Frontline employee personality traits and customer satisfaction: evidence from selected hotels in the United Kingdom

Hotels have been seeking ways to effectively manage their frontline employees to help ensure that their attitudes, behaviours and personality meet or exceed the customers’ expectations of service delivery. This study examined the effect of frontline personality traits on customer satisfaction in selected hotels in the United Kingdom. Primary data was collected through 150 structured questionnaires which were completed by customers who have had a hotel visit experience over the past twelve months in the United Kingdom. The questionnaire designed was based on the Ten Item Personality Instrument (TIPI), and the modified SERVQUAL Scale. The study revealed that there were significant relationships between frontline employee personality and customer satisfaction in the hotel industry in UK. Among the five dimensions of personality, it was found that extraversion, openness to new experience, and conscientiousness have more effects on service quality than emotional stability and agreeableness in the hotel industry. Therefore, it could be inferred that these personality traits have positive influence on customer satisfaction in the UK hotel industry.