Emotional Mirroring and Service Recovery: Managerial and Financial Insights from Airlines in Kurdistan: Emotional Mirroring and Service Recovery

Diary Jalal Ali; Najih Samin Ahmed

doi:10.63841/iue31699

Authors

Diary Jalal Ali Accounting Department, Kurdistan Technical Institute, Sulaymanya-46001, IRAQ; Department of International Trade, Law and Administration College, University of Halabja, Ababaile, Halabja, 46018, IRAQ Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7048-9639
Najih Samin Ahmed Department of Project Management, College of Commerce, University of Sulaimani, -46001, IRAQ Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2458-6419

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63841/iue31699

Keywords:

Emotional mirroring; Service recovery; Airlines; Financial Implications; Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Abstract

This study investigates how emotional mirroring—the ability of service providers to reflect and respond empathetically to customers’ emotions—affects service recovery performance within the airline industry in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The research explores both managerial and financial implications, providing insights into how emotional attunement can strengthen recovery efforts after service failures. Using a quantitative approach with survey data from employees and managers of regional airlines, the study employs regression analysis to test the relationships among emotional mirroring, customer satisfaction, and recovery effectiveness. The results indicate that emotional mirroring significantly enhances service recovery outcomes and explains a substantial portion of the variance in customer satisfaction levels. Furthermore, the study identifies the managerial importance of integrating emotional intelligence training into employee development programs. Findings highlight that emotional mirroring is not only a psychological skill but also a strategic tool that supports organizational reputation and profitability. The study contributes to both theory and practice by emphasizing the critical role of emotional responsiveness in improving customer trust and post-failure loyalty.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Diary Jalal Ali , Accounting Department, Kurdistan Technical Institute, Sulaymanya-46001, IRAQ; Department of International Trade, Law and Administration College, University of Halabja, Ababaile, Halabja, 46018, IRAQ

Dr. Diary J. Ali is a Lecturer in the both Department of Accounting and Finance, College of Administration and Economics, at the University of Halabja. And Accounting Department, Kurdistan Technical Institute, Sulaymanya-46001, IRAQ.

He holds a B.Sc. in Finance and Banking from the University of Duhok (2007), an M.Sc. in Finance and Banking from Near East University, Cyprus (2018), and a Ph.D. in Finance and Accounting from Cyprus International University (2024).

His research interests focus on banking performance, monetary and financial policy, and corporate governance.

Dr. Ali is a member of the Accountant and Auditors’ Syndicate in Iraq, and has participated in several national and international conferences and published research papers in his field.
Najih Samin Ahmed, Department of Project Management, College of Commerce, University of Sulaimani, -46001, IRAQ

Dr. Najih Samin Ahmed is a faculty member in the Department of Project Management at the College of Commerce, University of Sulaimani. He holds a Ph.D. in Human Resource Management. His research interests include Human Resource and Organizational Behavior, Performance Management, Service and Product Quality, as well as Research Philosophy and Social Research Methodologies, with a particular focus on Qualitative Research.

References

J. Wirtz and C. Lovelock, Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, World Scientific, 2021.

A. A. Abdelkader Ali, A. G. Andrei, F. Ruiz-Moreno, and G. Bagnato, “The role of perceived justice and emotions in service recovery process: insights from the banking sector,” Business Process Management Journal, vol. ahead-of-print, 2025.

S. Sowden, D. Khemka, and C. Catmur, “Regulating mirroring of emotions: A social-specific mechanism?,” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 75, no. 7, pp. 1302–1313, 2022.

J. H. Pfeifer, M. Iacoboni, J. C. Mazziotta, and M. Dapretto, “Mirroring others’ emotions relates to empathy and interpersonal competence in children,” NeuroImage, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 2076–2085, 2008.

M. San Román-Niaves et al., “Effectiveness of compassion-based interventions at work: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis considering process evaluation and training transfer,” Current Psychology, vol. 43, no. 26, pp. 22238–22258, 2024.

H. Saeed, F. H. Ahmed, and S. H. Hamasaleh, “The impact of organizational climate dimensions on the quality of customer service: An empirical study in Sulaymaniyah International Airport,” Journal of Kirkuk University for Administrative & Economic Sciences, vol. 9, no. 2, 2019.

J. A. H. Karim and S. M. S. Darwesh, “Strategic renewal and its role in activating aviation services marketing practices: An analytical study of the opinions of a sample of workers in some airline companies in the Kurdistan Region/Iraq,” The Scientific Journal of Cihan University–Sulaimaniya, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 350–379, 2024.

M. Mir, R. Ashraf, T. A. Syed, S. Ali, and R. Nawaz, “Mapping the service recovery research landscape: A bibliometric‐based systematic review,” Psychology & Marketing, vol. 40, no. 10, pp. 2060–2087, 2023.

S. Y. Lee, J. C. Sweeney, and G. N. Soutar, “Emotion regulation in service encounters: Are customer displays real?,” Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 171–194, 2020.

H. Antonopoulou, “The value of emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, and empathy as key components,” Technium Education and Humanities, vol. 8, pp. 78–92, 2024.

D. Vrontis, H. E. Chaarani, S. E. Nemar, and H. Dib, “The relationship between managers’ emotional intelligence and employees’ performance,” Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 177–196, 2021.

X. A. Xu, J. Liu, and D. Gursoy, “Emotional intelligence similarity in service recovery,” Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 96, 103465, 2022.

M. Moudatsou, A. Stavropoulou, A. Philalithis, and S. Koukouli, “The role of empathy in health and social care professionals,” Healthcare, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 26, 2020.

Y. Wang, Z.-J. Jin, C.-H. Jin, and C. Kan, “Building customer loyalty through emotional connection: How service provider rapport drives sustainable business,” Sustainability, vol. 17, no. 6, p. 2396, 2025.

I. Coronado-Maldonado and M. D. Benítez-Márquez, “Emotional intelligence, leadership, and work teams: A hybrid literature review,” Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 10, 2023.

J. M. Modise, “The impacts of employee workplace empowerment, effective commitment and performance: An organizational systematic review,” International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 3435–3457, 2023.

A. H. T. Tan, B. Muskat, and R. Johns, “The role of empathy in the service experience,” Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 142–164, 2019.

C. C. Lee, W. C. Yeh, Z. Yu, and X. C. Lin, “The relationships between leader emotional intelligence, transformational leadership, and transactional leadership and job performance: A mediator model of trust,” Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 8, 2023.

L. L. Bove, “Empathy for service: Benefits, unintended consequences, and future research agenda,” Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 31–43, 2019.

N. Shruthi and B. R. Shyam, “Emotional mirroring of educators during turbulence through emotional intelligence,” International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 46–51, 2021.

R. D. Lane and R. Smith, “Levels of emotional awareness: Theory and measurement of a socio-emotional skill,” Journal of Intelligence, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 42, 2021.

K. L. Wanjau, “Emotional intelligence and customer loyalty,” in Customer Relationship Management–Contemporary Concepts and Strategies, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113246

K. Singh et al., “The role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership and decision-making,” Library of Progress-Library Science, Information Technology & Computer, vol. 44, no. 3, 2024.

R. Sharma, R. Dhanta, and D. D. Solomon, “The role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership and decision-making in business management,” in AI and Emotional Intelligence for Modern Business Management, IGI Global, pp. 98–112, 2023.

M. R. Leary, “Emotional responses to interpersonal rejection,” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 435–441, 2015.

J. Chaparro-Peláez, Á. Hernández-García, and A. Urueña-López, “The role of emotions and trust in service recovery in business-to-consumer electronic commerce,” Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 77–90, 2015.

F. Babatunde, H. Sunday, and O. Adeshina, “Emotional intelligence in conflict management and leadership effectiveness in organizations,” International Journal of Research, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 146–165, 2023.

A. K. Smith and R. N. Bolton, “The effect of customers’ emotional responses to service failures on their recovery effort evaluations and satisfaction judgments,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 5–23, 2002.

T. Hennig-Thurau, M. Groth, M. Paul, and D. D. Gremler, “Are all smiles created equal? How emotional contagion and emotional labor affect service relationships,” Journal of Marketing, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 58–73, 2006.

D. Lin, T. Zhu, and Y. Wang, “Emotion contagion and physiological synchrony: The more intimate relationships, the more contagion of positive emotions,” Physiology & Behavior, vol. 275, p. 114434, 2024.

J. Du, X. Fan, and T. Feng, “Group emotional contagion and complaint intentions in group service failure: The role of group size and group familiarity,” Journal of Service Research, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 326–338, 2014.

I. A. Elshaer et al., “Emotional contagion in the hospitality industry: Unraveling its impacts and mitigation strategies through a moderated mediated PLS-SEM approach,” Tourism and Hospitality, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 46, 2025.

E. Prochazkova and M. E. Kret, “Connecting minds and sharing emotions through mimicry: A neurocognitive model of emotional contagion,” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 80, pp. 99–114, 2017.

M. Kadović, Š. Mikšić, and R. Lovrić, “Ability of emotional regulation and control as a stress predictor in healthcare professionals,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 20, no. 1, p. 541, 2022.

J. E. Lee, “Frustration and anger mitigation after service failure: The effect of other consumer’s explanation and employee’s explanation on frustration and anger after the service failure,” Psychology Research and Behavior Management, pp. 1763–1785, 2023.

L. Woffindin, “The role of emotional intelligence in conflict resolution,” 2025. [Online]. Available: [link unavailable].

N. M. Ashkanasy, A. C. Troth, S. A. Lawrence, and P. J. Jordan, “Emotions and emotional regulation in HRM: A multi-level perspective,” in Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 1–52, 2017.

J. Wei, Z. Wang, Z. Hou, and Y. Meng, “The influence of empathy and consumer forgiveness on the service recovery effect of online shopping,” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13, p. 842207, 2022.

C. Herrando and E. Constantinides, “Emotional contagion: A brief overview and future directions,” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, p. 712606, 2021.

D. S. Menefee, T. Ledoux, and C. A. Johnston, “The importance of emotional regulation in mental health,” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 28–31, 2022.

M. D. C. Giménez-Espert, S. Maldonado, and V. Prado-Gascó, “Influence of emotional skills on attitudes towards communication: Nursing students vs. nurses,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 20, no. 6, p. 4798, 2023.

M. Sicilia, M. C. Caro-Jiménez, and E. Fernández-Sabiote, “Influence of emotions displayed by employees during service recovery,” Spanish Journal of Marketing–ESIC, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 392–408, 2021.

W. Bahadur, S. Aziz, and S. Zulfiqar, “Effect of employee empathy on customer satisfaction and loyalty during employee–customer interactions: The mediating role of customer affective commitment and perceived service quality,” Cogent Business & Management, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 1491780, 2018.

A. Janiukštis, K. Kovaitė, T. Butvilas, and P. Šūmakaris, “Impact of organisational climate on employee well-being and healthy relationships at work: A case of social service centres,” Administrative Sciences, vol. 14, no. 10, p. 237, 2024.

D. Zha, R. Marvi, and P. Foroudi, “Synthesizing the customer experience concept: A multimodularity approach,” Journal of Business Research, vol. 167, p. 114185, 2023.

A. E. Akgün, H. Keskin, and H. T. Etlioğlu Başaran, “Organizational compassion: A conceptual extension and scale development,” Current Psychology, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 3787–3810, 2025.

K. Lee and H. P. Jun, “The relationship between service recovery fairness, customer emotional responses and customer behavioral responses in fitness clubs,” Journal of Asian Scientific Research, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 136, 2025.

M. Söderlund and S. Rosengren, “Revisiting the smiling service worker and customer satisfaction,” International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 552–574, 2008.

D. Caruelle, P. Shams, A. Gustafsson, and L. Lervik-Olsen, “Emotional arousal in customer experience: A dynamic view,” Journal of Business Research, vol. 170, p. 114344, 2024.

Y. C. Chen, Z. L. Huang, and H. C. Chu, “Relationships between emotional labor, job burnout, and emotional intelligence: An analysis combining meta-analysis and structural equation modeling,” BMC Psychology, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 672, 2024.

S. D. Pugh, “Service with a smile: Emotional contagion in the service encounter,” Academy of Management Journal, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 1018–1027, 2001.

N. L. Rane, A. Achari, and S. P. Choudhary, “Enhancing customer loyalty through quality of service: Effective strategies to improve customer satisfaction, experience, relationship, and engagement,” International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 427–452, 2023.

S. Zaid, A. Palilati, R. Madjid, and H. Bua, “Impact of service recovery, customer satisfaction, and corporate image on customer loyalty,” The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 961–970, 2021.

Emotional Mirroring and Service Recovery: Managerial and Financial Insights from Airlines in Kurdistan