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How Customer Requests Influence Frontline Employee Job Outcomes: The Role of Personal Appraisal Tendencies and Situational Customer Demandingness

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  • Jung, Jin Ho
  • Brown, Tom J.
  • Zablah, Alex R.

Abstract

This study investigates how customer requests, a common phenomenon, influence frontline employee (FLE) job outcomes. We propose and demonstrate that (1) FLEs possess tendencies to appraise customer requests in both positive (i.e., challenge appraisal tendency) and negative (i.e., hindrance appraisal tendency) ways, (2) higher levels of challenge appraisal tendency result in higher levels of FLE performance and lower levels of turnover (mediated through job engagement), (3) higher levels of hindrance appraisal tendency lead to increased FLE turnover (mediated through job stress), (4) the effects of FLE appraisal tendencies on situational engagement and stress are magnified when a specific customer request is deemed to be more (rather than less) demanding, and (5) customer request appraisal tendencies are shaped by the interaction between FLEs’ level of prosocial motivation and intrinsic motivation. These results are very encouraging for managers as they imply that FLE responses to customer requests are not determined by the nature of the requests themselves (which is beyond their control) but, rather, they are a function of how FLEs construe customer requests, a process that can be influenced through organizational human resource practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Jung, Jin Ho & Brown, Tom J. & Zablah, Alex R., 2022. "How Customer Requests Influence Frontline Employee Job Outcomes: The Role of Personal Appraisal Tendencies and Situational Customer Demandingness," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 315-334.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jouret:v:98:y:2022:i:2:p:315-334
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2021.03.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jaramillo, Fernando & Mulki, Jay Prakash & Boles, James S., 2013. "Bringing meaning to the sales job: The effect of ethical climate and customer demandingness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2301-2307.
    2. Itani, Omar S. & Jaramillo, Fernando & Paesbrugghe, Bert, 2020. "Between a rock and a hard place: Seizing the opportunity of demanding customers by means of frontline service behaviors," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
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    5. Seger-Guttmann, Tali & Vilnai-Yavetz, Iris & Wang, Chen-Ya & Petruzzellis, Luca, 2018. "Illegitimate returns as a trigger for customers’ ethical dissonance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 120-131.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mayr, Kathrin & Teller, Christoph, 2023. "Customer deviance in retailing: Managers’ emotional support and employees’ affective wellbeing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
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    3. Sok, Keo Mony & Danaher, Tracey S. & Sok, Phyra, 2023. "Multiple psychological climates and employee self-regulatory focus: Implications for frontline employee work behavior and service performance," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 228-246.

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