Consumer perceptions of frontline service employee personality traits, interaction quality, and consumer satisfaction

Although implementing the marketing concept can be accomplished through frontline employees in many service firms, very few studies have investigated the relationships between a service provider's personality and important performance outcomes. This article examines how frontline service employee personality traits affect interaction quality and consumer satisfaction from the consumers' point of view. Data were collected from 317 English consumers who had utilised a service from a hotel, airline, or hairdresser. The study found that the three personality traits -- extroversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness -- had a strong effect on interaction quality. The results confirm the appropriateness of the hierarchical model of employee personality and show that including interaction quality in the model improves the explanation of consumer satisfaction.