International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR) Volume 5, Issue 6, June 2017, PP 88-100 ISSN 2349-0330 (Print) & ISSN 2349-0349 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349-0349.0506013 www.arcjournals.org International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR) Page | 88 Emotional Labour, Self Efficacy and Service Orientation Behaviour: A Study of Selected Hotels in South Nigeria Polycarp Igbojekwe (Ph.D) Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria Abstract: The main objectives of this study were to investigate the extent of emotional labour self- efficacy, customer-service orientation behaviour and job knowledge possessed by customer-contact employees with a view to predicting the overall quality of interaction between service employees and customers to the hotels under study. Data were gathered through questionnaire. Formulated hypotheses were tested using correlation methods, and Z-test for tests of significance. Analysis revealed that emotional labour dimensions (SA, DA) were found to have significant relationship with service-orientation behaviour. In the 1 to 3-star hotels self efficacy, job knowledge and service-orientation behavior were found to be low and below average. The study revealed a positive relationship between self efficacy and service orientation behaviour. In all the variables, service employees of the 5-star were rated higher than the others. Based on above findings, it is predicted that the quality of customer experiences in these hotels is below expectation. We therefore recommend that hotel organizations should re-examine and redesign their internal marketing and human resources practices to enhance self efficacy and job knowledge. Keywords: Customer service; Job knowledge; Self efficacy, Service orientation behaviour 1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY To cope with the rising competition, and changing taste of consumers, industry operators need to continue to strategize. In such business environment, successfully satisfying customers‟ needs and wants requires humanist aspect of high standard. A hotel organization can satisfy its customers by differentiating its service delivery by designing a superior delivery process through its interactive workers who are the most important resources or assets in their endeavour to provide excellent service and exceed customer expectations, achieve competitive advantage and exceptional organizational performance, (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006; Power, 1992). Hotel which is a core sector of the hospitality industry, being service intensive, is a unique industry because of the characteristics of service which include intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Among these characteristics, inseparability is the one that is mostly associated with emotional labour. Inseparability entails that both the service provider and the customer must have contact (point-of-encounter or „moment-of-truth‟) for transactions to occur and that service is produced and consumed simultaneously. Therefore, the quality of service delivered cannot be separated from the quality (or personality) of the service provider. The behaviour of the customer- contact employee is a critical part of the product for which the customer pays (Kotler et al, 2006; Power, 1992; Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry, 1990), as it influences the interaction between the service provider and customer. In services, consumer satisfaction is influenced by the quality of the interpersonal interaction (Bitner, Booms, and Mohr, 1999, Gummenson, 2004) as service is produced jointly. In the hotel industry, service is a deed and it happens to somebody (customer or guest), the manager does not have the time or opportunity to inspect, shade away, and discard and/or recall defective products before customers receive them. For this reason, organizations should pursue a zero-defect service goal. A „zero defect‟ service is service promptly delivered right first time around and each time (Power, 1992). Meeting such service delivery goal requires an appropriate organizational climate, and having employees who possess technical skill, interpersonal, emotive work and communication skills. Such employees should possess personality attributes such as emotional