Abstract

Organizations are always interested in engaging in any activity that will improve a customer’s experience and increase their intentions to return for repeat business. Frontline employee authenticity may be one way to improve customer experiences. Research has found authenticity to be the highest sought after attribute in a frontline employee by customers (Gruber, 2011). Perceived authenticity has also been related to customer satisfaction and perceived friendliness of employees (Grandey, 2005). What isn’t clear is whether customers are able to accurately tell when an employee is being authentic or is acting. Some argue that individuals are very capable of detecting inauthenticity, however, most of this research has taken place in laboratory settings (Frank, Ekman, & Friesen, 1993; Surakka & Hietanen, 1998) or used student role play situations wherein individuals’ full attention was directed at their targets (Bono & Vey, 2007).
This study seeks to find out if there are personal factors that frontline employees have that allow them to be perceived as being more authentic than their actual authenticity. In addition, it will seek to improve the measurement of authenticity by separating it from emotional display strategies and by taking more frequent and accurate measurements. The study failed to link actual authenticity to perceived authenticity and hence failed to find personal factors that moderate this relationship. It did, however, offer insight into potential methodological changes in the area of study and it reinforced the importance of perceived authenticity to researchers, customers and businesses.