This study examined the interactions of customers, self-service technologies and frontline service workers in the context of a recreational tourism organization with routine understaffing and increased demand for post-pandemic services.
Data was collected over 18 months, with 10 of these including immersive autoethnographic work as a frontline worker in a recreational tourism organization. Over more than two seasons of work and 400 h in the field, the author identified key themes of challenges facing frontline workers in this organizational context.
In particular, the research identified online self-service technologies (SSTs), when unavailable or not working correctly, had a negative impact on the customer’s experiences, which was common and exacerbated by industry-wide issues with staffing, as customer demand routinely outstripped the personnel needed to serve them. In addition, negative online experiences greatly impacted in-person service interactions, which were negatively valanced and had deleterious effects on employees’ well-being.
While the research was limited to one organization, its findings are likely applicable to many tourism and hospitality contexts. Future research should examine similar impacts of technologies and service interactions within other organizations and industries.
This research highlights opportunities for organizational leaders to ensure retention of current and future workers and ensure more satisfied customers and employees.
The dynamics of negative interactions between customers and employees will continue as customer demand outstrips the personnel needed to serve them.
This research focused on collecting autoethnographic data in the place and at the time of interactions to capture the nuances and details of the dynamics between customers and service workers, complementing extant research on frontline service interactions. The findings here identify challenges in the post-pandemic new normal, in which organizations increasingly adopt SST, which impacts the quality and quantity of workers’ interactions with customers and customers’ experience of the organization.
