Customer Emotions in Strengthening Relationship with Service Provider

Abstract

Individual emotions act as influential psychological dimension directing their though and eventually decision making process. Earlier studies have examined the link of employee and customer relationship with respect to physical and psychosocial dimensions. Further extending the explanation of linkage, this study aims to examine the relationship in the presence of customer emotions and their overall impact on relationship strength with the organization. The descriptive research design is adopted to analyze the proposed dimensions and validate the model sustainability. Data collection was employed through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using multivariate techniques. Findings support the proposed hypothesis explaining the mediating role of customer emotions and therefore its role in maintaining sustainable relationship with the organization. The analytical results explains the dynamics of relationship between the front-line employee and customer in light of psychological factor i.e. customer emotions. Since emotions are the psychological dimension influenced highly due to cultural and demographic profiles, the relationship strength/intensity among the proposed dimensions within the model cannot be generalized for every industrial platform. Also the study is limited to the geographical area of Gujarat wherein the industry environment does influence the customer interaction process with the organization.

Keywords: Employee satisfaction, Employee commitment, Customer emotions, Customer retention.