EMPLOYEE EMOTIONAL CONTAGION AND SALES PERFORMANCE: MOVING ON THE SAME EMOTIVE PATHWAY

Abstract

This study examined the association between employee Emotional Contagion (EC) and Sales Performance (SP) of 3 and 4 star franchise hotels in South-South Nigeria. The PANAS model was adopted with some adjustments after negative affect failed to be a good fit for model specification. The study adopted an explanatory research design; data were collected through a cross-sectional survey using a closed-ended questionnaire. Data collected from sixty (60) respondents representing fifteen (15) 3 and 4 star franchise hotels were used in the final analysis of the study. The analysis was aided by Eview 9.5, SPSS 22.0 and Lisrel 9.0 software packages. The finding holds that positive affect has very strong positive and statistically significant correlation with SP while negative affect showed contrary result. The study concluded that positive EC correlates SP of 3 and 4star franchise hotels; and that SP of 3 star and 4 star franchise hotels associates with positive emotions of service employees. The study recommends that management of 3 & 4star franchise hotels in South-South Nigeria that crave for improved SP should promote and reinforce positive emotional enrolment by recognizing service employees that discharge positive effects.