Effects of Employee Sickness Presence on Customer Repurchase and Recommendation Intentions: The Role of Customer Affective Reactions

Sickness presence can have important individual and organizational consequences, such as health deterioration or productivity loss. Additional risks, such as negative customer reactions, may be particularly relevant in the service sector. Based on affective events theory and appraisal theories, we hypothesize that employee sickness presence negatively impacts customer repurchase and recommendation intentions. Furthermore, we explore potential affective mechanisms of these effects, including disease avoidance, personal anger, moral outrage, post-consumption guilt, and customer compassion for the employee. We conducted four studies, including three experimental vignette methodology studies (Ns?=?227, 72, and 763) and a qualitative study (N?=?54). In Study 1, employee sickness presence had negative effects on repurchase and recommendation intentions. Results of Study 2 show that customers experienced disgust, fear, anger, guilt, compassion, and indifference in response to sickness presence. In Study 3, anger explained the negative effects of employee sickness presence on repurchase and recommendation intentions, while appraisals of moral fairness were negatively related to both customer intentions. Finally, in Study 4, disgust and anger explained negative effects, while fear, guilt, and compassion explained positive effects of employee sickness presence on customer intentions. Appraisals of goal incongruence, reduced agency of the customer, and uncertainty were negatively related to customer intentions. The physical absence of the customer in the service encounter (phone call) mitigated the experience of disgust, fear, and anger, whereas it exacerbated feelings of compassion for the ill employee.

     

Salesperson characteristics affecting consumer complaint responses

The important relationship between consumer complaint behaviour and brand and store loyalty is well established. The range of factors that favourably influence the outcomes of complaining have received relatively less research attention. Therefore, this study tests the effects of two salesperson source characteristics: willingness to listen and product/store knowledge, on consumer complaint‐related perceptions and intentions in a retail setting. Mall shoppers participated in a consumer complaint experiment to test the hypothesised effects. The results indicate that both characteristics affect customer complaint responses, as well as consumer perceptions of the salesperson and the retail store. The findings of the study demonstrate that salesperson characteristics are important influences on positive or negative consumer complaint responses. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.     

A multilevel investigation of antecedents of employee positive affective displays: the roles of customer negative affective displays and employee perceived supervisory support

Much past research on employee positive affective displays have explored their antecedents using a single level of analysis. The present study extends previous research by capturing the complex phenomenon of employee affective displays from a multilevel perspective. We used an event-sampling methodology to address a gap in the literature by examining affective displays at the intra-individual level and inter-individual level. Results based on 67 postal clerks completing 420 transactions in post offices in Taiwan show that customer negative affective displays were negatively correlated with employee positive affective displays. Moreover, employee perceived instrumental supervisory support had a cross-level moderating effect on the within-individual relationship between customer-displayed negative emotions and employee-displayed positive emotions. Specifically, those with perceived higher levels of instrumental supervisory support tended to express friendlier emotions while interacting with unhappy or angry customers than those with perceived lower levels of instrumental supervisory support. At the inter-individual level, results show that employee perceived emotional supervisory support was positively related to their affective displays at the aggregated employee level.     

Evaluations of relational aggression as a function of relationship type and conflict setting

The present study examined influences on girls' evaluations of relational aggression situations. Second‐, third‐, fifth‐, and sixth‐grade girls evaluated four relational aggression conflict scenarios in terms of attributions of aggressor's intentions, evaluator's behavioral response, evaluator's affective state, and how likely the situation was to actually occur. Girls evaluated intentions of a best friend more positively, reported being more mad at an enemy, and perceived conflict to be more likely to occur with an enemy than a best friend. Aggressor intentions in direct conflict scenarios (aggressor said something mean to evaluator) were perceived as more negative than aggressor intentions in indirect conflict scenarios (aggressor said something mean about evaluator to another peer). Younger girls reported intentions of their enemy as being more positive than did older girls. Further, older girls reported intentions of their best friend as being more positive than intentions of their enemy. Older girls also were more accurate in conceptualizing variations in the conflict setting (direct, indirect) and responding in a context‐consistent manner. Findings are discussed in terms of the social‐relational and social‐situational processes that influence children's evaluations of relational aggression and how the current study extends previous research on relational aggression. Aggr. Behav. 26:179–191, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team

Pursuing a customer-focused strategy in manufacturing organizations requires employees across functions to embrace the importance of understanding customer needs and to align their everyday efforts with the goal of satisfying and retaining customers. Little prior research has examined what factors influence employee customer orientation in manufacturing settings. Drawing on the attraction-selection-attrition model, upper-echelons theory, and contingency theories of leadership, this study investigated the joint influences of functional roles' proximity to external customers and the senior leadership team's customer orientation on employee customer orientation. Hierarchical linear modeling results based on data obtained from 4,299 employees and 403 senior leaders from 42 facilities of a global manufacturer operating in 16 countries revealed that employees occupying customer-contact roles had the highest level of customer orientation, followed by employees occupying production roles, and then by those in support roles. In addition, there was a positive relationship between the senior leadership team's customer orientation and employee customer orientation for all 3 functional roles. The positive relationship between the senior leadership team and employee customer orientation was the strongest for employees in support roles, suggesting that lower levels of proximity to external customers may create a greater need for leadership in developing employees' customer-oriented attitudes.     

Organizational career growth and subsequent voice behavior: The role of affective commitment and gender

Although research has established a connection between career growth and turnover intentions, there continues to be a need to study how employee career growth contributes positively to organizations. In the present research, we studied in particular how employees' organizational career growth is related to voice behavior. Employing theories of social exchange, organization-based self-esteem, and psychological attachment, we developed six hypotheses pertinent to this relationship, including the mediating role of affective organizational commitment and the moderating effect of gender. We tested our hypotheses using data from 328 employees in Mainland China over three time periods. As we hypothesized, we found positive relationships between the three dimensions of organizational career growth and subsequent voice behavior. Our results also verified that these relationships are partially mediated by affective organizational commitment and partially moderated by gender.     

A Commentary on 'Exploring the Nature of Human Resource Developers' Expertise"

Previous research has shown that organizational identification (OI) of leaders is positively related to employee OI and, in turn, linked to positive behaviours of employees towards the organization. In the present study, we argue that leader OI does not only affect variables at the employee level but, through its influence on employees, also contributes to important customer outcomes (i.e., customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer recommendations). Drawing on self-concept based theories of leadership effectiveness and insights from service linkage research, the present article proposes that OI plays an important role in these influence processes. Additionally, the article delineates the behavioural and psychological variables that intervene employee OI and customer outcomes. More specifically, we suggest that leader OI is positively related to follower OI, which results in customer-oriented service behaviour. Customer orientation, in turn, should positively affect customers' identification with the organization and, ultimately, result in customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer recommendations. Results of a multilevel field study using data from leaders, employees, and customers provide support for our theoretical model.     

Justice and employee attitudes during organizational change: The mediating role of overall justice

IntroductionSeveral studies have investigated the mediating role of overall justice (OJ) in the relationships between specific dimensions of justice and employee attitudes. However, prior research has neglected to examine OJ during the process of organizational change, as suggested in fairness heuristic theory (FHT).ObjectiveThis study aims to replicate the results of previous studies and expand them by examining, in two contexts of organizational change implementation, the mediating role of OJ in the relationships between procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice (PJ, ITJ, and IFJ, respectively) and employee attitudes (job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and organizational commitment).MethodologyWe surveyed 537 employees experiencing a company reorganization (Study 1) and 188 employees experiencing a merger (Study 2).ResultsEach dimension of justice is related to OJ, which in turn is associated to employee attitudes. Furthermore, bootstrap results indicated that OJ mediates the effects of PJ, ITJ, and IFJ on job satisfaction and turnover intentions (in both studies), and on affective, normative, and continuance commitment (in Study 2).ConclusionOur findings show the importance of fairness during organizational change. Treating employees fairly in times of change is crucial for managers.     

THE EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR, AND TURNOVER ON ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS: A UNIT-LEVEL, LONGITUDINAL STUDY

This study addresses the issue of whether positive employee attitudes and behaviors influence business outcomes or whether positive business outcomes influence positive employee attitudes and behaviors. We hypothesize that employee satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and employee turnover influence profitability and customer satisfaction. Data were gathered from the units of a regional restaurant chain via employee surveys, manager surveys, customer surveys, and organizational records. Cross-lagged regression analyses show that employee attitudes and behaviors at Time 1 are related to organizational effectiveness at Time 2. Additional cross-lagged regression analyses show no significant relationship between organizational effectiveness at Time 1 and the employee attitudes and behaviors at Time 2. These results add to the evidence that HR outcomes influence business outcomes, rather than the other way around.     

What We Share Is Who We Are and What We Do: How Emotional Intimacy Shapes Organizational Identification and Collaborative Behaviors

We focus on the concept of emotional intimacy among organizational members and investigate its influence on both their (a) perceptions and (b) behaviors. With regard to employees’ perceptions, we test whether it is organizational identification (operationalized as cognitive and affective identification with the organization) that influences emotional intimacy or the reverse. At the behavioral level, we investigate the interplay between employee emotional intimacy and organizational identification and their effects on employee interpersonal helping (OCB-Is; interpersonal organizational citizenship behaviors) and interpersonal conflict (CWB-Is; interpersonal counterproductive workplace behaviors). Based on a three-wave panel study among nurses working in a public hospital, our findings show that emotional intimacy influences organizational identification, and it represents a unique antecedent of OCB-Is and CWB-Is.     

The mediating role of engagement and burnout in the relationship between employees' emotion regulation strategies and customer outcomes

Service employees' emotional display plays an important role in service interactions, but little is known about the effects of employee's emotional regulation strategies on customer outcomes. This study examines a model in which emotion regulation is associated with customer satisfaction and loyalty intentions as mediated by employee burnout and engagement. Data collected from 135 employee–customer dyads following service interactions was analysed with structural equation modelling. The results show that engagement fully mediates the relationship of deep acting, and burnout partially mediates the relationship of surface acting, with customer satisfaction and loyalty intentions.     

Identification with the retail organization and customer-perceived employee similarity: Effects on customer spending

Two constructs important to academicians and managers are the degree to which employees and customers identify with an organization, employee organizational identification (employee OI) and customer-company identification (customer identification), respectively. This research examines the effects of these identification constructs and the related construct of customer perceived similarity to employees on customer spending. Via a 1-year multilevel study of 12,047 customers and 1,464 store employees (sales associates) covering 212 stores of a specialty apparel retailer, our study contributes to the literature in 2 critical ways. First, we expand the theoretical network of employee OI and customer identification by examining the related construct of a customer's perceived similarity to store employees. We examine the incremental (not fully mediated) main and interaction effects of customer-perceived similarity to employees and employee OI on customer spending. Second, we examine the effect of customer identification on customer spending relative to the effect of customer satisfaction on customer spending. Thus, our study also contributes by demonstrating a potential complementary route to achieve customer spending (customer identification), a route that may be more readily affected by management than the efforts required for a sustained increase in customer satisfaction. Implications for academics and managers are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Evaluation of the Indirect Influence of Courteous Service on Customer Discretionary Behavior

This study determined whether courteous service communication may indirectly influence customer discretionary behavior (CDB). CDB was defined as any behavior a customer voluntarily performs, beyond purchasing products or services, which may be helpful or harmful to an organization. Specifically, it was hypothesized that courteous service would influence customer evaluations and mood, which, in turn, would influence CDBs. Observational and survey data were collected in two grocery stores. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that courteous service had an indirect influence on customer commitment behaviors. Specifically, as cashiers displayed more courtesy, customers provided more positive evaluations of service and were ultimately more likely to recommend the store to friends and shop at the store if other stores are closer. However, courteous service did not predict customer helpfulness. Courtesy also explained relatively little variation overall in outcome variables. Therefore, efforts to improve customer outcomes should extend beyond improving the courtesy of service. Additional research is proposed to further assess the role of communication in customer service encounters.     

A time-lagged investigation of the mediating role of person–organization fit in the relationship between leader–member exchange and employee affective organizational commitment

This study provides a new perspective on the relationship between LMX and affective organizational commitment, treating person-organization fit (P-O fit) as an explanatory mechanism and identifying co-worker support and customer recognition as moderators of the first stage of this indirect relationship. Results of a three-wave time-lagged study of survey responses obtained from 137 employees working in the retail service sector over a three-year period were consistent with the proposed model. Multiple regression and moderated mediation analyses revealed that LMX indirectly and positively predicted affective organizational commitment through its positive relationship with P–O fit, suggesting that LMX provides a means by which supervisors are able to instill organizational values in employees and/or signal the degree to which their values match those of the organization. Moreover, co-worker support and customer recognition each moderated the first stage of this indirect relationship, such that the relationship between LMX and P–O fit and, in turn, its indirect relationship with affective organizational commitment is stronger as support from co-workers or customer recognition is lacking. At high levels of co-worker support and customer recognition, LMX exhibits no significant relationship with P–O fit. Together, these results provide new explanations for how and under which conditions LMX might influence employee commitment, suggesting that LMX is particularly salient when employees are lacking other sources of relational support or recognition and that high-quality relations with co-workers and/or customers may serve to compensate for low LMX quality in shaping P–O fit and affective organizational commitment.     

Workplace Surface Acting and Employee Insomnia: A Moderated Mediation Model of Psychological Detachment and Dispositional Mindfulness

Abstract

This study adopted a process-oriented approach to explore the mediating and moderating mechanisms surrounding the association between surface acting at work and sleep quality. Drawing on the stressor-detachment and transactional stress models, the current study proposed a moderated mediation model to examine whether surface acting would be associated indirectly with employee insomnia via lack of psychological detachment, and whether this indirect linkage is moderated by dispositional mindfulness. The study was conducted among 516 full-time employed hospital nurses in China over a one-year period. Results revealed that suppressed negative emotions, but not faked positive emotions, had a significant influence on employee insomnia over time, and lack of psychological detachment mediated the effect of suppressing negative emotions on insomnia. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that the mediated path was weaker for employees with higher levels of dispositional mindfulness. These findings advance our understanding of how and when surface acting negatively influences employee sleep, as well as point to implications for individual and organizational interventions.     

客户支持对一线服务员工服务绩效的影响——基于自我验证理论的视角

基于自我验证理论, 文章探讨了客户支持能否通过组织自尊的中介作用促进员工服务绩效(角色内服务绩效和主动服务客户行为), 以及员工促进定向和内控的调节作用。针对3时间点的调查得到652名员工和139名主管的配对数据进行分析, 结果显示：(1)客户支持会显著正向影响员工组织自尊, 进而显著影响他们的角色内服务绩效和主动服务客户行为; (2)员工促进定向正向调节客户支持对员工组织自尊的影响; (3)员工内控负向调节客户支持对员工组织自尊的影响。研究结果拓展了员工服务绩效的机制研究, 为组织提升员工服务绩效提供了新的思路。     

An Integrative Model Linking Supervisor Support and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This study extends previous research by proposing an integrative model that examines the mediating processes underlying the relationship between leader support and employee OCB. Data were collected from 323 employees and their immediate supervisors in seven Taiwanese companies. Results showed that supervisor support influenced the employees’ OCB indirectly through two cognitive processes (job satisfaction and person–organization fit) and one affective process(job tension).     

Toward a more complete understanding of the reciprocity of liking effect

It is proposed that the reciprocation of interpersonal attraction is a multifaceted process involving affective, cognitive, and behavioral elements, and that reciprocation can be interpreted using interdependence theory. Two studies investigated whether expressed attraction implies benevolent intentions and whether such intentions are differentially critical to reciprocated affective and behavioral attraction. Study 1 (N = 52) demonstrated that (a) an admirer's expressed attraction suggests an admirer's benevolent intentions toward the target, and (b) that benevolent intentions mediate reciprocated affective and behavioral attraction. Study 2 (N = 173) found a difference between affective and behavioral attraction: affective attraction was reciprocated in all cases; but behavioral attraction was not reciprocated when stated behavioral intentions were not consistent with intentions implied by the expressed attraction. Results support an interdependence theory perspective as particularly important for understanding why and what type of reciprocated attraction will occur. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Inhibition Systems,Manager Ratings of Employee Job Performance,and Employee Withdrawal

Employee behavioral activation system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS) sensitivities have potential to add value to understanding employee personality, job performance ratings, and withdrawal. After controlling for three Big Five personality trait dimensions (Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Extraversion), structural equations modeling results from 102 employees and their managers indicated that employee BAS sensitivity was negatively related to manager ratings of employee job performance and that employee self-defeating behavior partially accounted for the hypothesized negative relations. BAS sensitivity was also indirectly and positively related to employee turnover intentions by failure to delay gratification. BIS sensitivity was positively related to employee self-defeating behavior but was not related to manager ratings of job performance or withdrawal. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings and future research are discussed.     

The Effects of Electronic Word of Mouth on Product Judgment and Choice: The Moderating Role of the Sense of Virtual Community1

Electronic word‐of‐mouth (WOM) communication influences potential consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a product. Since consumers frequently assess online information based on their relationships with communities, rather than with individuals, online communities themselves function as referents for assessing information quality. This study examines whether consumer perceptions toward virtual communities (i.e., sense of virtual community or SOVC) moderate the perceived influence of product comments on attitude and purchase intention. This study manipulated 2 scenarios involving positive comments and negative comments regarding a newly issued game product. Analytical results indicated that SOVC reinforced the influences of online comments on attitude and purchase intention. Thus, marketers should consider the role of virtual communities when implementing WOM strategy online.