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“Service with a smile” and emotional contagion: A replication and extension study

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  • Woo, Ka-shing
  • Chan, Bobbie

Abstract

The “service with a smile” mantra has been universally proclaimed in the West for its enhanced effect on customer affect and service outcomes. It is replicated in Chinese culture and extended to include repeated down-nods as a prevailing but under-researched social cue. Results of an experimental study with 259 ethnic Chinese millennials show that frontline service employee's smile-nod coupling drives both nonverbal immediacy and authenticity of service encounter behavior which in turn promote employee-customer rapport. However, post-encounter customer affect does not play a part in emotional contagion. Together, these findings suggest that tourism businesses should attend to both smiling and nodding in service delivery and make concerted efforts more on service outcomes than on positive customer affectivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Woo, Ka-shing & Chan, Bobbie, 2020. "“Service with a smile” and emotional contagion: A replication and extension study," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:80:y:2020:i:c:s0160738319302075
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2019.102850
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ye, Shun & Xiao, Honggen & Zhou, Lingqiang, 2018. "Commodification and perceived authenticity in commercial homes," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 39-53.
    2. Cheng, Mingming & Zhang, Guojie, 2019. "When Western hosts meet Eastern guests: Airbnb hosts' experience with Chinese outbound tourists," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 288-303.
    3. Grandey, Alicia A. & Fisk, Glenda M. & Mattila, Anna S. & Jansen, Karen J. & Sideman, Lori A., 2005. "Is "service with a smile" enough? Authenticity of positive displays during service encounters," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 38-55, January.
    4. Rydzik, Agnieszka & Pritchard, Annette & Morgan, Nigel & Sedgley, Diane, 2017. "Humanising migrant women’s work," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 13-23.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen & Yu, Joanne, 2021. "The future of service: The power of emotion in human-robot interaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    2. Liao, Jiancai & Huang, Jingya, 2024. "Think like a robot: How interactions with humanoid service robots affect consumers’ decision strategies," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Xu, Yingzi & Ling, I-Ling, 2023. "Effects of face masks and photo tags on nonverbal communication in service encounters," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

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