"SERVE WITH A SMILE" AROUND THE WORLD?

Introduction: In most customer service jobs in the United States, there is strong social pressure for employees to show an optimistic attitude at all times, demonstrating happy and enjoyable emotions in an effort to make customers feel pleasant and comfortable. Experts on emotional work have found that these encouraging "service with a smile" rules are also found in many other countries, but that doesn't mean they are followed to the same extent everywhere. One study examined international differences in emotional manifestations by having participants from Israel, France, Singapore, and the United States explain how they would behave in a variety of emotionally charged situations as customer service agents. Their results showed that although there was a strongly consistent trend for respondents to report that they would try to show happiness and suppress anger toward clients, there are differences in the degree to which people engage in those forms of emotional work. Respondents from Singapore were negatively disposed to express anger towards customers, while French found it more acceptable. American respondents were especially likely to show happiness to customers, while French respondents were more reserved in their expressions of happiness. This is not to say that there are no similarities between cultures in customer service expectations and customer reactions. There are no cultures in which smiling is seen as an expression of hostility or in which a grimace or frown is seen as a sign of friendship. There also seems to be consistently positive reactions to others that show positive emotions. However, companies operating in multiple markets should expect to see differences in the types of emotions of customer service employees.

instructions

1. Access the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_XyYxpWlS0 2. Notice the facial expressions. 3. Answer the following questions: 4. Did you find differences? 5. What cultural influence can be identified as a source of differences? 6. Write a reflection expressing your opinion about it together with the answers of the questions.