Customer Orientation and Sales Situations: Variations in Interactive Service Work

Abstract

This article contributes to the discussion of effects of 'emotional labour', or work where the management of feeling to create a publicly observable display is a crucial part. Some authors stress detrimental effects like emotive dissonance and alienation. Others observe the joy and satisfaction people feel in this kind of work. Emotional labour is here presented as a form of acting, which is related to individual and organizational factors, and studied within a Swedish context. To investigate the different forms of service occupations in the private sector and the effect that this kind of work has on people, a qualitative interview study, an organizational study and a survey were conducted. The results reveal both positive and negative effects of emotional labour across different occupations. A typology with four types of service occupations is suggested: (1) 'Work First'; (2) 'Personalized Services'; (3) 'Routine Selling'; and (4) 'Persuasive Selling'.