Customer Mistreatment and Employee Performance in Call Centers: the Role of Brand Identification

Abstract

Customer mistreatment of employees is a major concern to service sector workers, particularly in call center organizations. This article contributes to our knowledge of customer mistreatment of employees and its effects on employee performance. Using the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examined the daily relationship between customer mistreatment of employees in call centers and their daily performance as captured by the two indicators of daily productivity and employee sabotage. Further, we considered the moderating role of employee brand identification to mitigate the effect of customer mistreatment on employee performance. We collected data from 43 customer service employees for 10 consecutive working days at a call center in Morocco. Results showed that customer mistreatment of employees decreased employee performance. Employee identification with the company’s brand moderated the effect of customer mistreatment on employee sabotage and employee productivity, such that customer mistreatment did not associate with employee performance for employees who identified with the brand, and customer mistreatment positively associated with employee sabotage and reduced productivity for employees with low brand identification.