Research Article
A Study on the Negative Effects of Customer Incivility on Service Employees' Work and Life Domains
Kookmin University
Published: January 2017 · Vol. 46, No. 3 · pp. 663-690
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2017.46.3.663
Full Text
Abstract
This study was conducted to examine the negative impact of customer incivility on service employees' work and life domains. It was expected that service employees who experience customer incivility would engage in deviant behavior targeting the organization and coworkers in the work domain, or commit undermining behavior toward others in the life domain, as a form of displaced retaliation. Specifically, we hypothesized that, first, customer incivility promotes deviant behavior in the work domain and undermining behavior in the life domain; second, psychological distress mediates the relationship between customer incivility and deviant (undermining) behavior; third, perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between psychological distress and deviant (undermining) behavior; and finally, perceived organizational support moderates the indirect effect of customer incivility on deviant (undermining) behavior through psychological distress. Analysis of survey data from 168 employees working in service jobs revealed that customer incivility promoted coworker-directed deviant behavior in the work domain and undermining behavior in the life domain, and these relationships were verified to be mediated by psychological distress. Additionally, perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between psychological distress and undermining behavior in the life domain, and it was verified that perceived organizational support moderated the indirect effect of customer incivility on undermining behavior in the life domain through psychological distress. In the discussion section, we addressed the negative impact of customer incivility on service employees' work and life domains, as well as organizational-level response strategies.
