Customer Perception of Emotional Labor of Airline Service Employees and Customer Loyalty Intention

This study investigated the link between customer perception of emotional labor of airline service employees, perceived customer orientation, perceived service quality, and customer loyalty intention. A self-reported survey conducted among 300 participants, who were asked to respond to questions on perceived employee deep acting, perceived employee surface acting, perceived customer orientation, perceived service quality, and customer loyalty intention, was conducted. A series of regression of analysis were performed on the data collected. The findings showed that perceived employee deep acting was significantly and positively related to perceived customer orientation and perceived service quality while perceived surface acting was negatively associated with perceived customer orientation and perceived service quality. Perceived customer orientation and perceived service quality were also found to influence customer loyalty intention. The implications of the findings for practice are discussed. (C) 2016 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk