A Self-Esteem Threat Perspective on the Downstream Customer Consequences of Customer Mistreatment

Abstract

A Self-Esteem Threat Perspective on the Downstream Customer Consequences of Customer Mistreatment A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Australian National University, 2016 Committee Co-chairs: Professor Prashant Bordia and Professor Simon Lloyd D. Restubog Committee Members: Dr Deshani Ganegoda and Dr Vinh Lu Customer mistreatment encompasses a broad range of poor interpersonal treatment that employees receive from customers such as verbal abuse and rudeness (Wang, Liao, Zhan, & Shi, 2011). Subjected to customer mistreatment, employees perform poorly, feel angry and psychologically distressed, and withdraw from their work (Skarlicki, van Jaarsveld, & Walker, 2008; Baranik, Wang, Gong, & Shi, in press; Sliter, Sliter, & Jex, 2012). While much is known about the psychological experience of customer mistreatment of the employee—fairness and resource loss— less is known about the implications of customer mistreatment for the employee’s sense of self. Customer mistreatment conveys contempt and disregard for employees, that they are unworthy of respect and dignified treatment in the eyes of the customer. In this way, customer mistreatment may serve as a self-esteem threat, or a challenge to employees’ positive views of their worth (vanDellen, Campbell, Hoyle, & Bradfield, 2011). High self-esteem employees may compensate for the blow to their ego during subsequent customer encounters in ways that are detrimental to service delivery. While the possibility of a “spiral out” effect of customer mistreatment to subsequent customers has been raised (Groth & Grandey, 2012), little is known