Purpose – This study aims to extend emotional labor theories to the customer outcomes by examining a theoretical model of how emotional labor performed by the service worker affects customer satisfaction in a mediated way. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling analyses partially support for our hypotheses from 282 dyadic survey data [i.e. service interactions customers (seniors) and service employees (caregivers)] from a home caregiver firm in South Korea. Findings – The results of our study found that employee’s emotional regulation strategies of deep acting and surface acting differentially affect customer satisfaction, and that employee’s job satisfaction mediates the relationship between employee’s emotional regulation strategies and customer satisfaction. More specifically, the relationship between surface acting and customer satisfaction is fully mediated by employee’s job satisfaction, whereas the relationship between deep acting and customer satisfaction is partially mediated by employee’s job satisfaction. Originality/value – Our study is the first to provide an empirical test of how employee job satisfaction mediates the relationship between employee emotional labor and customer satisfaction in service interactions. This research sheds light on the crucial role of employee job satisfaction that can be an important consideration to boost service quality and customer satisfaction by facilitating employee emotional labor.

Research on customer participation (CP) has focused on its benefits for customers. However, recent research suggests that CP is beneficial to both customers and firms. The literature is also sparse on the economic (e.g., profitability) and customer (e.g., customer retention) impact of CP. This research introduces the concept of customer empowerment and develops and tests a model of customer empowerment as a parallel mediator, along with customer satisfaction, to explain the linkage between CP and bank branch performance. Furthermore, the authors draw on a broader set of moderators beyond customer characteristics to examine when CP affects empowerment and satisfaction. Using triadic matched data from a multiwave design and a three-level model in which customers are nested within employees, who are, in turn, nested within bank branches, the authors show that customer empowerment and satisfaction fully mediate the effect of CP on branch performance. The findings also show that CP results in greater customer empowerment and satisfaction when there is fit between participation and the context in which it is used. The authors discuss implications for advancing CP research and suggest actionable steps for reaping the economic and customer benefits of CP.

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The role of coworkers’ customer orientation (CO) in influencing an employee's CO has received sparse attention in the literature. This research serves two purposes. First, the study draws on person–group fit theory to develop and test a model of a frontline employee's CO relative to that of his or her coworkers as well as the effects of CO (mis)fit on job satisfaction and service performance through coworker relationship quality. Second, the authors propose three work-group characteristics—group size, service climate strength, and leader‒member exchange differentiation—that they expect to mitigate the (negative) positive effect of employee‒coworker CO (mis)fit on coworker relationship quality. Data collected in a multirespondent (i.e., frontline employees and supervisors) longitudinal research design indicate that as group size increases, service climate becomes stronger, and group leaders develop different exchange relationships with employees, the inherently (negative) positive role of employee–coworker CO (mis)fit in influencing coworker relationship quality diminishes. Furthermore, coworker relationship quality fully mediates the associations of employee–coworker CO (mis)fit with job satisfaction and service performance. The authors close with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the boundary conditions of CO (mis)fit.

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