Individual Employee Factors Affecting Emotional Labor and Job Outcomes: A Case Study of Hotel Frontline Employees in Phuket

Despite the rapid evolution and high competition in the accommodation sector, there are still pressing questions regarding the attitudes, job performance, and behavior of frontline employees within such organizations, which are affected by factors of the individual employees. This study aimed to examine such factors, specifically how gender, age, length of work experience, and marital status, affect emotional labor and job outcomes. Questionnaires were distributed to 325 frontline employees of hotels in Phuket. The study utilized observed variables to examine the latent variables, applying an MIMIC (multiple indicators multiple causes) analysis through structural equation modeling. The results revealed that age, experience and marital status had both positive and negative effects regarding emotional labor and job outcomes, but gender did not have any significant impact. Managerial implications from the results of the study could have beneficial outcomes for the hospitality and service industry, particularly regarding the human resource management process in terms of dealing with employees’ emotional labor, and also in terms of the custom treatment of different groups of hotel frontline employees