Chapter 4 Sales Employee's Emotional Labor: A Question of Image or Support

Abstract

Based on a study of 523 medical sales representatives, the present study investigates the relationships among employees' perception about organizational image, organizational support, and the way they perform their emotional labor during customer interaction. As predicted, the study found support for a positive relationship of both perceived organizational support and perceived external prestige with the way in which employees perform emotional labor. The study further found the importance of perceived external prestige of the organization in influencing the relationship between perceived organizational support and emotional labor. Implications of the study to practitioners and researchers were discussed.

Citation

Mishra, S.K. (2011), "Chapter 4 Sales Employee's Emotional Labor: A Question of Image or Support", Härtel, C.E.J., Ashkanasy, N.M. and Zerbe, W.J. (Ed.) What Have We Learned? Ten Years On (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 107-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2011)0000007009