The role of employee attractiveness and positive emotion in upscale restaurants

This study explored the role of gratitude, employees’ physical attractiveness, employees’ displayed positive emotion, favourable reciprocal behaviour, commitment in the upscale restaurant segment. Structural equation modelling yielded good fit for the comprehensive model. Results of 398 surveys revealed significant positive correlations between employee physical attractiveness, customer gratitude, and favourable reciprocal behaviours. Congruently, employees’ displayed positive emotion was found to significantly activate customer trust and gratitude. This study provides theoretical and practical strategies for generating customer gratitude, employees’ physical attractiveness, and employees’ display of positive emotions.