Emotions and Service in the Digital Age

Charmine E. J. Härtel, Wilfred J. Zerbe, Neal M. Ashkanasy

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781839092619
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

This volume of Research on Emotions in Organizations adds to the ongoing research stream on emotions in the workplace, focusing on service and the digital economy.
Advances in digital technology have ushered us into what is referred to as industry 4.0 or the digital age. With it come opportunities to improve the methodologies we use to research and analyse emotions, to help people manage their emotions, as well as develop their socio-emotional skills.
Industry 4.0 also poses challenges, such as assisting leaders and employees to acquire a digital mind set and maintaining positive human connections and relationships in the workplace. Emotional management skills and a service orientation have become an even higher priority. The chapters in this book offer a variety of research evidence and perspectives which explore how emotions will continue to be of central importance in the digital workplace.
Emotions and Service in the Digital Age is divided into three parts:

• The Digital Age
• Adapting to the Digital Age
• Emotions and Care in the Digital Age

PART 1

THE DIGITAL AGE

Chapter 1

What the Digital Age Is and Means for Workers, Services, and Emotions Scholars and Practitioners

Jasmin C. R. Härtel and Charmine E. J. Härtel

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to introduce readers to the basic concepts and terminologies associated with the digital age, give examples of how customer service and services generally are changing as a result of digitalization, describe how emotions are being captured and used in digital communications, illustrate how people are using digital means to manage their own and workers' emotions and well-being, consider how the digital age is changing the future of services, workers, and communication between customers and organizations, and discuss some of the implications for emotions scholars and practitioners.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A literature review of recent publications on the digital age and its implications for services, work, workers, and emotions research and management.

Findings – The review covers seven areas: (1) What the digital age/economy/world is, (2) how customer service (including self-service) and services generally have changed as a result of digitalization, (3) how emotions are captured and used in social robots and digital communications, e.g., emoticons, (4) how people are using digital means (e.g., “self-tracking” and “wearables”) to manage their own emotions/feelings/well-being, (5) what some of the implications of the digital era are for emotions scholars and practitioners including methodology, (6) how people are saying the digital age will change the future of work, workers, relationships between customers and organizations, and learning, and (7) the ethical and well-being imperatives that researchers, practitioners, governments, and businesses must proactively and responsibly meet.

Practical Implications – Practically, the chapter provides information useful to five types of readers: (1) those who have emerging digital literacy or who consider themselves to be low digital natives, (2) those who are interested in understanding how customer service and services are changing because of digitalization, (3) those interested in understanding ways in which Artificial intelligence and digital tools are being used to capture and manage emotions, (4) those interested in learning how work is changing because of Industry 4.0, and (5) emotions scholars and practitioners interested in the implications of the digital world for their research and practice.

Keywords: Digital age; Digital economy; Digitalization; Digital literacy; Text emotion mining; Future of work; Digital emotional expression; artificial intelligence; Gig economy; Digital trace data; server-side data; Industry 4.0; Social robots; Socially assistive robots (SAR); Emotional robots; coachbot framework

Introduction

We may be living in the digital world, but not all of us are digital natives, born into a sophisticated digital technology context. And of course, not all digital natives have considered the interplay between digital technologies and emotional information and regulation. This chapter aims to serve both audiences. For those who consider themselves digital immigrants, still developing digital literacy and familiarity with the implications of a digital economy, this chapter will provide a useful introduction or revision. For scholars of emotions unfamiliar with relevant digital applications or for digital natives unfamiliar with emotions research, this chapter offers some useful examples of the use of digital technology as it relates to emotions.

To achieve the above, this book chapter is structured in five sections. The first section—“What is meant by the Digital Age/Economy/World?”—defines and provides examples of these phrases, along with other relevant terms and phrases related to the digital age. The second section—“Impact of the Digital Age on Services”—gives examples of how customer service and services have evolved as a result of digitalization. The third section—“Role of Emotions in the Digital Age”—gives examples of how emotions are captured and used in digital communications and social robots. The fourth section—“Emotion Regulation in the Digital Age”—describes and gives examples of how people use digital means, such as “self-tracking” and “wearables” to manage their emotions, feelings, and well-being. The fifth section—“What the Digital Age Means for the Conduct and Application of Emotions Research”—presents new means of collecting, interpreting, and using emotional data. The final section—“What the Digital Age Means for the Future of Work”—explores the potential future influence of digitalization on services, workers, communication between customers and organizations, and self-care and well-being management of workers and customers. The chapter concludes with novel developments brought about by the digital age and what this means for emotions scholars and practitioners.

What is the Digital Age/Economy/World?

The digital age, also known as the information age, refers to the current and future ease and speed of digital technology to transfer information. The start of the digital age is difficult to pinpoint. Some refer to the 1970s as the start of the digital age when personal computers were first introduced, while others point to the 1980s with the advent of the Internet. Regardless of when it began, the increasing pace of digitalization has affected many (if not all) aspects of modern life. Technologies that were not common 5 years ago are now part of everyday life for an entire generation, e.g., Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, etc.

The digital economy or Industry 4.0 is the “application of Internet-based digital technologies to the production and trade of goods and services” (UNCTAD, 2017, p. 156). The International Telecommunication Union estimates 75% of the population of most countries use the Internet and that there is about a 50% penetration rate in the majority of developing economies (Bolwijn, Casella, & Zhan, 2018). For 2019, 1.9 billion people shopped online, and this figure is forecast to expand to 2.14 billion in 2021 (Clement, 2019).

The digital economy translates into increased responsiveness of organizations to consumers' preferences and demands for new and improved services and products. Increased computerized control means that organizations can reduce the likelihood of producing goods with defects, thus increasing quality. Increased use of technologies reduces costs of labor, raw materials, energy, transportation, inventory holding, and waste disposal (Gravier, Roethlein, & Visich, 2018).

The use of digital technology is pervasive in business-to-business (B2B) transactions, with web-based sales being worth about 30% more than business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions (UNCTAD, 2015). B2C transactions have grown from 0.5% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 to 1.5% in 2017 (UNCTAD, 2017). Moreover, governments are increasingly using digital technology for service delivery and public communication. The UN's e-Government Development Index reported 90 countries offer one-stop portals for civic information or online services, and 148 countries providing at least one form of online transactional services (Bolwijn et al., 2018). In terms of GDP benefit, 4 percentage points of developed economies was reported to be due to the Internet industry (UNCTAD, 2017). Edquist, Goodridge, and Haskel (2019) estimate that the contribution of the Internet of Things (IoT) to global GDP in 2018 was $849 billion.

Impact of the Digital Age on Services

Digitalization has had a profound impact on customer service, i.e., the relationship between consumers and companies. Customer service is ultimately aimed at keeping customers satisfied so they remain loyal. Van Belleghem (2015) argued that customer service will become entirely digitally driven. Self-service has become commonplace because consumers are proactive in using information to their advantage. For example, when the Internet became available, consumers in the 1980s started using online sites such as Travelocity and Expedia—effectively becoming their own travel agents. Within a decade, the number of agencies in the United States fell by 50%, and those that remained had to cut staff (DePillis, 2013).

The digital age not only benefits consumers but also service providers stand to gain. To do so, I'ves, Palese, & Rodriguez (2016) argue that companies must leverage the business value from the stream of digital data generated from physical objects such as “smart” phones, appliances, vehicles, and buildings that have sensing, computing, and communications capabilities. The term IoT was coined to refer to the network of such objects and the promise it could be as substantial as the Internet of personal computers. In 2016, it was estimated that there were 6.4 billion IoT connected devices, representing a $235 billion industry and an estimated 30% increase from the year before (Gartner as cited by Ives, Palese, & Rodriguez, 2016). The ubiquitous mobile phone is only one example of an IoT device but already its digital data stream has been instrumental in helping Uber revolutionize the taxi industry. By matching real-time geolocation of drivers and passengers generated from location sensors in smartphones, Uber was able to improve customer experience and become the world's largest private taxi company (valued at $62.5 billion as of 2015) (Source: The New York Times).

Role of Emotions in the Digital Age

Derks, Bos, and Von Grumbkow (2008) found that emotions are captured in text-based digital communication primarily through the use of emoticons. Emoticons also serve to reflect social intent such as strengthening a message and expressing humor. Derks et al.'s (2008) questionnaire-and-experiment study involving 1,251 respondents found that people used more emoticons when communicating with friends as opposed to strangers and that they were likelier to use emoticons in positive compared with negative contexts. The authors concluded that emoticons are used in the same way as facial behavior in face-to-face communication. Their findings confirm earlier studies showing that emoticons facilitate self-representation, similar in function to nonverbal cues when engaging in person.

While emoticons have positive interpersonal functions, their use differs across cultures and digital communication platforms. For example, there is a perception that they belong in text messages and social networking sites, but should not be used in professional contexts, although ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Editor
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors
• Introduction: Emotions and Service in the Digital Age
• Part 1 The Digital Age
• Part 2 Adapting to the Digital Age
• Part 3 Emotions and Care in the Digital Age
• Reviewers
• Index