Emotional Contagion – A Nemesis? Case Study Approach

Purpose: This case study looks at how emotions can play a major role in influencing customers' response to the service provider.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A case study methodology has been utilized to highlight the significance of managing emotions in a service encounter. It portrays the effect of emotions on individuals both in a positive as well as in a negative light.

Practical Implications: Service providers find it challenging to ensure customer satisfaction. Since standardization is impossible in in a service environment, it becomes imperative to sensitize one's employees towards managing one's response towards customers. Emotions when not controlled simply mimic that of the person with whom we are interacting - hence considered as contagious. The situations described in the case reveal how ordinary service encounters metamorphose into situations necessitating urgent action simply because emotionally charged individuals reacted to the situation ahead of them.