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Stress on Frontline Employees from Customer Aggression in the Restaurant Industry: The Moderating Effect of Empowerment

Author

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  • Yahua Bi

    (Department of Tourism and Convention, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea)

  • Sooyoung Choi

    (Department of Tourism and Convention, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea)

  • Jie Yin

    (College of Tourism, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China)

  • Insin Kim

    (Department of Tourism and Convention, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea)

Abstract

In service industries such as restaurants, abusive customer (jay-customer) behaviors may evoke emotional exhaustion and burnout in frontline employees, threatening job satisfaction as well as sustainable management in the hospitality industry. Therefore, there is a need to identify whether (and to what degree) such customer behaviors stress frontline employees enough to affect their mental health, which may lead to employee turnover. To understand jay-customer behaviors in a restaurant setting, this study investigated the factors of jay-customer behaviors that induce job stress and decrease job satisfaction. Additionally, the moderating effect of empowerment was tested to see whether employee empowerment decreases the stress caused by jay-customer behaviors. Data collected from 302 restaurant employees from several cities in South Korea were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The study results demonstrate that three types of jay-customer behaviors (verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual harassment) are directly related to frontline employees’ job stress, which in turn, reduces job satisfaction. A moderating effect of empowerment on the relationship between verbal abuse and job stress is found. The results of this study suggest a conceptual model for understanding the process in which jay-customers negatively influence the frontline employees, threatening employee well-being, and they provide valuable implications for the restaurant industry, which can help develop strategies to improve employee welfare and provide better customer management.

Suggested Citation

  • Yahua Bi & Sooyoung Choi & Jie Yin & Insin Kim, 2021. "Stress on Frontline Employees from Customer Aggression in the Restaurant Industry: The Moderating Effect of Empowerment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1433-:d:489662
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kyle A. Hanners & Shawna Malvini Redden, 2021. "Communicating Values to Cultivate Sustainable Occupational Identity: How Restaurant Workers Resist Service Work Stigma," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Jinsoo Hwang & Yekyoung Yoo & Insin Kim, 2021. "Dysfunctional Customer Behavior, Employee Service Sabotage, and Sustainability: Can Social Support Make a Difference?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Ifeoma Chukwunonso Onyemelukwe & José Antonio Vasconcelos Ferreira & Ana Luísa Ramos, 2023. "Human Energy Management in Industry: A Systematic Review of Organizational Strategies to Reinforce Workforce Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Na Li & Ziyang Liu & Xi Zhang, 2022. "A Study on the Impact of Dynamic Visitor Demand on the Digital Transformation of Enterprises—Considerations Based on the Regional Innovation Environment and the Level of Big Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, December.

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