Does it pay off to smile even it is not authentic? Customers’ involvement and the effectiveness of authentic emotional displays

Stephan Olk, Dieter K. Tscheulin () and Jörg Lindenmeier
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Stephan Olk: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Dieter K. Tscheulin: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Jörg Lindenmeier: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Marketing Letters, 2021, vol. 32, issue 2, No 9, 247-260

Abstract: Abstract Research has shown that while the authenticity of positive emotional displays plays an important role in service encounters, it has not yet demonstrated a universally positive effect on customers’ behavior. This study, which is the first to present customer involvement as a contextual factor that influences customers’ processing, provides a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the authenticity of emotional displays. The model is based on expectation disconfirmation theory and emotional contagion theory and is validated in a field experiment and two laboratory experiments that use video stimuli with actors in real-world contexts. The results show that even inauthentic displays can meet customers’ expectations depending on their involvement and that high-involvement customers adapt to employees’ authentic emotions more strongly than low-involvement customers do. In summary, the presented model strengthens the understanding of the role of authentic displays and provides an approach to improve the effectiveness of emotional labor strategies.

Keywords: Emotional labor; Authenticity; Customer involvement; Cognitive and affective processing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-021-09563-x

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