Emotional Exhaustion Among Hospitality Industry Employees: How Customer Incivility and Emotional Labor Drive Turnover Intention

ABSTRACT The hospitality industry is vulnerable to various forms of customer incivility, leading frontline employees to perform emotional labor. This study, grounded in the Job Demands–Resources (JD‐R) model and the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, aims to elucidate the mechanisms through which emotional labor leads to emotional exhaustion and ultimately increases turnover intention among casino dealers. Health promotion behaviors are examined as a coping strategy within this pathway. A quantitative survey was conducted with 325 casino dealers in South Korea, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings show that customer incivility exerts a partially significant impact on emotional labor, with physical incivility exerting a stronger influence. Surface acting significantly affects emotional exhaustion, whereas deep acting does not demonstrate a significant effect. Emotional exhaustion was identified as a strong predictor of turnover intention. Furthermore, health promotion behaviors did not show a significant direct effect on turnover intention.