Is Customer Orientation of Employees Sustainable? A Moderated Mediation Analysis

Junya Cai, Taiwen Feng, Wenbo Jiang and Jiapei Li
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Junya Cai: School of Economic and Management, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Taiwen Feng: Business School, Shandong University (Weihai), Weihai 264209, China
Wenbo Jiang: School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Jiapei Li: School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: While existing literature has addressed the benefits of customer orientation, less is known about its negative outcomes. This study investigates the mediating effect of emotional dissonance on the relationship between customer orientation and unethical decision-making, and whether this mediating effect is moderated by occupation. A sample of 727 doctors and nurses from three Chinese hospitals completed anonymous questionnaires regarding customer orientation, emotional dissonance, and unethical decision-making. Our findings reveal that the positive relationship between customer orientation and unethical decision-making is fully mediated by emotional dissonance. Furthermore, the mediating effect of emotional dissonance is moderated by occupation, which suggests that the mediating effect of emotional dissonance is stronger for doctors. This study contributes to our understanding of how and for whom customer orientation results in unethical decision-making, and suggests the need to take occupation into account in preventing the negative outcomes of customer orientation.

Keywords: customer orientation; unethical decision-making; emotional dissonance; occupational differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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