This doctoral investigation considers the exploration of two theoretical concepts, namely Trust and Emotional Intelligence (EI) within Intercultural Service Encounters (ICSEs), taking into consideration customers΄ and employees΄ perception. \ud
The conducted systematic and narrative literature review on ICSEs provided the foundations for the development of an initial conceptual framework on affective trust during ICSEs. \ud
The researcher as a symbolic interactionist adopts a case study approach to explore the role of EI on the development of affective trust during ICSEs in the banking industry of Cyprus. Cyprus used to have an extremely sizeable financial and banking industry but the financial crisis has influenced adversely customers΄ trust towards the employees and the banking institutions. In order to gain a deeper understanding on ICSEs in Cyprus, the researcher adopts the critical incident technique (CIT) and conducts semi-structured interviews with frontline service employees (FSEs) and foreign customers within the banking industry. The collected data were analyzed via the template technique with the assistance of qualitative data analysis software NVivo 10. \ud
The research findings suggest that affective trust is very important for the financial services that aim to develop trust during ICSEs. The empirically validated conceptual framework reflects an in-depth exploration of the negative emotions that emerge during ICSEs and innovatively enables a holistic understanding on the role of EI in the development of affective trust in the banking industry of Cyprus. As a practical contribution, the researcher delineates a training agenda to local retail banking institutions, which includes strategies and specific emotion management tactics that directly address the development of affective trust during ICSEs