Hurting or helping? The effect of service agents’ workplace ostracism on customer service perceptions

Echo Wen Wan, Kimmy Wa Chan, Rocky Peng Chen

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2016 · Volume 44 · Issue 6

Abstract

Extant research confirms the importance of cocreating value with customers in service marketing, yet little is known about the impact of service agents’ work experiences on customers’ service perceptions. This research examines how service agents’ workplace ostracism from different sources (supervisors versus coworkers) influences customers’ perceived coproduction value, perceived service performance, and actual purchases. Three laboratory experiments and one survey reveal a double-edged sword effect of workplace ostracism and its contingency such that (1) supervisor ostracismreducescustomers’ perceived control value in customer–agent coproduction through threatening service agents’ efficacy needs when the agents experience low servicing empowerment; (2) coworker ostracismenhancescustomers’ perceived relational value in coproduction through threatening service agents’ relational needs when they expect a long-term relationship with customers; and (3) customers’ perceived control and relational values increase their perceived service performance, and customer relational value also increases the amount of purchases. Our findings reveal that service agents’ workplace ostracism may actually help or harm customers’ service perceptions, depending on thesourceof ostracism. The results provide significant implications for how organizations can better manage employees’ perceived ostracism in the workplace and strategically improve customers’ experience in service coproduction with excluded agents.

Keywords

Workplace ostracism, Efficacy and relational needs, Customer service perceptions, Customer coproduction, Customer control and relational values

Enable JavaScript for citation tools and additional paper interactions.