The service smile chain: linking leader emotions to customer outcomes

ABSTRACT

This study examines the emotional mechanisms that link leadership and customer outcomes. Data were collected from 359 matched supervisor-subordinate-customer triads in a chain restaurant in China. Results show that leader positive emotions are transmitted to customers via service employee positive emotions, which then increase customer re-patronage intentions. However, although leader negative emotions are positively associated with employee negative emotions, employee negative emotions are not transmitted to customers. Moreover, employees’ negative affectivity (NA) moderates the relationship between leaders’ and employees’ negative emotions, such that the relationship is stronger among high NAs. The study extends prior literature by identifying a service smile chain that links leadership and customer outcomes and by investigating the moderating role of NA in such chains. Study findings highlight the important connection between intra-organizational emotional mechanisms and customer outcomes and point to the importance of an emotionally healthy workplace to better customer service.

摘要

本研究考察了连接领导力和顾客结果的情感机制。数据来源于在中国一个连锁餐厅收集的359名领导-员工-顾客的配对数据。研究结果表明领导的积极情绪通过员工的积极情绪传递给顾客，并进而提高了顾客的再顾意向。但是，尽管领导的消极情绪与员工的消极情绪正相关，员工的消极情绪并没有传递给顾客。此外，员工的消极情感特质调节了领导消极情绪与员工消极情绪之间的关系，在高消极情感特质的员工中，这一关系更强。本研究通过认识连接领导和顾客结果变量的服务微笑链以及考察消极情感特质在链条中的调节作用延伸了以往的研究。本研究发现强调了组织内部情感机制与顾客结果变量之间的重要联系，表明了情绪健康的组织对于促进顾客服务的重要性。

KEYWORDS:

• Emotion
• emotional contagion
• re-patronage intention
• negative affectivity
• service

关键词:

• 情绪
• 情绪感染
• 再顾意向
• 消极情感特质
• 服务

Acknowledgement

We thank Steffanie L. Wilk, Wendong Li, Pamela Perrewé, and Melita Prati for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the 2013 annual conference of the Academy of Management.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Hypotheses regarding positive and negative emotions were developed and tested separately, because prior research suggests that positive and negative emotions represent independent affective dimensions (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999; Warr, Barter, & Brownbridge, 1983; Watson & Tellegen, 1985), and that they are governed by different display rules.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 71672036 and 71372005].