TOKYO -- Is saying "smile please" to store staff considered harassing the workers, known in Japan as "customer harassment"? More than 45% of respondents in a private survey in Japan answered that the answer is yes.

Even companies that have long championed smiling in customer service are experiencing changes. In April, ordinances against customer harassment have been introduced in areas including Tokyo, strengthening countermeasures, but what about public awareness?

The survey was conducted in March by Kyoto-based customer service support tool developer Helpfeel Inc. It targeted 1,070 people nationwide, aged 20s to 60s, asking them to judge whether 10 different scenarios occurring in customer service settings constituted harassment.

Opinions were particularly divided on the act of asking store staff to smile. Of the respondents, 45.7% considered it harassment, while 54.3% did not. There was no significant difference in views across age groups.

Helpfeel conducted a similar survey on customer harassment in October last year. At that time, many respondents considered actions like instructing customer service workers to "be more pleasant" as harassment. This prompted the inclusion of "smile" as a representative example of customer service demeanor in the recent survey.

On the latest results, a Helpfeel representative suggested that "many people probably think that store employees feel resistant to being required to maintain customer service demeanor above a certain level."

Negative opinions of 'emotional labor'

When people in Japan hear "smile," many think of McDonald's Japan's "Smile for 0 yen." While many on X (formerly Twitter) support it as a customer service standard, there are also numerous negative opinions, such as it being "forced emotional labor."

Emotional labor refers to jobs where one must suppress or control their emotions to respond to the feelings of others, such as in customer service. The demand for a positive attitude from service providers, regardless of one's own emotions, has been criticized in recent years for imposing a significant mental burden.

According to McDonald's Japan, more than 60% of their staff are young people aged 24 or below. However, a past internal survey revealed that "many young people cited 'smiling' as a barrier to working at McDonald's," according to a spokesperson.

To address this reality, the company in 2023 launched the "Smile Agenai" (I won't give you a smile) recruitment campaign, playing on "Smile for 0 yen" in reverse. It promoted diverse working styles, such as "there are positions even for those who are not good at smiling." A tie-up song titled "Smile Agenai" by singer Ano conveyed the message, "It's OK to start with what you can do without forcing yourself." This campaign resonated with many, leading to a 15% increase in the number of store worker applicants in 2023 compared to the previous year.

The spokesperson stated, "We have updated the value of 'Smile for 0 yen' to fit the times. While a smile is, of course, necessary as hospitality, we also want to be empathetic to the feelings of young people."

(Japanese original by Yuko Shimada, Business News Department)