How Gig Worker Responds to Negative Customer Treatment: The Effects of Work Meaningfulness and Traits of Psychological Resilience

Abstract

The negative interpersonal interaction between customers and platform gig workers has become a problem for platform owners and government. This study investigates the role of negative customer treatment in the context of gig work and its impact on gig workers’ sabotage behavior. A questionnaire survey approach was used in the study, collected three-wave survey data from 258 Chinese gig workers including food-deliver platform workers and app-based ride-hailing drivers. Both effects of the mediation and moderation were tested, all of which find support, using hierarchical multiple regression by SPSS22.0. Results indicate that negative customer treatment can also predict gig workers’ service sabotage through work meaningfulness. Furthermore, positive customer treatment acted as an effective safeguard against the effects of negative customer treatment on employee service sabotage. Trait psychological resilience can also mitigate the effects of a low level of work meaningfulness. The manuscript’s focus provides an interesting angle to the previous research, especially the inclusion of work meaningfulness and trait resilience, on negative customer treatment in the context of gig work. This study contributes to further broaden the perspective of conservation of resource (COR) theory for individual intrinsic motivation analysis. Practical implications for platform management and government governance have also been discussed in this manuscript.

Job Demands and Mental Health Deterioration: Investigating the Mediating Role of Resiliency

“…Beyond Workload Volume and Pace, a broader spectrum of job demands could be investigated, like customer interactions, payment dynamics, or physical risks associated with traffic. Recent studies provided empirical evidence on the stressful impact of customers’ incivility, 6 , 38 occupational stigma, 39 and lower educational levels 40 among other factors that could negative influence food delivers work-related quality of life. Comparing the experiences of food-delivery workers in China with those in other countries could provide a cross-cultural perspective on the challenges and protective factors in this rapidly growing industry.…”

“… 5 The present research aims to fill this gap, drawing on data from 206 participants, by focusing on the direct relationship between job demands and mental health decline among food delivery workers, and the potential role of resilience as a protective factor. 6 This approach not only addresses an under-researched area but also offers practical insights for policy and intervention strategies to support the well-being of these workers.…”

Reasons and Motivations for Working as A White-Collar Gig Worker

“…The questionnaire survey is mostly used to obtain primary data when conducting empirical research. The questionnaire and investigation must be rigorous in order to get reliable and valid research results [27]. The questionnaire was intended to collect responses from engineers and other highly skilled professionals via an online platform.…”

Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research

“…For example, as Upwork prefers experienced workers, some newcomers would buy positive reviews, share accounts with friends, or purchase pre‐approved accounts with desirable locations (e.g., Europe or the United States) to increase the likelihood of getting contracts (Anwar & Graham, 2020). Workers sometimes withhold output from clients to further game the system (Anwar & Graham, 2020) or sabotage service when experiencing negative customer interactions (Xiongtao et al, 2021). Some noncompliant behaviors are less deviant but can still turn out costly.…”