Emotional management in a mass customised call centre: examining skill and knowledgeability in interactive service work

Researchers have demonstrated the variety of interactive service sector work yet relatively little research has focused on the middle ground of ‘mass customised service work’. In particular, the complex character of emotional work in such workplaces remains under investigated. This article applies Bolton’s emotion management framework to a high-commitment mass customised call centre to extend understanding of the skills and content of such work. The findings show how workers produce ‘appropriate’ emotional displays informed by multiple influences beyond management prescription. The article documents the skilled emotional dexterity shown by such workers and elaborates Bolton’s framework in demonstrating the negotiated and interactive nature of emotion management. In so doing, it demonstrates the significance of heretofore largely unacknowledged skills in the work of mass customised service workers.