Journal article
Emotional Convergence in Service Relationships: The Shared Frontline Experience of Customers and Employees
Journal of service research : JSR, v 20(1)
01 Feb 2017
Abstract
The literature establishes that customer and frontline employee (FLE) emotions converge during their encounters as a result of a transient, contagion-based process in which emotions flow from one actor to another. Recent evidence suggests, however, that this transient process does not produce emotional convergence among frontline dyads engaged in ongoing exchange, a surprising finding, given the wealth of evidence in support of the idea that customers and FLEs engaged in relational exchange strongly influence one another. In light of this evidence, we argue here that customers and FLEs engaged in ongoing exchange experience similar emotions not as a result of the transient transfer of emotions, but because they develop the tendency to undergo a similar emotional response to relationship events, a phenomenon we call the shared frontline experience. Informed by the social psychology literature, we support this idea by advancing a conceptual model that highlights the role of relationship closeness, personality similarity, and dyadic attachment style in producing the shared frontline experience. The proposed model also suggests that firms stand to benefit from the shared frontline experience of customers and FLEs if they provide the dyad with autonomy, a decision not without risk. Future research directions suggested by this perspective are discussed.
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Details
- Title
- Emotional Convergence in Service Relationships: The Shared Frontline Experience of Customers and Employees
- Creators
- Alex R. Zablah - #N#1Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USANancy J. Sirianni - University of AlabamaDaniel Korschun - Drexel UniversityDwayne D. Gremler - Bowling Green State UniversitySharon E. Beatty - University of Alabama
- Publication Details
- Journal of service research : JSR, v 20(1)
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 15
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Marketing
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000397212900006
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85009770786
- Other Identifier
- 991019168969004721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Business