Emotional labor behaviors in tourism: A study on the students of Balikesir University, Faculty of Tourism

Abstract

Service sector has unique features unlike the other sectors. That the employees have a lot of interaction with the customers is one of these factors. In this sector, the thing which is essential is to ensure customer satisfaction. In tourism and hotel business located in the service sector, human factor is stated to have a critical importance to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty. In order to be ensured the satisfaction as well as human factor, the quality of the interaction between the employees and customers is very important. In order to increase the quality of the interaction, various strategies are applied. One of the strategies is expressed as exhibiting some certain behaviors and emotions by the employees in order to create a positive attitude toward the product or service submitted to the customers (Hochschild, 2003: 7; Kuşluvan, Kuşluvan, İlhan & Buyruk 2010: 171). That the employees who have an interaction with the customers present the product or service by exhibiting positive attitudes may help customers to have a positive perception to product and service presented to the customers (Mengenci, 2015: 77). Besides, the products and services which are presented in service sector are important as well as their form of presentation to the customers. Employees who perform the presentation of products or services by interacting with customers mutually respond to the emotional requests of their customers with a sense they exhibit emotional exhibited during this interaction. This can play a key role in increasing customer satisfaction (Kaya & Özhan, 2012: 110). In an empirical study carried out by Pugh (2001), it has been reached to the conclusion that the emotions exhibited by the employees towards the customers during business may change the moods of the customers and this change may affect the attitude of the customers towards the business.