ABSTRACT
The quality of interactions between frontline employees and their customers is an important determinant of service delivery outcomes. Researchers in management and marketing have examined the role of such interpersonal interactions for key service success variables such as customers’ service quality perceptions of, satisfaction with, and loyalty to the service provider (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988; Rust & Oliver, 1994; Seth, Deshmukh, & Vrat, 2005). For customers, displays of valued emotions by service employees, such as a friendly smile, have a profound impact on their service quality perceptions, either by serving as substitutes for aspects of the core service that are too difficult to evaluate objectively (i.e., legal services, car repair) or by providing immediate social benefits to customers (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, & Gremler, 2002; Parasuraman et al., 1988). Likewise, the taste of a great steak in a restaurant or the excellent décor of a hotel can be drastically counteracted by employees who refrain from positive emotional displays, even to such an extent that the customer leaves the service provider unsatisfied and unlikely to return.
