The role of emotional intelligence and emotional labor among frontline employees in casino hotel Macao

Abstract

The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has attracted substantial interest in the popular and organizational psychology literature. Yet, EI is a relatively new concept among hospitality researchers. Casino Hotels are growing as part of the hospitality industry in the world. In the Asia-Pacific region, Macau has become the largest gaming destination in the world. It has recently come to be known as ‘Asia’s Las Vegas’. This study investigated the role of emotional intelligence and emotional labor (EL) in the casino hotels in Macao. More specifically, this study aimed was to examine the impact of EI on the relationships among EL acting strategies and their consequential behavioral outcomes. Some results were statistically significant and supported the concept of EI and EL acting strategies. The survey was administered in five star casino hotels in Macao. Frontline employees of hotels participated in the survey, and a total of two hundred electronic questionnaires were used for data analysis.

Keywords:

• Emotional intelligence
• emotional labor
• emotional exhaustion
• service recovery performance
• casino hotel