Customer-focused voice and rule-breaking in the frontlines

Gabriel Gazzoli (), Nawar N. Chaker (), Alex R. Zablah () and Tom J. Brown ()
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Gabriel Gazzoli: New Mexico State University College of Business
Nawar N. Chaker: E.J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University
Alex R. Zablah: University of Tennessee
Tom J. Brown: Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2022, vol. 50, issue 2, No 9, 388-409

Abstract: Abstract Customer-oriented frontline employees are motivated by a strong desire to help customers. While such motivation enhances customer outcomes, it can also encourage frontline employees to engage in customer-directed prosocial behaviors that undermine organizational norms. We consider such a possibility and find that: (1) in their quest to satisfy customers’ needs, customer-oriented employees engage in customer-focused voice and/or pro-customer rule breaking, (2) the extent to which employees perform these behaviors depends on whether they identify with the organization or customers, (3) customer-focused voice enhances while pro-customer rule breaking hinders role performance, (4) the net performance consequences of a customer orientation can be positive or negative, and (5) various contingency factors determine whether rule breaking results in lower performance ratings from supervisors. These findings offer evidence of a customer orientation dark side and, paradoxically, underscore that internally focused marketing efforts are critical for a customer orientation to enhance frontline employee performance.

Keywords: Frontline employee customer orientation; Pro-customer rule breaking; Customer-focused voice; Identity theory; Role performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11747-021-00798-8

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