Customer Mistreatment: A Review of Conceptualizations and a Multilevel Theoretical Model

Koopmann, Jaclyn; Wang, Mo; Liu, Yihao; Song, Yifan

doi:10.1108/s1479-355520150000013002

Cited by 93 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 148 publications

(258 reference statements)

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“…PANAS (Watson et al., ) was used to assess affective state with the time frame changed from “in general” to “currently.” This is because past research demonstrated that affect in the morning might set the tone for one's feelings during the day, likely influencing the resources available for focal tasks and affective reactions to work events (e.g., Beal et al., ; Rothbard & Wilk, ). In addition, we also controlled for self‐report service quality and service job satisfaction at the daily level in this study because service quality could potentially influence customer treatment toward employees (Koopmann, Wang, Liu, & Song, ) and employees’ experienced satisfaction could relate to emotional exhaustion (Martínez‐Iñigo et al., ). Daily service performance was assessed with one item (i.e., “Based on your service performance during the day, how do you rate your service quality today?”) rated by service employees on a seven‐point scale ranging from very poor to very good .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpersonal Process of Emotional Labor: The Role of Negative and Positive Customer Treatment

Zhan

Wang

Shi

2015

Personnel Psychology

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111

103

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Emotional labor refers to the process of regulating both feelings and expressions in response to the display rules for promoting organizational goals. Existing literature has provided strong evidence for the impact of emotional labor (i.e., surface acting and deep acting) on service employees’ emotional exhaustion. However, the empirical examination of the mechanisms underlying this association is largely missing from prior research. Drawing on the social interaction model of emotion regulation, this article reported 2 daily diary studies examining the role of customer treatment toward employees in channeling emotional labor's impact on employee emotional well‐being. Specifically, Study 1 measured emotional labor at the between‐person level as habitual emotional regulation strategies used by service employees, and Study 2 measured emotional labor at the within‐person level to capture its fluctuations. Results showed that employees engaging in more surface acting were more likely to receive negative treatment from customers, which in turn increased their negative affect and emotional exhaustion. Further, employees engaging in more deep acting were more likely to receive positive treatment from customers, which in turn increased their positive affect. Implications and limitations of these findings were discussed.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpersonal Process of Emotional Labor: The Role of Negative and Positive Customer Treatment

Zhan

Wang

Shi

2015

Personnel Psychology

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111

103

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“…We further contribute specifically to the customer mistreatment literature by testing the role of self‐esteem threat—a mechanism that has been postulated by germinal work (e.g., Dormann & Zapf, ; Shao & Skarlicki, ; Skarlicki, van Jaarsveld, & Walker, ) and elaborated in theory‐building (e.g., Amarnani, Bordia, & Restubog, ; Koopmann, Wang, Liu, & Song, ) yet has eluded systematic testing. These scholars have indicated that customer mistreatment may be of significant import for people's sense of self because continual poor treatment from customers is degrading and disrespectful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We further contribute specifically to the customer mistreatment literature by testing the role of self-esteem threat-a mechanism that has been postulated by germinal work (e.g., Dormann & Zapf, 2004;Shao & Skarlicki, 2014;Skarlicki, van Jaarsveld, & Walker, 2008) and elaborated in theory-building (e.g., Amarnani, Bordia, & Restubog, 2018;Koopmann, Wang, Liu, & Song, 2015) yet has eluded systematic testing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this way, customer mistreatment may be one of the driving means by which service work becomes tainted, dirty work. Furthermore, we answer calls in the literature to go beyond self-report and cross-sectional designs in studying customer mistreatment (Koopmann et al, 2015) by examining its lagged relationship with supervisor-rated service performance. In doing so, we make important empirical, methodological, and theoretical advancements to the customer mistreatment literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age as double‐edged sword among victims of customer mistreatment: A self‐esteem threat perspective

Amarnani

Restubog

Bordia

et al. 2019

Human Resource Management

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Service workers are expected to maintain high‐quality service delivery despite customer mistreatment—the poor‐quality treatment of service workers by customers—which can be demeaning and threatening to self‐esteem. Although service work is increasingly delivered by middle‐aged and older workers, very little is known about how employees across the age range navigate abuse from customers on the job. Does advancing age help or hinder service performance in reaction to customer mistreatment? Drawing on strength and vulnerability integration theory, we proposed that age paradoxically both helps and hinders performance after customer mistreatment, albeit at different stages. We tested our proposed model in a two‐sample field investigation of service workers and their supervisors using a time‐lagged, dyadic design. Results showed that age heightens the experience of self‐esteem threat but, nevertheless, dampens reactions to self‐esteem threat, leading to divergent effects on performance at different stages. Implications for age and service work, as well as aging and the sense of self, are discussed.

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“…In the literature, supervisors and colleagues are examined as possible sources both of support and of aggression. In service-sector organizations, conversely, users have rarely been considered as possible sources of support: the focus has been almost exclusively on the negative side of the relationship with “others.” Thus, disproportionate requests (Dormann and Zapf, 2004; Dudenhöffer and Dormann, 2013, 2015), customer mistreatment (Koopmann et al, 2015), or aggressive behaviors (LeBlanc and Kelloway, 2002; Viotti et al, 2015) have been considered to be factors that decrease job satisfaction and psychological well-being, contribute to developing stress, burnout, and the spiraling of negative exchanges between employees and customers (Groth and Grandey, 2012), and directly or indirectly enhance an employee’s intention to leave an organization (Lee and Ashforth, 1996; Jourdain and Chênevert, 2010). However, when service workers are asked why they have chosen their jobs (Maslach, 1982), they often declare their interest in “dealing with people” (Zimmermann et al, 2011, p. 31), thus implying that the motivational processes among service workers is often based on their interest in building a positive relationship with customers (users, patients, students, etc.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Users’ Support as a Social Resource in Educational Services: Construct Validity and Measurement Invariance of the User-Initiated Support Scale (UISS)

2016

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Social support is an important resource for reducing the risks of stress and burnout at work. It seems to be particularly helpful for educational and social professionals. The constant and intense relationships with users that characterize this kind of service can be very demanding, increasing stress and leading to burnout. While significant attention has been paid to supervisors and colleagues in the literature, users have rarely been considered as possible sources of social support. The only exception is the Zimmermann et al.'s (2011) research, focused on customer support as a resource for workers' well-being. This paper proposes the validation of the customer-initiated support scale developed by Zimmermann et al. (2011), translated into Italian and focused on educational services users (children's parents), to measure the user support perceived by workers: the User-Initiated Support Scale (UISS). In Study 1 (105 teachers), which specifically involved educators and kindergarten teachers, the items and scale properties were preliminarily examined using descriptive analyses and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In Study 2 (304 teachers), the construct and criterion validity and scale dimensionality were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In Study 3 (304 teachers from Study 2 and 296 educators), measurement invariance (MI) was tested. The EFA results from Study 1 showed a one-factor solution (explained variance, 67.2%). The scale showed good internal coherence (alpha = 0.88). The CFA in Study 2 validated the one-factor solution (comparative fit index = 0.987; standardized root mean square residual = 0.054). Bivariate correlations confirmed construct validity; the UISS was positively associated (convergent) with user gratitude, and not associated (divergent) with disproportionate customer expectations. Regarding the criterion validity test, the UISS was strongly correlated with burnout and job satisfaction. The analysis of MI performed on the Study 3 data confirmed the equality of the parameters of the covariance structure model between the two samples of kindergarten teachers and educators. This research study offers a useful version of a tool for measuring a crucial, but often ignored, protective resource for all professionals working directly with people (patients, students, and service users) that can represent important sources of well-being, directly or indirectly lessening the negative impacts of job demands.

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Customer Mistreatment: A Review of Conceptualizations and a Multilevel Theoretical Model

Cited by 93 publications

References 148 publications

Interpersonal Process of Emotional Labor: The Role of Negative and Positive Customer Treatment

Interpersonal Process of Emotional Labor: The Role of Negative and Positive Customer Treatment

Age as double‐edged sword among victims of customer mistreatment: A self‐esteem threat perspective

Users’ Support as a Social Resource in Educational Services: Construct Validity and Measurement Invariance of the User-Initiated Support Scale (UISS)

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