Are All Smiles Perceived Equal? The Role of Service Provider’s Gender

Abstract

In service encounters, employees’ emotional displays, such as smiling, play a critical role in creating positive impressions. Whereas prior research has examined the impact of displaying authentic emotional expressions on service encounter satisfaction, empirical research on the joint impact of smile intensity and the service provider’s gender is scarce. To bridge that gap, the study reported in this article examines such interactive effects on customers’ authenticity perceptions. Findings indicate that a broad smile is perceived as more authentic when the service provider is a female (versus a male). Conversely, a slight smile is more congruent with male stereotypes, thus leading to higher authenticity perceptions. This study further shows that perceived authenticity is the psychological mechanism explaining the link between smile intensity and service encounter satisfaction. The findings suggest that hospitality managers should recognize the importance of the congruency of smile intensity and gender when developing training protocols.