Service Employees’ Expressions of Emotions in Restaurants: A Transcendental Phenomenology Study

  • Mohammad Shahidul ISLAM Brac Business School, Brac University, Bangladesh
  • Fariba AZIZZADEH Islamic Azad University, Piranshahr, Iran
  • Sebastian ZUPOK Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu National Louis University, Poland
  • Hassan BABAPOUR Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Iran
  • Janusz SOBOŃ Academy of Jakub from Paradyż, Poland
  • Joanna ROGOZIŃSKA-MITRUT Academy of Jakub from Paradyż, Poland
  • Aziz HOSSEINIi Payame Noor University, Iran
  • Lawrence JONES-ESAN University of Sunderland in London, UK

Abstract

As a topic, nonverbal communication (e.g., expressions of emotions) remains inadequately focused on tourism and hospitality research. Its qualitative significance in service encounters is also virtually unexplored. Given the importance of employees' display of affective characteristics as vivid outcomes of nonverbal communication, i.e., responsiveness, friendliness, trustworthiness, competence, and compassion toward customers, the current study aims to explore customers' experiences toward nonverbal communication of employees during service encounters. By using transcendental phenomenology as a methodological framework, the study resorted to in-depth interviews with 13 customers, representing different nationalities, with whom the study found nonverbal communication as expressions of "body signal, mood, icon, marketing aids, mind changer and anything unspoken" that are conceived quickly and make customers feel welcome and comfortable. The study also found realistic experiences that customers could take their meals at home; they visited the restaurant for having different experiences: refreshment and relaxation while dining. In that emotional situation, they expected favourable nonverbal behaviour instead of a worried face, ignorance, mouse on the floor. The discussion of results is carried out concerning the characteristics of nonverbal communication and the theory of emotional contagion.

References

[1] Anderson, J. C., and Narus, J. A. 1990. A model of distributor firm and manufacturing firm working partnership. Journal of Marketing, 54(1): 42–58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299005400103
[2] Argyle, M. 1975. Bodily Communication. International University Press, New York, NY.
[3] Argyle, M. 1983. The Psychology of Interpersonal Behavior. Penguin, Harmondsworth.
[4] Argyle, M. 1994. Bodily Communication. Routledge, London.
[5] Argyle, M., and Dean, J. 1965. Eye-Contact, Distance and Affiliation, Sociometry, 28(3): 289-304. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076476
[6] Aronfreed, J. 1970. The socialization of altruistic and sympathetic behavior: Some theoretical and experimental analyses. In J. M. L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Altruism and helping behavior (pp. 103-126). New York: Academic Press.
[7] Atkinson, A. 1988. Answering the eternal question: what does the customer want? The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 29(2): 12-14. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010880488801526
[8] Azizzadeh, F. 2019. Pathology of Tourist Attraction Problems in St. Mary Church of Urmia. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, 8(40): 1956-1962. DOI:https://doi.org/10.14505//jemt.v10.8(40).25
[9] Azizzadeh, F., and Pourranjbar, S. 2021.The causes of discharge against medical advice and suggestions for its reduction in Tabriz Sina Medical Center (phenomenological study). Indian J Med Sci, 73(1): 88-92. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.25259/IJMS_64_2020
[10] Azizzadeh, F., et al. 2022. Expectations and Organizational Realities: The Relationship between Person and Organization. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Organizational Studies, 17(1): 23-34. DOI:https://doi.org/10.18848/2324-7649/CGP/v17i01/23-34
[11] Babbie, E. 2010. The practice of social research (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
[12] Barnum, C., and Wolniansky, N. 1989. Taking cues from body language. Management Review, June: 59-60. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Taking-cues-from-body-language-Barnum-Wolniansky/372cf2038def3010dbe5b975acd0250a5c7909c9
[13] Barsade, S. G. 2002. The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behaviour. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4): 644-675. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3094912
[14] Bayes, M.A. 1972. Behavioral cues of interpersonal warmth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 39(2): 333-339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0033367
[15] Beebe, S.A. 1980. Effects of eye contact and vocal inflection upon credibility and comprehension. Australian SCAN: Journal of Human Communication, July/August: 57-70. Available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED144121
[16] Bendapudi, N., and Leone, R. P. 2003. Psychological implications of customer participation in co-production. Journal of Marketing, 67(1): 14-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.67.1.14.18592
[17] Birdwhistell, R.L. 1952. Introduction to Kinesics. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
[18] Blumer, H. 1969. Symbolic Interactionism; Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[19] Boswijk, A., Peelen, E., and Olthof, S. 2013. Economy of Experiences, 3rd edition. Pearson Education.
[20] Burgoon, J. K. 1978. Attributes of the newscaster’s voice as predictors of his credibility. Journalism Quarterly, 56(1): 276–281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/107769907805500208
[21] Burgoon, J. K., Birk, T., and Pfau, M. 1990. Nonverbal behaviors, persuasion, and credibility. Human Communication Research, 17(1): 140-69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1990.tb00229.x
[22] Cabanac, M. 2002. What is emotion? Behavioural Processes, 60(1): 69-83. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-6357(02)00078-5
[23] Chen, Y. Y., Shek, D., and Bu, F. F. 2011. Applications of interpretive and constructionist research methods in adolescent research: Philosophy, principles and examples. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 23(3): 129-139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh.2011.022
[24] Chomać-Pierzecka, E., et al. 2022. Analysis and Evaluation of the Photovoltaic Market in Poland and the Baltic States. Energies, 15(2): 669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020669
[25] Darwin, C. 1965. The expression of the emotions in man and animals. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1872).
[26] Delmonte, M.M. 1991. Use of non-verbal construing and metaphor in psychotherapy. Internal Journal of Psychosomatics, 38(1-4): 68-75. Available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-17083-001
[27] Deutch, F., and Madle, R. A. 1975. Empathy: Historic and current conceptualizations, measurement, and a cognitive theoretical perspective. Human Development, 18(4): 267-287. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1159/000271488
[28] Dimberg, U., Thunberg, M., and Elmehed, K. 2000. Unconscious facial reactions to emotional facial expressions. Psychological science, 11(1): 86-89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00221
[29] Du, J., Fan, X., and Feng, T. 2011. Multiple emotional contagions in service encounters. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39: 449-466. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0210-9
[30] Echeverri, P., and Skålen, P. 2011. Co-creation and co-destruction–a practice theory-based study of interactive value formation. Marketing Theory, 11(3): 351–373. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593111408181
[31] Edie, J. M. 1964. Transcendental phenomenology and existentialism. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 25(1): 52-63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2105503
[32] Ekman, P. 1972. Universals and cultural differences in facial expressions of emotion. In J. K. Cole (Ed.). Nehrusku Sytnposiutn on Motitalion (vol. 19). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Available at: https://1ammce38pkj41n8xkp1iocwe-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Universals-And-Cultural-Differences-In-Facial-Expressions-Of.pdf
[33] Elizur, D. 1987. Effect of feedback on verbal and non-verbal courtesy in a bank setting. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 36(2): 147-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1987.tb00381.x
[34] Feighery, W. 2006. Reflexivity and tourism research: telling an (other) story. Curr.Issues Tour, 9(3): 269–282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2167/cit/mp006.0
[35] Gabbott, M., and Hogg, G. 2000. An empirical investigation of the impact of non-verbal communication on service evaluation. European Journal of Marketing, 34(3/4): 384-398. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560010311911
[36] Gabbott, M., and Hogg, G. 2001. The role of non-verbal communication in service encounters: a conceptual framework. Journal of Marketing Management, 17(1/2): 5–26. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1362/0267257012571401
[37] Giles, H., and Robinson, P.W. 1990. Handbook of Language and Social Psychology. Wiley, New York, NY.
[38] Gladstone, G., and Parker, G. 2002. When you’re smiling does the whole world smile for you? Australasian Psychiatry, 10(2): 144-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1665.2002.00423.x
[39] Guthrie, J. 2014. In defence of disclosure studies and the use of content analysis: A research note. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 15(2): 349. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-03-2014-0029
[40] Hansemark, O. C., and Albinsson, M. 2004. Customer satisfaction and retention: the experiences of individual employees. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 14(1): 40 – 57. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520410513668
[41] Hargie, O., Saunders, C., and Dickson, D. 1987. Social Skills in Interpersonal Communication, 2nd ed., Croom Helm, London.
[42] Harisson, R.P. 1974. Beyond Words: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
[43] Hashim, J., Wok, S., and Ghazali, R. 2008. Organizational behavior associated with emotional contagion among direct selling members. Direct Marketing: An International Journal, 2(3): 144-158. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/17505930810899302
[44] Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, and Rapson, R. 1994. Emotional contagion. New York: Cambridge, University Press.
[45] Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., and Rapson, R. L. 1993. Emotional contagion. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2(3): 96-99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep10770953
[46] Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J., and Rapson, R. 1992. Primitive emotional contagion. In M. S. Clark. (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
[47] Hazlett, R.L., and Hoehn-Saric, R. 2000. Effects of perceived physical attractiveness on females facial displays and affect. Evolution and Human Behavior, 21(1): 49–57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(99)00036-7
[48] Hemsley, G. D., and Doob, A. T. 1978. The effect of looking behavior on communicators'credibility. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 8: 136-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1978.tb00772.x
[49] Hennig-Thurau, T., Groth, M., Paul, M., and Gremler, D. D. 2006. Are all smiles created equal? How emotional contagion and emotional labor affect service relationships. Journal of Marketing, 70(3): 58-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.70.3.058
[50] Hertz, R. 1997. Reflexivity and Voice. Sage Publications, London.
[51] Hess, U., and Blairy, S. 2001. Facial mimicry and emotional contagion to dynamic emotional facial expressions and their influence on decoding accuracy. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 40(2): 129-141. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8760(00)00161-6
[52] Hickson III, M. L., and Stacks, D. W. 1993. Nonverbal communication studies and applications (3rd edition). Dubuque: Wm. C. Brown Communications.
[53] Hurley-Hanson, A. E., and Giannantonio, C.M. 2006. Recruiters’ perceptions of appearance: the stigma of image norms. Equal Opportunities International, 25(6): 450–463. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/02610150610713755
[54] Jacob, C., Guéguen, N., Martin, A. and Boulbry, G. 2011. Retail salespeople’s mimicry of customers: Effects on consumer behavior. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 18(5): 381-388. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2010.11.006
[55] Jung, C. G. 1968. Lecture five. In Analytical psychology: Its theory and practice (pp. 151-160). New York: Random House.
[56] Jung, H. S., and Yoon, H. H. 2011. The effects of nonverbal communication of employees in the family restaurant upon customers’ emotional responses and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(3): 542-550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2010.09.005
[57] Ketrow, S. M., and Perkins, K. 1986. Operator eye contact and client satisfaction in computer-assisted interactions. Annual Convention of the Speech Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
[58] Kim, J.-E., Ju, H. W., and Johnson, K. K. P. 2009. Sales associate’s appearance: Links to consumers’ emotions, store image, and purchases. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 16(3): 407-413. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2009.06.001
[59] Kim, S.H. 2007. Effect of the verbal and non-verbal communication of salespersons in service encounter on customers’ emotion and behavioral intension. Korean Society of Consumer Studies, 18(1): 97–131. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5805/KSCI.2012.14.3.413
[60] King, N. 2004. Using interviews in qualitative research, in C. Cassel and G. Symon (eds) Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research. London: Sage, pp.11-22.
[61] Kirillova, K. 2018. Phenomenology for hospitality: Theoretical premises and practical applications. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(11): 3326-3345. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2017-0712
[62] Koernig, S. K., and Page, A. L. 2002. What if your dentist looked like Tom Cruise? Applying the match-up hypothesis to a service encounter. Psychology and Marketing, 19(1): 91-110. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.1003
[63] Laird, J. D., and Bresler, C. 1990. William James and the mechanisms of emotional experience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16(4): 636-651. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167290164005
[64] Levasseur, J. J. 2003. The problem of bracketing in phenomenology. Qualitative Health Research, 13(3): 408-420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732302250337
[65] Lin, J.-S. C., and Lin, C.-Y. 2011. What makes service employees and customers smile: Antecendents and consequences of the employees’ affective delivery in the service encounter. Journal of Service Management, 22(2): 183-201. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09564231111124217
[66] Lundqvist, L.-O. 2008. The relationship between the Biosocial Model of Personality and susceptibility to emotional contagion: A structural equation modelling approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, pp. 89-95. Available at: https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/72136.pdf
[67] Malandro, I., Barker, I., and Barker, D. A. 1989. Nonverbal Communication, Random House, New York.
[68] McIntosh, A. 2010. Situating the self in religious tourism research: an author’s reflexive perspective. Turizam: Znanstveno-struˇcniˇcasopis, 58(3): 213–227. Available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/62777
[69] Mehrabian, A. 1981. Silent Messages. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.
[70] Miller, R.E., Caul, W. F., and Mirsky, I. A. 1967. The communication of affects between feral and socially isolated monkeys. Journal of Personality Society Psychology, 7: 231–239. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1037/h0025065
[71] Mohaghegh, M., and Valipour, A. 2020. Income-dependent impacts of financial development and human capital on economic growth. A non-stationary panel analysis. Theoretical and Applied Economics, 27(4): 263-274. Available at: http://store.ectap.ro/articole/1507.pdf
[72] Moss, D. 2001. The roots and genealogy of humanistic psychology, in K. Schneider, J. Bugental and J. Pierson (eds), Handbook of Humanistic Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp. 5-20. DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412976268.n1
[73] Moustakas, C. 1994. Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[74] Oliver-Rodriguez, J.C., Guan, Z., and Johnston, V. S. 1999. Gender differences in late positive components evoked by human faces. Psychophysiology, 36(2): 176–185. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/S0048577299971354
[75] Pritchard, A., Morgan, N., and Ateljevic, I. 2011. Hopeful tourism: a new transformative perspective. Ann. Tour. Res, 38(3): 941–963. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2011.01.004
[76] Pugh, S. D. 2001. Service with a smile: Emotional contagion in the service encounter. The Academy of Management Journal, 44(5): 1018- 1027. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3069445
[77] Ratneshwar, J. C. S. 1999. Juggling and hopping: what does it mean psychologically? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 14(3-4): 184-205.
[78] Rennie, D. 1999. Using Qualitative Method in Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[79] Ruesch, J., and Kees, W. 1956. Nonverbal Communication: Notesonthe Visual Perception of Human Relations. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, CA.
[80] Ryu, K. S., and Jang, S. C. 2007. The effect of environmental perceptions on behavioral intentions through emotions: the case of upscale restaurants. Journal of Hospitality Tourism Research, 31(1): 56–72. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348006295506
[81] Schoenewolf, G. 1990. Emotional contagion: Behavioral induction in individuals and groups. Modern Psychoanalysis, 15: 49-61. Available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1991-19168-001
[82] Schutz, A. 1970. On phenomenology of social relations Selected Wntmgs (Wagner H Red), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
[83] Simmel, G. 1921. Sociology of the Senses: Visual Interaction, in R. E. Park and E. W. Burgess, editors, Introduction to the Science of Sociology, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[84] Smagorinsky, P. 2008. The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructingsocial science research reports. Writ. Commun, 25(3): 389–411. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088308317815
[85] Smith, B. 1998. The problem drinker’s lived experience of suffering: an exploration using hermeneutic phenomenology. J. Adv. Nurs., 27(1): 213–222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00524.x
[86] Söderlund, M., and Rosengren, S. 2008. Revisiting the smiling service worker and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 19(5): 552-574. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230810903460
[87] Sonnby-Borgström, M., Jönsson, P., and Svensson, O. 2003. Emotional empathy as related to mimicry reactions at different levels of information processing. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 27(1): 2-23. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023608506243
[88] Straks, H., and Trinidad, S. 2007. Choose your method: A comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10): 1372-1380. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307307031
[89] Sundaram, D. S., and Webster, C. 2000. The role of nonverbal communication in service encounters. Journal of Services Marketing, 14(5): 378–391.
[90] Van Manen, M. 1990. Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Albany, NY: State University of New York.
[91] Vargo, S. L., and Lusch, R. F. 2008. From goods to service(s): Divergences and convergences of logics. Industrial Marketing Management, 37(3): 254-259. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2007.07.004
[92] Verbeke, W. 1997. Individual differences in emotional contagion of sales person: Its effect on performance and burnout. Psychology and Marketing, 14(6): 617-636. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6793(199709)14:6<617::AID-MAR6>3.0.CO;2-A
[93] Vogelaar, L. M. E., and Silverman, M. S. 1984. Nonverbal communication in crosscultural counselling: a literature review. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 7: 41-57. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116462
[94] Wilcke, M. 2006. Reconstructing identity: the experience of women refugees from the former Yugoslavia. J. Immigr. Refug. Stud., 4(2): 31–47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J500v04n02_02
[95] Yin, R. 2011. Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. The Guilford Press, New York, NY.
[96] Young, R., and Collin, A. 2004. Introduction: Constructivism and social constructionism in the career field. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64(3): 373-388. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2003.12.005
[97] Yuksel, A., Hancer, M., and Cengiz, S. 2007. Effects on nonverbal behaviour on customers’ recovery judgments: A neglected aspect in complain handling. In Christou, E. and Sigala, M. (eds.). Proceedings of 2007 International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Educational (CHRIE) Annual Conference, July 25-29, 2007 (pp. 519- 526), Dallas, Texas.
[98] Zeithaml, V., and Bitner, J. 2003. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm, (3rd ed), McGraw-Hill, Boston.
[99] Zupok, S. 2018. Wartość dla klienta a cele organizacji (Customer value and organization objectives). Studia i Prace WNEiZ US, 53(3): 77-88. DOI: 10.18276/sip.2018.53/3-07
[100] Nonverbal Communication Theories. (2009). In the Encyclopedia of Communication Theory. DOI:10.4135/9781412959384.n262
Published
2022-09-30
How to Cite
ISLAM, Mohammad Shahidul et al. Service Employees’ Expressions of Emotions in Restaurants: A Transcendental Phenomenology Study. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 13, n. 6, p. 1681-1796, sep. 2022. ISSN 2068-7729. Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/7280>. Date accessed: 23 nov. 2024.