The Impact of Customer Perceived Justice on Target-Based Customer Citizenship Behaviors: The Mediating Effects of Customer Trust and Affective Commitment

Abstract

Customer citizenship behaviors (CCBs) allow firms to boost their performance and competitiveness, but little is known about the impact of customer perceived justice (CPJ) in frontline service encounters on different key dimensions of target-based CCBs. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response framework and theories of equity and social exchange, the present investigation developed an integrative framework to explore how CPJ influences target-based CCBs in the after-sales service field. Using survey data collected from 368 smartphone customers in China, structural equation modeling via AMOS v. 24 was employed to empirically examine the hypotheses. The findings revealed that CPJ positively impacted the behavior to help other customers and provide feedback to the company. Customer trust and affective commitment mediated the links between CPJ and target-based CCBs, respectively. The findings hold theoretical and practical implications for strategically managing CPJ and target-based CCBs in frontline service encounters.