ABSTRACT

Customer entitlement is a customer-related stressor faced by service employees when serving customers who expect special treatment, preferential rewards, and extra consideration. We examine a model in which service employees respond to customer entitlement using emotion regulation and conceding service behaviour, and these responses in turn relate to employee burnout. This indirect effect of customer entitlement on burnout is proposed to be conditional on employees’ customer sovereignty belief (i.e., belief that customers have power over service employees and customer demands should be satisfied to the greatest extent). Results of two survey studies, one daily diary study with taxi drivers, and one time-lagged survey with university students working in various service jobs, support that employees use surface acting and conceding service behaviour in response to customer entitlement, customer sovereignty belief moderates the effect of customer entitlement on these responses as well as the indirect effect of customer entitlement on burnout. Employees low on customer sovereignty belief experience greater emotional exhaustion and depersonalization via surface acting, whereas employees high on this belief report higher levels of personal accomplishment via conceding service behaviour. These findings contribute to our understanding of when and why customer entitlement has positive and negative implications for service employees.

摘要

客户权益是服务员工在为希望获得特殊待遇，优惠和额外考虑的客户提供服务时面临的与客户相关的压力。我们研究了一种模型，在该模型中，服务员工使用情绪调节和让步的服务行为来响应客户权利，而这些响应又与员工的倦怠有关。建议将客户权利对工作倦怠的这种间接影响以员工的客户主权信念（即，认为客户拥有服务员工的权力，并应最大程度满足客户需求的信念）为条件。两项调查研究的结果，一项与出租车司机的每日日记研究，以及一项针对从事各种服务工作的大学生的时滞调查，支持员工使用表面行为和让步服务行为来响应客户权利，客户主权信念可缓和客户权利对这些响应的影响以及客户权利对倦怠的间接影响。缺乏客户主权信念的员工会通过表面行为表现出更大的情绪疲惫和人格解体，而崇尚这种信念的员工则通过让步服务行为表现出更高的个人成就感。这些发现有助于我们理解何时以及为什么客户应享权利对服务员工有正面和负面影响。缺乏客户主权信念的员工会通过表面行为表现出更大的情绪疲惫和人格解体，而崇尚这种信念的员工则通过让步服务行为表现出更高的个人成就感。这些发现有助于我们理解何时以及为什么客户应享权利对服务员工有正面和负面影响。缺乏客户主权信念的员工会通过表面行为表现出更大的情绪疲惫和人格解体，而崇尚这种信念的员工则通过让步服务行为表现出更高的个人成就感。这些发现有助于我们理解何时以及为什么客户应享权利对服务员工有正面和负面影响。