Employees’ Decision Making in the Face of Customers’ Fuzzy Return Requests

Abstract

Frontline service employees frequently encounter customers’ fuzzy requests, defined as requests that are slightly or somewhat outside company policy but not completely unacceptable or detrimental to the company. Employees’ compliance decisions can profoundly affect customers, organizations, and employees themselves. However, the complex decision process in which service employees engage is largely unexplored. The authors draw from script and motivated reasoning theories, as well as qualitative interviews, to model employees’ responses to customers’ fuzzy requests in a retail setting. The results, which are based on a national survey of retail employees, indicate that employees with higher customer orientation and higher conflict avoidance tend to handle fuzzy return requests in a friendlier, more effortful manner, especially when customers demonstrate an affiliative style. In contrast, when customers display a dominant style, employees engage in motivated reasoning and perceive the request to be less legitimate, reducing their likelihood of complying. In addition, the employees’ perceived flexibility influences their compliance decisions, but punishment expectations do not. The authors conclude with some managerial implications, including better identification of these requests and more training of employees to handle them appropriately.