Influence of empathy on hotel guests' emotional service experience

被引:55
作者
Umasuthan, Hamsanandini [1 ]
Park, Oun-Joung [1 ]
Ryu, Jong-Hyun [2 ]
机构
[1] Jeju Natl Univ Jeju, Dept Tourism Management, Jeju, South Korea
[2] Hongik Univ, Sch Business Management, Sejong, South Korea
关键词
Cognitive empathy; Emotional empathy; Emotional service experience; Hotel service; PERSPECTIVE-TAKING; MIRROR NEURON; COGNITIVE EMPATHY; SATISFACTION; PERFORMANCE; EMPLOYEE; AUTISM; MODEL; LABOR; COMMUNICATION;
D O I
10.1108/JSM-06-2016-0220
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
Purpose - The purpose of this study is to assess the comparative influence of two empathy dimensions (cognitive and emotional attributes) on emotional service experience and behavioral intention among business and leisure hotel guests. Studies relevant to empathy dimensions are relatively scarce in tourism and hospitality. Design/methodology/approach - The current study reviewed the concepts of empathy, and empirically compared perceptions of empathy attributes between the two groups. The survey was intended to examine how well the hotel employees emotionally handle hotel guests' incidents or inquiries related to any discomforts through personalized attention. The data were collected from 330 hotel guests who had actually complained about service failures while staying at the hotel during the record-breaking summer of 2013 in terms of number of visitors to Jeju. An active empathetic listening (AEL) tool has been taken to measure the hotel guest's cognitive views and behavioral intentions, as well as emotional empathy measures under the empathic concern and emotional contagion. Findings - The results revealed that empathetic dimensions strongly influenced the service experiences of hotel guests. While the emotional service experience of business guests was almost completely determined by the cognitive empathy, the emotional service experience of the leisure guests was mainly governed by the emotional empathy. Practical implications - These outcomes suggest that the empathetic services through a "purpose of visit"-oriented manner might enhance the guest's overall emotion positively. Originality/value - According to the prior literatures and empirical findings in hospitality and tourism, empathy can be seen as subscale in SERVQUAL instrument. This paper focus on insights of empathy dimensions, and it was revealed that the interaction of both the cognitive and emotional dimensions of empathy conjointly determines the overall emotional service experience and intention of hotel guests.
引用
收藏
页码:618 / 635
页数:18
相关论文
共 127 条
[1]   MULTIDIMENSIONAL-SCALING OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS [J].
ABELSON, RP ;
SERMAT, V .
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, 1962, 63 (06) :546-&
[2]   SOME METHODS FOR RESPECIFYING MEASUREMENT MODELS TO OBTAIN UNIDIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCT MEASUREMENT [J].
ANDERSON, JC ;
GERBING, DW .
JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, 1982, 19 (04) :453-460
[3]  
Arbuckle J., 2009, Amos 18 user's guide
[4]   AN EMPIRICAL-ASSESSMENT OF THE SERVQUAL SCALE [J].
BABAKUS, E ;
BOLLER, GW .
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, 1992, 24 (03) :253-268
[5]   The nature of satisfaction: An updated examination and analysis [J].
Babin, BJ ;
Griffin, M .
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, 1998, 41 (02) :127-136
[6]  
Bagozzi R.P., 1980, Causal models in marketing
[7]   The empathy quotient: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences [J].
Baron-Cohen, S ;
Wheelwright, S .
JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS, 2004, 34 (02) :163-175
[8]   Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect [J].
Barrett, LF ;
Russell, JA .
JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 1998, 74 (04) :967-984
[9]   THE EMPATHY CYCLE - REFINEMENT OF A NUCLEAR CONCEPT [J].
BARRETTLENNARD, GT .
JOURNAL OF COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY, 1981, 28 (02) :91-100
[10]  
Barsky J., 2002, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, V43, P39, DOI 10.1016/S0010-8804(02)80007-6