Customer aggression has been a threat to hospitality employee safety and well-being long before COVID-19, but cases of aggression have been on the rise lately. Hospitality employees often find themselves explaining staffing shortages, product or service delays, and COVID-19 policies, and therefore bear the brunt of verbal and/or physical responses from some customers. The Targeted Research Training program is pleased to introduce a collection of resources on the topic of customer aggression.
En español:
¿Habla usted español? El Programa de Investigación Dirigida (TRT, por sus siglas en inglés) se dedica a proveer recursos para ayudar a los empleados en la industria de hospitalidad a navegar este momento difícil. A continuación, encontrará enlaces a recursos que pueden ayudarlo a lidiar con la agresión de los clients. El Programa TRT no ofrece ninguna garantía sobre la disponibilidad o idoneidad de esta información para su situación y cualquier acción que usted realice al consultar la información en este sitio web es estrictamente bajo su propio riesgo. La información contenida en estos sitios web no refleja necesariamente las opiniones del programa TRT ni de nuestra agencia de financiación, el Centro de Educación e Investigación Sunshine, o el Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional. Estamos dedicados a proveer recursos para empleados de hospitalidad que no hablan inglés. Para cualquier recurso que no esté traducido en su fuente original, puede usar el navegador Google Chrome para traducir el material. Haga clic aquí para un video en español que muestra cómo usar el navegador Google Chrome para traducir material del inglés a otro idioma.
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| Citation | Article Type | DOI/Link |
|---|---|---|
| Groth, M., Wu, Y., Nguyen, H., & Johnson, A. (2019). The moment of truth: A review, synthesis, and research agenda for the customer service experience. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 6, 89-113. | Reviews and Meta-Analyses | https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015056 |
| Koopmann, J., Wang, M., Liu, Y. and Song, Y. (2015), “Customer Mistreatment: A Review of Conceptualizations and a Multilevel Theoretical Model”, Mistreatment in Organizations (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 33-79. | Reviews and Meta-Analyses | https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520150000013002 |
| Min, H., & Shoss, M. (2019). Workplace aggression and violence. In R. Griffin (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Management. | Reviews and Meta-Analyses | Link to Publisher |
| Sommovigo, V., Setti, I., Argentero, P., & O’Shea, D. (2017). The impact of customer incivility and verbal aggression on service providers: A systematic review. Work (Reading, Mass.), 62(1), 59–86. | Reviews and Meta-Analyses | Link to Publisher |
| Yagil, D. (2008). When the customer is wrong: A review of research on aggression and sexual harassment in service encounters. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13(2), 141-152. | Reviews and Meta-Analyses | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2008.03.002 |
| Yang, L. Q., Caughlin, D. E., Gazica, M. W., Truxillo, D. M., & Spector, P. E. (2014). Workplace mistreatment climate and potential employee and organizational outcomes: A meta-analytic review from the target’s perspective. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(3), 315-335. | Reviews and Meta-Analyses | https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036905 |
| Karatepe, O. M., Yorganci, I., & Haktanir, M. (2009). Outcomes of Customer Verbal Aggression among Hotel Employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 21(6), 713–733. | Hospitality & Tourism Research | Link to Publisher |
| Lee, L., Guchait, P., & Madera, J. M. (2020). Negative affect, deep acting, and customer compensation as responses to customer mistreatment: The effect of customer-based perspective-taking. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 89, 102532. | Hospitality & Tourism Research | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102532 |
| Simillidou, A., Christofi, M., Glyptis, L., Papatheodorou, A., & Vrontis, D. (2020). Engaging in emotional labour when facing customer mistreatment in hospitality. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 45, 429-443. | Hospitality & Tourism Research | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.10.001 |
| Torres, E. N., van Niekerk, M., & Orlowski, M. (2017). Customer and employee incivility and its causal effects in the hospitality industry. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 26(1), 48-66. | Hospitality & Tourism Research | https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2016.1178620 |
| Ugwu, F. O., Onyishi, E. I., Anozie, O. O., & Ugwu, L. E. (2021). Customer incivility and employee work engagement in the hospitality industry: roles of supervisor positive gossip and workplace friendship prevalence. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights. | Hospitality & Tourism Research | Link to Publisher |
| Wang, Y., Wang, T., & Gui, C. (2021). A meta-analysis of customer uncivil behaviors in hospitality research. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 1-25. | Hospitality & Tourism Research | https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2021.1973934 |
| Yang, F., Lu, M., & Huang, X. (2020). Customer mistreatment and employee well-being: A daily diary study of recovery mechanisms for frontline restaurant employees in a hotel. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91, 102665 | Hospitality & Tourism Research | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102665 |
| Diefendorff, J. M., Gabriel, A. S., Nolan, M. T., & Yang, J. (2019). Emotion regulation in the context of customer mistreatment and felt affect: An event-based profile approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(7), 965–983. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000389 |
| Grandey, A. A., Dickter, D. N., & Sin, H. P. (2004). The customer is not always right: Customer aggression and emotion regulation of service employees. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 25(3), 397-418. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1002/job.252 |
| Hershcovis, M. S., & Bhatnagar, N. (2017). When fellow customers behave badly: Witness reactions to employee mistreatment by customers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(11), 1528–1544. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000249 |
| Jerger, C., & Wirtz, J. (2017). Service employee responses to angry customer complaints: The roles of customer status and service climate. Journal of Service Research, 20(4), 362–378. | Services Sector Research | Link to Publisher |
| Rupp, D. E., & Spencer, S. (2006). When customers lash out: The effects of customer interactional injustice on emotional labor and the mediating role of discrete emotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 971–978. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.971 |
| Shao, R., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2014). Service employees’ reactions to mistreatment by customers: A comparison between North America and East Asia. Personnel Psychology, 67(1), 23-59. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12021 |
| Skarlicki, D. P., van Jaarsveld, D. D., & Walker, D. D. (2008). Getting even for customer mistreatment: The role of moral identity in the relationship between customer interpersonal injustice and employee sabotage. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1335–1347. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012704 |
| Wang, M., Liao, H., Zhan, Y., & Shi, J. (2011). Daily customer mistreatment and employee sabotage against customers: Examining emotion and resource perspectives. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 312-334. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.60263093 |
| Wang, M., Liu, S., Liao, H., Gong, Y., Kammeyer-Mueller, J., & Shi, J. (2013). Can’t get it out of my mind: Employee rumination after customer mistreatment and negative mood in the next morning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(6), 989–1004. | Services Sector Research | https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033656 |
| Huang, Y. K., & Kwok, L. (2021). Customer mistreatment and employee customer-focused voice: the bright and dark sides of felt trust. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(10), 3379–3399. | Employee Empowerment, Voice, and Reporting | https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2020-1497 |
| Jolly, P. M., & Lee, L. (2020). Silence is not Golden: Motivating Employee Voice through Inclusive Leadership. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 45(6), 1092–1113. | Employee Empowerment, Voice, and Reporting | https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348020963699 |
| Liu, X., van Jaarsveld, D. D., & Yanadori, Y. (2021). Customer aggression, employee voice and quit rates: Evidence from the frontline service workforce. British Journal of Industrial Relations. | Employee Empowerment, Voice, and Reporting | https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12610 |
| Caillier, J. G. (2021). Factors That Impact the Reporting of Customer aggression and Agency decisions to Correct Customer Aggression. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 1-18. | Employee Empowerment, Voice, and Reporting | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10672-021-09388-w |
| Sommovigo, V., Setti, I., & Argentero, P. (2019). The role of service providers’ resilience in buffering the negative impact of customer incivility on service recovery performance. Sustainability, 11(1), 285 | Coping with Customer Mistreatment | Link to Publisher |
| Leiter, M. P., Peck, E., & Baccardax, A. (2017). Combating workplace aggression via organizational interventions. In Bowling, N. A., & Sandy Hershcovis, M. (Eds.), Research and Theory on Workplace Aggression (pp. 322–349). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. | Coping with Customer Mistreatment | Link to Publisher |
| Title | Source | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| International Labor Convention on Violence and Harassment: Five Key Questions | International Labor Organization (ILO) | A Q&A regarding the ILO convention on violence and harassment. This is an international convention focused on addressing the global prevalence of violence and harassment. |
| Violence and Harassment against Women and Men in the World of Work-Trade Union Perspective and Action | International Labor Organization (ILO) | This report focuses on how strategies such as collective agreements, workplace policies and negotiations, and awareness training can be used to reduce violence and abuse in the workplace. It is intended as a way to inform trade unions of policies and practices that reduce the effects of violence and harassment on workers. |
| Title | Source | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Workplace Bullying Survey | Workplace Bullying Institute | The “WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey” is a national representative study focused on issues related to bullying, including its prevalence, the characteristics of perpetrators/targets, and employer responses to bullying. Data is available from 2007, 2010, 2014, 2017, and 2021. |
| Training for Professionals | Workplace Bullying Institute | A research-based training program designed for a variety of professionals, including academic professors, human resource professionals, and union activists, focused on teaching deliverable solutions to workplace bullying. This includes strategies for employer solutions to bullying and recommendations for developing anti-bullying initiatives in organizations. While it focuses on employee-on-employee bullying, many of the resources may be useful for preventing and responding to guest mistreatment. |
| Why Workplace Bullying University? | Minding the Workplace (The New Workplace Institute Blog) | This blog post by Dr. David Yamada covers an upcoming “immersive and interactive graduate-level program on the dynamics of workplace bullying.” |
| Workplace Bullying and Mobbing Recommended Book List | Minding the Workplace (The New Workplace Institute Blog) | A reading list of books and book chapters (recommended by Dr. David Yamada) related to workplace bullying and mobbing. |
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For more questions about the Sunshine Education and Research Center and the Targeted Research Training Program, please contact Dr. Mindy Shoss at targetedresearch@ucf.edu.