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

• Service providers have often used the mantra of “service with a smile” as a strategy to engender customer satisfaction. The findings of the current research indicate that a smile alone may not be sufficient in achieving service excellence.
• This work extends prior research suggesting that customers have more positive reactions to Duchenne, or authentic, smiles compared to non-Duchenne, or non-genuine, smiles.
• The results suggest that the type of smile (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) impacts evaluations of service providers in terms of their perceived level of competence, as well as their perceived service quality ratings.
• Implications for the hiring and training of service providers are also discussed.

Service providers have often used the mantra of “service with a smile” as a strategy to engender customer satisfaction. The findings of the current research indicate that a smile alone may not be sufficient in achieving service excellence. Specifically, this work extends prior research suggesting that customers have more positive reactions to Duchenne, or authentic, smiles compared to non-Duchenne, or non-genuine, smiles. Two experimental vignette studies examined the influence of the type of smile a service provider displays (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) and gender of the service provider on perceptions of service quality, as well as the Stereotype Content Model dimensions of competence and warmth. The results suggest that the type of smile (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) impacts evaluations of service providers in terms of their perceived level of competence, as well as their perceived service quality ratings. Implications for the hiring and training of service providers are also discussed.