Abstract
Emotional expressions have a pervasive impact on organizational behavior. However, it is unclear how such effects are modulated by the intensity of emotional displays. We investigated in online, laboratory, and field experiments how varying intensities of service providers' emotional displays (expressed through text, intonation, or physical displays) influence customer service outcomes. We show that in mundane service interactions, displays of intense happiness or sadness are interpreted as inappropriate and inauthentic, and lead to reduced trust in the service provider. We further demonstrate the mediating effect of trust on satisfaction with the service (Study 1), expected satisfaction with the product (Studies 2 and 3), and actual product use (Study 4). The studies highlight perceptions of appropriateness and sincerity as mechanisms underlying the interpersonal effects of emotional intensity. We propose that emotional intensity be incorporated in theorizing and research on organizational behavior to arrive at a more complete understanding of emotional dynamics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 97-111 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |
| Volume | 144 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research awarded to the third author ( NWO 452-09-010 ) and by a grant from the Israeli Science Foundation awarded to the second author (Grant No. 351/13 ). Studies 2 and 3 were conducted while the first two authors were visiting scholars at the University of Amsterdam. We thank Anna Bogo, Sari Mentser, Nofar Tal and Meira Ben-Gad for their assistance in running the studies and preparation of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords
- Customer service
- Emotion intensity
- Interpersonal effects of emotions
- Satisfaction
- Trust