Emotional labor’s impact on hoteliers outside the workplace

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how emotional labor influences hotel employee behavior outside the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. First, 21 entry-level hotel managers were interviewed, and grounded theory was used for the analysis of the interview data (Study 1). Then, 410 survey responses were collected from hotel employees, and the data were analyzed using a PROCESS model (Study 2). Findings: The results of Study 1 indicated that people relied on social support networks and alcohol to cope with emotional labor. Specific hypotheses were tested in Study 2, which found that emotional labor leads to more partying when life and work responsibilities are in conflict. Practical implications: This research provides strategic guidance for hotel managers to help employees cope with emotional labor by better managing life-work conflict. Originality/value: This research represents an early attempt to elucidate the effects of emotional labor on individual behavior outside the workplace. Conditions were found across the two studies that suggest the role of emotional labor in increasing alcohol consumption among hotel employees.