The relationship of emotional labor, emotional exhaustion, turnover intention and customer orientation

Abstract

The purpose of this study aimed to investigate the relationships among emotional regulation stratrgies, emotional exhaustion, turnover intention and customer orientation, using data from 340 female home- study teachers through structural equation model(SEM). Service workers tends to perform surface or deep acting as emotional regulation strategy during interaction with their customers. Thus, surface and deep acting may affect differently on emotional exhaustion, turnover intention and customer orientation. The results were as follows; First, surface acting was positively related to emotional exhaustion while deep acting was negatively related. Second, emotional exhaustion influenced positively on turnover intention, and negatively on customer orientation. Third, emotional exhaustion fully mediated the relationship between surface acting and turnover intention and customer orientation. It also fully mediated the relationship between deep acting and turnover intention while partially mediated the relationship between deep acting and customer orientation. Finally, the moderating effects of social support on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and turnover intention were examined. Contrary to our expectation, the moderating effects of supervisor and peer group support showed opposite buffering effect on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and turnover intention.