Introduction to Psychology 10th Edition by Rod Plotnik,Haig Kouyoumdjian

Exercise 7

Why Do They Have to Learn to Smile?
In the United States it's very common to see people smiling in public because it's a friendly way to interact socially. In fact, many businesses insist that their salespeople smile at customers because smiling makes the customers feel more comfortable and more likely to buy something. But in Japan, people are very reluctant to show emotions in public and that's become a problem.
Japan is currently going through a recession or downturn in business, so there is increased competition to get new customers and keep current customers happy. Said one gas station attendant who is trying to learn to smile more, "In this recession, customers are getting choosy about their gas stations, so you have to think positively. Laughter and a smile are representative of this positive thinking" (Reitman, 1999, p. A1).
But getting salespeople to smile is a radical change in Japan, whose cultural tradition has long emphasized suppressing any public display of emotions, be it happy, sad, or angry. For example, women never smile at their husbands and members of families rarely touch in public and never hug, even when greeting after a long separation. It's still common for women to place a hand over their mouths when they laugh, and men believe that the correct and proper behavior is to show no emotions in public. Unlike American salespeople who often smile and make eye contact with their customers, Japanese salespeople are reserved and greet customers with a simple "welcome"; smiling, up until now, was totally frowned upon.
Because getting salespeople to smile is going against a strong tradition, learning how to smile has grown into a big business in Japan. Employees are now being sent to "smile school," which uses various techniques to teach reluctant and bashful students to smile. For example, one technique in learning how to smile is biting on a chopstick (photo above) and then lifting the edges of the mouth higher than the chopstick. Another technique is to follow "smile" instructions: "Relax the muscle under your nose, loosen up your tongue. Put your hands on your stomach and laugh out loud, feeling the 'poisons' escape" (Reitman, 1999, p. A1).
What is driving all this smiling in Japan is sales and morale. As is well known by American businesses, happy, friendly salespeople are usually the most successful and are great at building company morale. The same is holding true in Japan, where smiley clerks are racking up the most sales and creating a friendly morale.
People in other parts of Asia, such as China, also are not accustomed to smiling in social situations. In fact, volunteers for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing were required to take classes on how to smile to ensure that they portray China as hospitable.
Question
When having to make money is bucking cultural traditions, what do you think will happen?