Understand Role of Emotional Intelligence in Customer Satisfaction in Hospitality Industry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29070/3s7q0a71Keywords:
Emotional Intelligence, Customer Satisfaction, Hospitality Industry, MSCEIT Model, EQAbstract
This study investigates the role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in enhancing customer satisfaction within the hospitality industry, utilizing the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (Mayer et al., 2016) framework. Drawing on a survey of 49 hospitality professionals, the research employs descriptive and inferential statistics to evaluate four branches of EI: perceiving, facilitating, understanding, and managing emotions. Demographic analysis revealed a predominantly young (65.31% aged 25-35) and full-time (83.67%) workforce. Descriptive results indicated that while employees scored highest in "Understanding Emotions" (M = 4.27), "Managing Emotions" (M = 4.21) exhibited the highest variability (SD = 0.64), suggesting a need for standardized training in emotional regulation. Hypothesis testing confirmed a significant relationship between an employee’s ability to manage emotions and high customer satisfaction (p < 0.05), specifically identifying emotional recovery (p = 0.002) as the strongest predictor of service success. Conversely, de-escalation skills alone did not significantly impact satisfaction scores (p = 0.366), implying that guests view de-escalation as basic damage control rather than a value-added service. The findings suggest that hospitality organizations should prioritize training in emotional resilience and "proactive empathy" to improve service standards. Performance evaluations should incorporate EI metrics to foster a workforce capable of maintaining professional composure and rapid emotional recovery during high-stress interactions.
Downloads
References
1. Agashe, R., Jain, S., & Kumar, D. (2020). Analyzing the role of 'emotional intelligence' in developing leadership in the Indian hospitality sector. PUSA Journal of Hospitality and Applied Sciences, 6(1), 1–10.
2. Beals, B. A. (2006). Emotional intelligence: Use of socio-demographic variables to predict the emotional intelligence of hospitality industry professionals. [Master's thesis, Kansas State University]. K-State Research Exchange.
3. Bharwani, S., & Pramod, D. (2018). Diffusion of professional competencies in hospitality education: An employee perspective. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 22, 14-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2017.11.002
4. Bitner, M. J. (1992). Servicescapes: The impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees. Journal of Marketing, 56(2), 57-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299205600205
5. Business and Hotel Management School. (2023, June 13). The role of emotional intelligence in hospitality leadership. https://www.bhms.ch/latest-news-from-bhms/news-detail/article/the-role-of-emotional-intelligence-in-hospitality-leadership
6. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.
7. Gronroos, C. (2011). Service management and marketing: Customer management in service competition. Wiley.
8. Guney, M. (2024). Exploring emotional intelligence in the hospitality industry: Effects on customer satisfaction and employee performance [Master's thesis, National College of Ireland]. National College of Ireland Repository.
9. Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press.
10. Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. C., & Jaakkola, E. (2015). Customer experience management in hospitality: A review and research agenda. Service Industries Journal, 35(3), 116-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2014.990003
11. Kotsou, I., Mikolajczak, M., Heeren, A., Gregoire, J., & Leys, C. (2019). Improving emotional intelligence: A systematic review of existing interventions and their benefits. Emotions, 21(3), 230-245. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000623
12. Langhorn, S. (2004). How emotional intelligence can improve management performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(4), 220-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110410537370
13. London College of Contemporary Arts. (2024, May 22). The power of emotional intelligence in hospitality management. https://www.lcca.ac.uk/blog/hospitality/the-power-of-emotional-intelligence-in-hospitality-management/
14. Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (2016). The ability model of emotional intelligence: Principles and updates. Emotion Review, 8(4), 290-300. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916639665
15. Oliver, R. L. (2010). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. Routledge.
16. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12-40.
17. Pizam, A., Shapoval, V., & Ellis, T. (2016). Customer satisfaction and its measurement in hospitality enterprises: A revisited and updated 20-year review of theoretical and empirical research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(1), 2-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2015-0167
18. R Core Team (2024). R: A Language and environment for statistical computing. (Version 4.4) [Computer software]. Retrieved from https://cran.r-project.org. (R packages retrieved from CRAN snapshot 2024-08-07).
19. Raina, P. K., & Sira, R. (2019). Emotional intelligence in the hospitality sector: A systematic review of potential mediators and moderators. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR), 6(4), 580–586.
20. The jamovi project (2024). jamovi. (Version 2.6) [Computer Software]. Retrieved from https://www.jamovi.org.
21. Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: A means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298805200302
