Understanding Emotional Labor Dynamics in Participant Sport Service: A Conceptual Framework

In the service industry, the quality of interactions between employees and customers is crucial for improving customer outcomes. Emotional labor, which involves managing one’s emotions to meet job requirements, is a significant aspect of these interactions. To address the lack of attention paid to emotional labor in participant sport contexts, this study proposes a conceptual framework that outlines the antecedents, consequences, and moderators of emotional labor strategies in participant sport service. The framework includes 25 propositions based on theories and empirical evidence from various scientific domains. More specifically, the conceptual framework consists of four main components: (a) intrapersonal and (b) interpersonal consequences; (c) moderators; and (d) antecedents of emotional labor. The study recommends that sport organizations should implement emotional labor training workshops to help employees engage in effective and health-beneficial emotional labor strategies specific to sport organization settings. Overall, this conceptual framework provides a foundation for understanding emotional labor in sport organizations and can help enhance customer outcomes and employee well-being in the participant sport service industry.