Does job satisfaction always bring on customer satisfaction? - the effects of employee engagement

Based on the theory of Service Profit Chain, in the tourist service firms, service providers' job satisfaction affects customer satisfaction. But facts proved that satisfied employees did not always bring on satisfied customers. This paper explores the effects of employee engagement on the relationship between employees' job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. The results of data analysis indicate that employee engagement consists of three dimensions, i.e. vigor, dedication, and absorption. Comparing with employees with lower level of engagement, employees with higher level of engagement will feel more satisfied with their job, and make their customers more satisfied. For the employee group with high level of engagement, there is a significantly positive correlation between job satisfaction and customer satisfaction, whereas for the employee group with low level of engagement, job satisfaction does not have statistically significant relationship with customer satisfaction. In other words, to the less engaged employees, their high level satisfaction may decrease, not increase the level of their customers' satisfaction.