Emotion Labour Analysis

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Emotion labour is a stress source in a service industry especially in the retail industry. It requires that the workers have to display positive emotion to their customers in any situation. There are three major forms of emotion labour, which includes surface acting, deep acting and naturally felt emotion. They have to act in required emotion and facial expression like a fake smile to their customers even though they feel sad or facing unreasonable situation. Fake smile but different inner emotion is surface acting. Deep acting is the process that the workers change their internal through and feeling by thinking some happy moments or things in order to express required and expected emotion, which is more natural emotional display. Naturally…show more content…
The result is totally different, however. Workers in outlet shops use naturally felt emotion. As the majority customers of outlet mainly want to buy cheap with the reasonable price of brand name products, so they have low expectation and requirement of the workers. They do not care about the low standard of customers services. Hence, workers can express real and actual emotion. However, customers require high standard of service in other shops especially in popular brand shops, as the high price of the products have already countered the customers’ service fee. Moreover, from the perspective of the workers, they understand that the low expectation of the consumers. They will buy the product even they encounter low service quality as their buying decision are not based on service standard. Surface acting or deep acting is not essential for them. From the point of view of the company, it is needless to require the workers provide high standard services. It enhances autonomy and reduces the display…show more content…
The workers that do not work in outlet shops perform surface acting or deep acting, like fake smile and show friendliness with the positive feeling in order to attract the customers to buy the product and intention to return and buy again. The interaction between customers and workers are based on organizationally sanctioned response like the script is prepared by the company which is not natural. It leads to exhaustion of employee’ emotion and reduces their job satisfaction. As they still have to project a smile if they encounter irrational customers. And they have to apologize even they did the right thing which may sacrifice their own interest. Moreover, high level of emotion labour will not result in higher wages as it is a basic requirement of the retail industry. They will burnout and feel stressful due to long working time and control their emotion. As the supervisor will implicitly some display rule to their subordinates and cause factor in stress of the workers. Furthermore, psychological distress will occur as they cannot show their negative and true emotion such as anger or sadness. Those negative emotion will transfer to their family and social behaviors afterward. Other consequence of the workers includes poor self-esteem, depression and self-alienation. They will uncomfortable and enhance the intention to leave the

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