Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 29 (2016) 135–141

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser

Service with a smile: Does the type of smile matter?

Susan A. Andrzejewski a,n, Emily C. Mooney b
a
Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics California State University Channel Islands 1 University Drive, Camarillo, CA 93012, USA
b
Franklin & Marshall College Department of Business, Organizations and Society, PO Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17604, USA

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Service providers have often used the mantra of “service with a smile” as a strategy to engender cus-
Received 18 August 2014 tomer satisfaction. The findings of the current research indicate that a smile alone may not be sufficient
Received in revised form in achieving service excellence. Specifically, this work extends prior research suggesting that customers
18 November 2015
have more positive reactions to Duchenne, or authentic, smiles compared to non-Duchenne, or non-
Accepted 18 November 2015
genuine, smiles. Two experimental vignette studies examined the influence of the type of smile a service
Available online 11 December 2015
provider displays (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) and gender of the service provider on perceptions of
Keywords: service quality, as well as the Stereotype Content Model dimensions of competence and warmth. The
Service quality results suggest that the type of smile (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) impacts evaluations of service
Service satisfaction
providers in terms of their perceived level of competence, as well as their perceived service quality
Smiling
ratings. Implications for the hiring and training of service providers are also discussed.
Stereotype Content Model
Duchenne smile & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Nonverbal communication

1. Introduction state, personality, or behavioral intentions (Hall, 2009).

The interaction between service providers and customers,
commonly referred to as the service encounter (Bitner et al., 1990;
Suprenant and Solomon, 1987) is an integral component of the
service delivery process since the service encounter has a pro-
found impact on customer perceptions of satisfaction (Bitner et al.,
1990, 1994; Winsted, 2000). Service encounter satisfaction has
been linked to customer loyalty, repatronage intentions, and po-
sitive word-of-mouth (Athanassopoulos et al., 2001; Bolton and
Lemon, 1999; Zeithaml et al., 1996). In order to provide exceptional
customer service, organizations must be keenly aware of custo-
mers’ wants, needs, and preferences (Bitner et al., 1990; Parasur-
man et al., 1988). Scholars have recently placed increased attention
on nonverbal communication as a means to better understand
customer needs and desires (Puccinelli et al., 2010, 2013; Sun-
daram and Webster, 2000). Nonverbal communication refers to
the process whereby one interaction partner displays various
nonverbal behaviors (e.g., smiling, interpersonal gaze, posture,
etc.) that are then perceived and interpreted by the other inter-
action partner (Hall, 2009). For instance, when an individual
crosses their arms during an interaction it is commonly thought
that they are showing resistance to the conversation, or that they
are closed off from the topic being discussed. Nonverbal behaviors
may reveal important information about an individual's emotional
n
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: susan.andrzejewski@csuci.edu (S.A. Andrzejewski).
The mantra “service with a smile” has often been used among
service providers because smiling is thought to positively impact
customer perceptions of the service encounter, as well as per-
ceptions of the overall firm (Barger and Grandey, 2006; Hennig-
Thurau et al., 2006 Söderlund and Rosengren, 2008). The service
literature has long espoused that service providers should be
carefully attuned to customers' nonverbal behavior during a ser-
vice encounter (Puccinelli et al., 2013; Sundaram and Webster,
2000). However, less research has examined the influence of
nonverbal cues displayed by service providers. Nonverbal beha-
viors displayed by a service provider may reveal information about
the emotional state of the service provider, which has been shown
to be a main determinant of overall customer satisfaction (Bitner
et al., 1990, 1994; Hartline and Jones, 1996; Smith et al., 1999;
Winsted, 2000). Here, we propose that the type of smile (Duch-
enne vs. non-Duchenne) a service provider displays influences
customer perceptions of the service provider.
2. Conceptual framework
This research builds upon prior work that elucidates the para-
meters that surround the impact of smiling on perceptions of
service providers' competence, warmth, and customer satisfaction.
First, we summarize extant research on smiling in the service
domain, then we discuss the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) as a
framework to understand evaluations in service settings, and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.11.010
0969-6989/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
136 S.A. Andrzejewski, E.C. Mooney / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 29 (2016) 135–141
finally we discuss the details of our present research. Moving be-
yond current research in this domain, we also examine the impact
that gender of a service provider may have on the aforementioned
constructs.
2.1. Smiling
The idea of “service with a smile” is certainly not new to service
research (Barger and Grandey, 2006; Bujisic et al., 2013; Kim and
Yoon, 2012; Mattila and Enz, 2002; Pugh, 2001; Rafaeli, 1989;
Rafaeli and Sutton, 1990; Söderlund and Rosengren, 2008; Hennig-
Thurau et al., 2006; Trougakos et al., 2011; Tsai, 2001). However,
much of this research did not take into account the type of smile
that was depicted. Ekman and colleagues (Ekman et al., 1990;
Frank et al., 1993) stated that there are two types of smiles:
Duchenne smiles and non-Duchenne smiles. The Duchenne smile,
also known as a genuine, felt, or enjoyment smile, is often said to
be a spontaneous reflection of experienced emotion. The Duch-
enne smile is characterized by activation of the orbicularis oculi
(cheek raiser) muscle that makes crow's feet at the outer corner of
the eyes coupled with activation of the zygomatic major muscle
that extends the mouth into a smile (Ekman et al., 2002). Mean-
while, the non-Duchenne smile, or non-enjoyment, false, or fake
smile, lacks the aforementioned eye muscle movement, but still
provides the muscle movement that extends the mouth into a
smile (Ekman et al., 1990).
A smile may be displayed because one is experiencing genuine
joy or happiness (i.e., an authentic smile), but in other cases a
smile may be displayed when the expressor is masking negative
feelings such as discomfort, dislike, embarrassment, or anxiety
(Ansfield, 2007; Keltner, 1995; LaFrance et al., 2003), or when the
expressor is following a display rule or norm (i.e., an inauthentic
smile; Hochschild, 1983; Rafaeli and Sutton, 1987). Hochschild
(1983) suggested that authenticity has become even more im-
portant to service interactions with an increased demand for
“service with a smile” since savvy customers may have the ability
to unconsciously distinguish between authentic versus inauthentic
displays of emotion during a service encounter. When a customer
interacts with a service provider who authentically displays posi-
tive emotion, a customer may feel that the service provider went
above and beyond their job expectations in order to provide ex-
cellent customer service (Grandey et al., 2005). This falls in line
with prior research demonstrating that customers provide higher
service quality ratings when interacting with service providers
who report being more authentic during the service encounter
(Grandey, 2003; Totterdell and Holmann, 2003).
There are distinct differences in smiling behavior based on
gender. Women tend to smile more than men (Deutsch, 1990) and
women have been argued to be more emotionally expressive than
men (Mattila et al., 2003). Therefore, a smiling female service
provider may be considered more common than a smiling male
service provider. We propose that Duchenne smiling acts as an
extra-role behavior for male service providers leading to increased
positive perceptions of the service provider; however, the display
of a Duchenne smile will not necessarily increase positive per-
ceptions of female service providers since this fits with customer
expectations based on prior experience.
In conclusion of our discussion of smiling, one may argue that
the relationship between smiling and customer satisfaction plays a
somewhat trivial role in the overall understanding of the service
encounter; however, we take the same view as Söderlund and
Rosengren (2008) and espouse that smiling is a critical sub-
component of the larger affective nature of a service encounter,
which deserves further attention in psychology and consumer
behavior research (Simonson et al., 2001).
2.2. Stereotype Content Model (SCM)
In order to understand the impact that nonverbal behaviors,
such as smiling, have on the appraisal of service encounter sa-
tisfaction firms need to understand how nonverbal behaviors af-
fect the fundamental ways we interpret service providers. Recent
research utilized the Stereotype Content Model (SCM; Fiske et al.,
2002) as a theoretical framework to better understand service
encounter evaluations (Castro et al., 2012). The SCM posits there
are two key dimensions involved in evaluation in interpersonal
interactions: warmth and competence. Prior research in the ser-
vice literature suggests that warmth trumps competence in service
encounters such that service providers who are perceived to be
warm are rated higher on customer service evaluations than ser-
vice providers who are perceived to be competent (Castro et al.,
2012). On the contrary, other researchers have suggested that
competence is one of the core dimensions of interaction quality
that customers use to evaluate service encounters (Czepiel et al.,
1985; Gronroos, 1990). Ideally, firms would want to have service
providers who are both competent and warm, but scant research
has investigated the various factors that influence both of these
dimensions in a service encounter. Wang et al. (2012) utilized
service provider smiling as a means to manipulate perceived
warmth of sales personnel, while Grandey et al. (2005) examined
the influence of smiling on perceived friendliness and task per-
formance of service providers; however, to our knowledge, no
prior research has examined the influence of smiling on the con-
structs of competence and warmth simultaneously. We propose
that service provider nonverbal behaviors, specifically smiling,
have an impact on perceptions of competence and warmth in
customer service settings, which ultimately influences evaluations
of customer satisfaction.
The SCM offers deeper insight into the content of the stereo-
types held about men and women (Cuddy et al., 2008; Eckes,
2002; Fiske, 2012). Since men are often considered more agentic,
they are often perceived as more competent, and because women
are considered more communal, they are often perceived as more
warm (Cuddy et al., 2008). Research in the SCM literature upholds
these findings, as men are typically seen as competent but not
warm, and women are seen as warm but not competent (Eckes,
2002; Fiske et al., 2002). However, previous work pertaining to
gender and the SCM, suggests perceptions about men and women
are malleable based on qualities such as their parenting status,
sexuality, and occupation (Cuddy et al., 2004; Eckes, 2002),
therefore, various characteristics of the service provider (i.e., their
nonverbal behaviors) may influence perceptions of competence
and warmth.
3. Study 1
This study is the first attempt, to our knowledge, to experi-
mentally examine the influence of the type of smile a service
provider displays (i.e., Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) and the
gender of the salesperson (male vs. female) on the Stereotype
Content Model dimensions of competence and warmth. Given
prior research on the impact of gender on smiling behavior, per-
ceptions of service workers, and ratings of competence and
warmth according to the SCM, we predicted that gender of the
service provider would moderate the relationship between the
type of smile displayed by a service provider and ratings of com-
petence, warmth, and service quality. Thus, this study proposes
the following hypotheses:
H1:. Building upon Grandey and colleagues' work suggesting that
authenticity impacts customer satisfaction ratings, but only when
 S.A. Andrzejewski, E.C. Mooney / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 29 (2016) 135–141
tasks are performed well, which we considered to be a reflection
of the competence of the service provider, we predict the follow-
ing (Grandey et al., 2005). Gender will moderate the influence of
the type of smile on competence ratings such that male service
providers displaying a Duchenne smile will be perceived as more
competent than females displaying a Duchenne smile. However,
according to the trade-off effect in the SCM literature (Cuddy et al.,
2004), when displaying a non-Duchenne smile, females will be
perceived as more competent than males in so much that per-
ceivers are accustomed to seeing female service providers dis-
playing non-Duchenne smiles in order to downplay their warmth,
which thereby may increase their perceived competence.
H2:. Given that smiling, in general, is associated with perceptions
of warmth (Wang et al., 2012), we do not predict that the type of
smile (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) displayed and gender of the
service provider will produce a significant interaction for percep-
tions of warmth.
3.1. Participants
The study included 106 participants recruited through Ama-
zon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk), a cloud computing platform run
by Amazon which allows participants to be paid in exchange for
completing tasks that are posted to a website. Participants re-
cruited from MTurk have been shown to be comparable to subjects
recruited from traditional sources (Goodman et al., 2013; Paolacci
et al., 2010). In exchange for completion of the online survey,
participants were paid $.25 USD. Four of the respondents did not
have valid IP addresses and were dropped from further analyses
yielding a final sample size of 102 participants (MAge ¼28.98,
SD ¼8.91; 30.4% female).
3.2. Materials and procedure
Participants were shown a picture of either a male or female
service provider displaying either a Duchenne smile or a non-
Duchenne smile along with a sentence introducing the person in
the photograph as a service provider (Ekman and Friesen, 1976). In
the photographs one woman and one man posed both a Duchenne
and a non-Duchenne smile. The photographs were constructed so
that the lower half of the photograph reflected activation of the
zygomatic major muscle (AU12) which extends the mouth into a
smile and the upper half of the face either displayed activation of
the orbicularis oculi (check raiser muscle; AU6) to depict a
Duchenne smile, or the activation of AU6 was absent to depict a
non-Duchenne smile. There was no visible evidence of splicing of
the photographs.
Participants self-selected into the study via Amazon's MTurk,
and once they clicked on the survey link they were given a
statement of consent. Participants were then randomly assigned to
one of the four conditions (male vs. female sales-
person  Duchenne smile vs. non-Duchenne smile) and asked to
provide judgments of competence and warmth of the pictured
service provider. The competence and warmth items were mea-
sured on a 1–5 bipolar scale with 1 representing (strongly disagree)
and 5 representing (strongly agree). Finally, participants filled out a
short demographics questionnaire.
3.3. Results and conclusions
In support of Hypothesis 1, a 2  2 ANOVA (smile: Duchenne vs.
non-Duchenne  gender of service provider: male vs. female) on
competence ratings revealed an interaction between the type of
smile displayed (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) and gender of the
service provider; F(1, 98) ¼ 10.22, p o.01. Male service providers
137
displaying a Duchenne smile were rated as more competent
(M ¼3.48) than female service providers displaying a Duchenne
smile (M ¼3.13); however, the competence ratings reversed when
rating service providers displaying non-Duchenne smiles. Male
service providers displaying a non-Duchenne smile were rated as
less competent (M ¼3.12) than female service providers displaying
a non-Duchenne smile (M ¼3.63).
A 2  2 ANOVA (smile: Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne X Gender
of Service Provider: male vs. female) on warmth ratings, revealed a
main effect of gender; F(1, 98) ¼6.37, p o.05. Female service pro-
viders were perceived as being more warm (M¼ 3.62) than male
service providers (M ¼3.04). In support of Hypothesis 2, the pat-
tern of results did not demonstrate an interaction between the
type of smile displayed and gender on warmth ratings; F(1, 98) ¼
1.10, p ¼.30.
This study is the first to experimentally examine the relation-
ship between the type of smile a service provider displays (i.e.,
Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) and the gender of the service pro-
vider on the SCM dimensions of competence and warmth. Thus,
we found support for the hypotheses that there would be an in-
teraction between the type of smile displayed and gender of the
service provider on competence ratings (H1), but not on warmth
ratings (H2). While not predicted, the main effect of gender on
warmth perceptions is consistent with prior research suggesting
that women are typically viewed as being more warm than men
(Eckes, 2002; Fiske et al., 2002). The findings suggest that the
impact of the type of smile displayed and gender on competence
ratings may also influence customer ratings on dependent vari-
ables of interest to firms (e.g., service quality, likelihood to buy,
etc.).
4. Study 2
The results from Study 1 demonstrate that the type of smile
displayed by a service provider does have an impact on the SCM
dimension competence, but not warmth. Given that competence is
one of the core dimensions of interaction quality that customers
use to evaluate service encounters (Czepiel et al., 1985; Gronroos,
1990), the type of smile displayed by a service provider should not
only impact competence ratings, but also self-reported customer
satisfaction with the service encounter. Study 2 builds upon the
results of Study 1 by demonstrating that the type of smile may also
have an impact on perceived quality of service provided by the
service worker. In order to replicate the results from Study 1, the
same photographs were used in Study 2; however, a more well
established measure of competence and warmth that has been
used in prior research was utilized in this study (Cuddy et al.,
2004). Given the established association between competence and
perceptions of service quality (Czepiel et al., 1985; Gronroos, 1990),
this study proposes the following:
H3:. In line with the predicted interaction of the type of smile
displayed and gender on competence ratings, we predicted the
same pattern of results for service quality. Specifically, gender will
moderate the influence of the type of smile displayed on perceived
service quality ratings such that male service providers displaying
a Duchenne smile will be perceived as providing better service
than female service providers displaying a Duchenne smile;
however, when displaying a non-Duchenne smile, female service
providers will be perceived as providing better service than male
service providers.
4.1. Participants
The study included 165 participants recruited through
138 S.A. Andrzejewski, E.C. Mooney / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 29 (2016) 135–141
Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). In exchange for completion of
the online survey participants were paid $.25 USD. Five of the
respondents did not correctly answer the manipulation check
question assessing whether or not participants were adequately
paying attention during survey completion and were therefore
dropped from further analyses yielding a final sample size of 160
participants (MAge ¼ 31.93, SD ¼10.48; 30.0% female).
4.2. Materials and procedure
In order to simulate the most common service encounter si-
tuations, which are brief and non-personal, we determined that a
vignette experimental study would be best. Vignettes are com-
monly used in the service literature (Bitner, 1990; Murray, 1991;
Ueltschy et al., 2002) because they allow for the systematic ma-
nipulation of specific variables that cannot be easily examined in
real-life scenarios (Söderlund and Rosengren, 2008), and they have
also been used in past research on smiling (Bujisic et al., 2013). The
vignette in this scenario introduced the person in the same picture
as a salesperson at the local cell phone store and participants were
asked to evaluate the service provider on the dimensions of
competence, warmth, and customer satisfaction.
An 11-item scale was used to assess the competence and
warmth of the hypothetical service provider. The scale questions
related to competence and warmth were analogous to the com-
petence and warmth scale used by Cuddy et al. (2004). The scale
consisted of four traits measuring competence (capable, efficient,
organized, and skillful), four traits measuring warmth (good-nat-
ured, sincere, warm, and trustworthy), and three filler questions.
The scales were measured on a 1–5 bipolar Likert scale with
1 representing (strongly disagree) and 5 representing (strongly
agree).
Initially developed by Parasuraman et al. (1985), ServQual is a
scale that measures a customer's perceived service quality of a
firm. The perceived service quality of a firm reflects the customer's
judgment about the overall perceived excellence or superiority of
a firm (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). The scale consists of 22
matched items describing the expectations and perceptions that
customers have of a firm. For the purposes of this study, a mod-
ified 8-item version of the scale was utilized. The various per-
ceived quality measures were measured on a 1–5 bipolar Likert
scale with 1 representing (strongly disagree) and 5 representing
(strongly agree).
Participants self-selected to participate via Amazon's MTurk.
Participants were then randomly assigned to one of the four
conditions (male vs. female service provider X Duchenne smile vs.
non-Duchenne smile) and asked to complete the aforementioned
competence and warmth measures, as well as the ServQual mea-
sure. Finally, participants were asked to complete a short demo-
graphics questionnaire.
4.3. Results and conclusion
All scales demonstrated high inter-item reliability (ServQual
Cronbach's α ¼.77; Competence Cronbach's α ¼.84; Warmth
Cronbach's α ¼.79).
A 2  2 ANOVA (smile: Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne X Gender
of Service Provider: male vs. female) on ServQual ratings revealed
a somewhat surprising marginally significant main effect for
smiling such that non-Duchenne smiles (M ¼3.70) were rated
more highly than Duchenne smiles (M ¼3.53); F (1,156) ¼3.03,
p o.10. However, as predicted, the main effect is further qualified
by an interaction between the type of smile and gender of the
service provider; F(1, 156) ¼ 6.04, p o.05. Specifically, in support of
Hypothesis 3, the results revealed that male service providers
displaying a Duchenne smile were rated as providing better
quality service (M ¼3.72) than female service providers displaying
a Duchenne smile (M ¼3.34). However, the expected service
quality ratings reversed when rating service providers displaying
non-Duchenne smiles, with females service providers receiving
higher perceived service ratings (M ¼3.74) than male service
providers (M¼3.65).
A 2  2 ANOVA (smile: Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne X Gender
of Service Provider: male vs. female) on competence ratings did
not replicate the interaction results from Study 1; F (1, 56) ¼.97, ns.
However, there was a main effect for gender such that male ser-
vice providers were perceived as more competent than female
service providers (F (1, 156)¼ 6.59, po .05; Mmale ¼3.84;
Mfemale ¼3.56). A 2  2 ANOVA (smile: Duchenne vs. non-Duch-
enne X Gender of Service Provider: male vs. female) on warmth
ratings also revealed a similar main effect for gender; F (1, 156) ¼
7.78, p o.01. Male service providers were also perceived as more
warm than female service providers (Mmale ¼3.81; Mfemale ¼3.50).
The interaction between the type of smile displayed and gender of
service provider was not significant for competence (p¼ .33) or
warmth (p¼ .29).
Thus, we found support for the hypothesis that there is an in-
teraction between the type of smile displayed and gender on
perceptions of service quality. Specifically, gender moderated the
influence of the type of smile on perceived service quality ratings
such that male service providers displaying a Duchenne smile
were perceived as providing better service than female service
providers displaying a Duchenne smile; however, when displaying
a non-Duchenne smile, female service providers were perceived as
providing better service than male service providers. We also
found support for the hypothesis that there would not be an in-
teraction effect between the type of smile displayed and gender of
the service provider on warmth ratings. However, we did not find
support for the replication of Hypothesis 1, which posited that
there would be an interaction between the type of smile displayed
and gender of the service provider on competence ratings.
While not predicted, the main effect of gender on competence
perceptions is consistent with prior research suggesting that men
are typically viewed as being more competent than women (Eckes,
2002; Fiske et al., 2002). The finding that male service providers
were also perceived as being more warm than female service
providers falls in line with Cuddy et al. (2004) research suggesting
that men in typically feminine roles (e.g., service worker) de-
monstrate the ability to be perceived as both competent and warm
due to the combined perceptions of being a male (competent) and
being in a stereotypically feminine service provider occupation
(warm).
5. General discussion
5.1. Summary of main results
Does “service with a smile” lead to perceived service ex-
cellence? The findings of the current study indicate that a smile
alone may not be sufficient. Prior research suggested that people
have more positive reactions to Duchenne smiles compared to
non-Duchenne smiles (Ekman, 1992; Frank et al., 1993; Grandey
et al., 2005); however, we found that the gender of the service
provider moderates the relationship between the type of smile
displayed and customer perceptions of competence and service
quality. Specifically, the results from Study 2 support the hypoth-
esis that there is an interaction between the type of smile dis-
played and gender of the service provider on measures of custo-
mer satisfaction such that male service providers displaying a
Duchenne smile were perceived as providing better quality service
than female service providers displaying a Duchenne smile.
 S.A. Andrzejewski, E.C. Mooney / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 29 (2016) 135–141
However, the expected service quality ratings reversed when rat-
ing service providers displaying non-Duchenne smiles, with fe-
male service providers receiving higher perceived service quality
ratings than male service providers. The results from Study 1 also
support the hypothesis that there is an interaction between the
type of smile displayed and gender on perceived competence
ratings such that male service providers displaying a Duchenne
smile were rated as more competent than female service providers
displaying a Duchenne smile; however, the competence ratings
reversed when rating service providers displaying non-Duchenne
smiles.
This work is consistent with previous research demonstrating
the positive impact of service provider authenticity on customer
outcomes related to competence (Grandey et al., 2005). Moreover,
we extend prior research by examining the impact of a more ob-
jective form of authenticity, specifically exposure to a Duchenne
versus a non-Duchenne smile, on perceived customer satisfaction.
When service providers are perceived as not being sincere in their
expressions, a smile is less likely to create positive outcomes in the
customer, but it depends on the gender of the service provider. As
predicted by the SCM, male service providers were perceived as
more competent than female service providers across smiling
conditions. However, male service providers were also perceived
as being warmer than female service providers. This supports
findings in the SCM literature that men can benefit from the
warmth associations of a feminine role (e.g., service provider;
Cuddy et al., 2004).
In the service industry customers receive ‘intangible’ goods and
cannot base a firm's reputation on a physical product, but rather
must rely on quality of service—in part determined by how the
firm's employees carry out the core and relational aspects of ser-
vice rendered (Bitner, 1990; Bitner et al., 1994; Mohr and Bitner,
1995; Parasuraman et al., 1988; Walsh et al., 2009). The core aspect
of a service encounter refers to the actual service itself and com-
petence informs customers about the quality of the service,
whereas the relational aspect of a service encounter refers to how
the service is delivered and warmth/interpersonal skills inform
customers about the quality of the service (Crosby and Stephens,
1987; Parasuraman et al., 1988). If men and women are perceived
differently on the dimensions of competence and warmth based
on the type of smile displayed during the service interaction, and
consequently their ability to perform the core (competence re-
lated) and relational (warmth related) aspects of service are not
perceived as equivalent, according to Parasuraman's theory, cus-
tomers may expect better service from service providers whose
smile makes them appear warm and competent (Parasuraman
et al., 1988). Thus, male service providers displaying a Duchenne
smile may appear more warm to customers than female service
providers displaying a Duchenne smile, and receive higher ratings
of service encounter satisfaction. Moreover, if people expect male
and female service providers to deliver a different level of service,
then in the absence of other information on the reputation of a
firm, people may perceive the reputation of firms with male ser-
vice providers and firms with female service providers unequally
(Walsh et al., 2009; Mohr and Bitner, 1995). Understanding the
effect of Duchenne versus non-Duchenne smiling on perceptions
of competence and warmth can educate managers and organiza-
tions on how to better tailor their impression management strat-
egy when interacting with customers.
5.2. Managerial implications
Currently, most service training manuals emphasize the pre-
sence of a smile while ignoring the importance of authenticity
(Pugh, 2001; Trougakos et al., 2011); however, our research sug-
gests this may not be the most salient strategy. The findings
139
suggest that service providers need to take into account smile
authenticity, as well as the gender of the service provider, when
developing training protocols related to smiling during service
encounters (Ashkanasy and Humphrey, 2011). Firms have used
various techniques in order to attempt to increase service provi-
der's positive displays (e.g., smiling) such as training and rewards
(Hochschild, 1983; Rafaeli and Sutton, 1987). However, prior re-
search has suggested that those who are asked to display a
Duchenne smile when they are not actually experiencing positive
affect, may be experiencing cognitive dissonance or psychological
conflict (Gunnery et al., 2013) which may “leak out” during the
service encounter and negatively impact the customer (Grandey,
2003). Another possibility is that when customers detect a non-
Duchenne smile, they may interpret the service provider as being
manipulative and the employee's attempt to produce a positive
emotional expression may fail (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;
Grove and Fisk, 1989; Jones and Pittman, 1980). Moreover, orga-
nizational efforts to falsely create desired emotions often lead to
employees behaving in-authentically (Ashforth and Tomiuk, 2012).
Focusing on meeting these organizational demands may also de-
plete cognitive resources from engaging in necessary task perfor-
mance behaviors required in service roles (Richards and Gross,
1999).
Prior research has suggested that certain individuals are better
able to “put on” a Duchenne, or authentic, smile than others
(Gunnery et al., 2013). Furthermore, this research suggested that
people are actually very introspective of their ability to put on a
Duchenne smile, which suggests that service firms may be able to
incorporate the ability to display a Duchenne smile as part of their
hiring process. However, we posit that firms should focus their
efforts on creating an organizational environment that engenders
the experience of positive emotional states that would authenti-
cally lead to the display of a Duchenne smile (Grandey et al., 2005).
Factors such as organizational culture and organizational climate
may have a profound impact not only on job satisfaction for em-
ployees, but also on employees' ability to satisfy customers (Ser-
geant and Frenkel, 2000).
5.3. Limitations and suggestions for future research
One limitation of the current investigation was that the scales
employed only measured perceptions and expectations of service
quality and warmth/competence after reading a short vignette and
seeing a photograph. How people would react to actually inter-
acting with men and women in service occupations could be
markedly different from how they self-report their perceptions
and expectations of such service workers.
Researchers commonly posited that non-Duchenne smiles
were easier to control/display than Duchenne smiles (Ekman et al.,
1990; Frank et al., 1993); however, recent work suggests that
certain categories of people have the ability to deliberately pro-
duce a Duchenne smile (Gunnery et al., 2013). Another limitation
is that our research did not take into account the ability for some
service providers to produce a Duchenne smile when they are not
actually experiencing a positive affective state. Customers may not
be able to distinguish between authentically displayed Duchenne
smiles and Duchenne smiles that were displayed because the
service provider has the ability to “put on” a Duchenne smile, even
when they are not experiencing the positive affect that typically
drives the display.
Future studies need to further explore the processes through
which smile authenticity influences satisfaction. Grandey et al.
2005 examined the appraisals of friendliness and competence and
found that they did not fully explain the effect of authenticity on
satisfaction. We explored the relationship between smile authen-
ticity and the dimensions of competence and warmth and still
140 S.A. Andrzejewski, E.C. Mooney / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 29 (2016) 135–141
could not fully explain the relationship between authenticity and
satisfaction.
6. Conclusion
Our research builds upon prior work that demonstrates that
“service with a smile” is not a sufficient strategy for engendering
customer satisfaction during a service encounter. Perceptions of
service quality excellence and competence of the service provider
may change based on the authenticity of the smile displayed, as
well as the gender of the service provider.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the
Hackman Summer Scholar Program at Franklin & Marshall College
for supporting the second author as she worked on this research.
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