 47 (2), 287–296.
54.
TsaiWei-Chi (2001), “Determinants and Consequences of Employee Displayed Positive Emotions,” Journal of Management, 27 (4), 497–512.
55.
TsaiWei-ChiHuangYin-Mei (2002), “Mechanisms Linking Employee Effective Delivery and Customer Behavioral Intentions,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 87 (5), 1001–1008.
56.
VoorheesClay M.BradyMichael K.CalantoneRogerRamirezEdward (2016), “Discriminant Validity Testing in Marketing: An Analysis, Causes for Concern, and Proposed Remedies,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44 (1), 119–134.
57.
WangKaryn L.GrothMarkus (2014), “Buffering the Negative Effects of Employee Surface Acting: The Moderating Role of Employee–Customer Relationship Strength and Personalized Services,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 99 (2), 341–350.
58.
WangZeSinghSurendra N.LiYexin JessicaMishraSanjayAmbroseMaureenBiernatMonica (2017), “Effects of Employees’ Positive Affective Displays on Customer Loyalty Intentions: An Emotions-as-Social Information Perspective,” Academy of Management Journal, 60 (1), 109–129.
59.
WatsonDavidClarkLee AnnaTellegenAuke (1988), “Development and Validation of Brief Measures of Positive and Negative Affect: The PANAS Scales,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54 (6), 1063–1070.
60.
WildBarbaraErbMichaelBartelsMathias (2001), “Are Emotions Contagious? Evoked Emotions While Viewing Emotionally Expressive Faces: Quality, Quantity, Time Course and Gender Differences,” Psychiatry Research, 102 (2), 109–124.
61.
ZablahAlex R.SirianniNancy J.KorschunDanielGremlerDwayne D.BeattySharon E. (2017), “Emotional Convergence in Service Relationships: The Shared Frontline Experience of Customers and Employees,” Journal of Service Research, 20 (1), 76–90.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
