The Effects of Customer Interactional Injustice on Hotel Employees’ Emotion Regulation: Case Study of an Upscale Shanghai Hotel

ABSTRACT

This article uses a qualitative research method to explore the frontline employees’ emotion regulation strategies on three different customer interactional injustice (CII) categories (behaviorally offensive, verbally abusive, or overly self-indulgent customers) at an upscale chain hotel in Shanghai. Results indicated that employees’ regulation strategies differed by CII sub-category: employees used reappraisal and problem-solving strategies when encountering overly self-indulgent customers, behavioral and experiential avoidance and suppression of expression and thought with behaviorally offensive customers, and rumination with verbally abusive customers. Neither the hotel group nor management prepared or supported their employees in mitigating CII behavior. Ways that hotel managers and human resource policies could help employees cope with CII are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Customer interactional injustice
• emotion regulation
• emotion regulation strategies
• upscale hotel
• hotel frontline staff