The conventional wisdom in service and organizational frontline research suggests that if a firm treats employees well, its employees will treat customers well. Combining survey data of current frontline employees (FLEs) with experimental data, our research suggests that, in addition to this “trickle-out effect,” there is also a “trickle-in effect,” wherein the exchange quality of the customer–organization interface may inversely influence that of the employee–organization interface. As boundary-spanners, FLEs may feel betrayed when they perceive organizational injustice toward customers by their firms. This effect is mediated by role conflict. This is because organizational injustice toward customers often prevents FLEs from fulfilling their dual role expectations of serving both organizations and external customers. Other times, these policies may be inherently incompatible with FLEs’ own job expectations. Intensified inter- and intrarole conflict could, in turn, lead to FLEs’ feelings of betrayal and contract violation. In addition, we found that the mediating effect of role conflict is simultaneously moderated by both organizational and customer identification. Only when FLEs hold strong identification with both parties are the negative consequences of organizational injustice toward customers carried through role conflict.
AhearneMichaelHaumannTillKrausFlorianWiesekeJan (2013), “It’s a Matter of Congruence: How Interpersonal Identification Between Sales Managers and Salespersons Shapes Sales Success,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41 (6), 625-48.
2.
AmbroseMaureen L.SchminkeMarshall (2009), “The Role of Overall Justice Judgments in Organizational Justice Research: A Test of Mediation,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 94 (2), 491-500.
3.
AmbroseMaureen L.TaylorRachelHessRonald L.Jr (2015), “Can I Help You? Employee Prosocial Rule Breaking as a Response to Organizational Mistreatment of Customers,” in Mistreatment in Organizations (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being), Vol. 13, Pamela L. Perrewé, Jonathon R. B. Halbesleben and Christopher C. Rosen, eds. Leeds: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 1-31.
4.
AnazaNwamaka A.RutherfordBrian (2012), “How Organizational and Employee-Customer Identification, and Customer Orientation Affect Job Engagement,” Journal of Service Management, 23 (5), 616-39.
5.
AndersonJames C.GerbingDavid W. (1988), “Structural Equation Modeling in Practice: A Review and Recommended Two-Step Approach,” Psychological Bulletin, 103 (3), 411-23.
6.
AndersonEugene W.MittalVikas (2000), “Strengthening the Satisfaction-Profit Chain,” Journal of Service Research, 3 (2), 107-20.
7.
ArndtAaronArnoldTodd J.LandryTimothy D. (2006), “The Effects of Polychronic-Orientation Upon Retail Employee Satisfaction and Turnover,” Journal of Retailing, 82 (4), 319-30.
8.
AshforthBlake E.MaelFred (1989), “Social Identity Theory and the Organization,” Academy of Management Review, 14 (1), 20-39.
9.
BarnesJohn W.JacksonDonald W.JrHuttMichael D.KumarAjith (2006), “The Role of Culture Strength in Shaping Sales Force Outcomes,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 26 (3), 255-70.
10.
BatesonJohn E. (1999), Managing Services Marketing: Text and Readings. Fort Worth, TX: Dryden Press.
11.
BatsonC. Daniel (1991), The Altruism Question: Toward a Social-Psychological Answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
12.
BeelerLisa L.ChakerNada N.GalaPravinZablahAlex R. (2020), “The Divergent Effects of Organizational Identification on Salesperson and Customer Outcomes in a Friend-Selling Context,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 40 (2), 95-113.
13.
BettencourtLance A.BrownStephen W. (1997), “Contact Employees: Relationships Among Workplace Fairness, Job Satisfaction and Prosocial Service Behaviors,” Journal of Retailing, 73 (1), 39-61.
14.
ColquittJason A.ConlonDonald E.WessonMichael J.PorterChristopher O. L. H.NgK. Yee (2001), “Justice at the Millennium: A Meta-Analytic Review of 25 Years of Organizational Justice Research,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 86 (3), 425-45.
15.
DhananiLindsay Y.LaPalmeMathew L. (2019), “It’s Not Personal: A Review and Theoretical Integration of Research on Vicarious Workplace Mistreatment,” Journal of Management, 45 (6), 2322-51.
16.
DunfordBenjamin B.JacksonChristy L.BossAlan D.TayLouisBossR. Wayne (2015), “Be Fair, Your Employees Are Watching: A Relational Response Model of External Third-Party Justice,” Personnel Psychology, 68 (2), 319-52.
17.
EisenbergNancy (2000), “Emotion, Regulation, and Moral Development,” Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665-97.
18.
EvansJoel M.AndersonJenniferGillilandStephen (2018), “Misleading by Example: The Effects of a Manager’s Unfair Customer Treatment on Service Employee Performance and Trust,” Social Justice Research, 31, 260-89.
19.
EvansJoel M.GillilandStephenAndersonJennifer (2023), “Picking Sides: Relational Identification as a Moderator of Service Employee Reactions to Unfair Customer Treatment,” Journal of Business and Psychology, 38, 743-61.
20.
FolgerRobert (2001), “Fairness as Deonance,” in Research in Social Issues in Management, GillilandStephen W.SteinerDirk D.SkarlickiDaniel P., eds. Greenwich, CT: Information Age, 3-31.
21.
FornellClaesLarckerDavid F. (1981), “Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error: Algebra and Statistics,” Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (3), 382-88.
22.
GeorgeElizabethChattopadhyayPrithviraj (2005), “One Foot in Each Camp: The Dual Identification of Contract Workers,” Administrative Science Quarterly, 50 (1), 68-99.
23.
GilboaSimonaShiromArieFriedYehudaCooperCary (2008), “A Meta-Analysis of Work Demand Stressors and Job Performance: Examining Main and Moderating Effects,” Personnel Psychology, 61 (2), 227-71.
24.
GongTaeshikSunPengchangKangMin Jung (2022), “Customer-Oriented Constructive Deviance as a Reaction to Organizational Injustice Towards Customers,” Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 63 (1), 119-35.
25.
GuoLinGruenThomas W.TangChuanyi (2017), “Seeing Relationships through the Lens of Psychological Contracts: The Structure of Consumer Service Relationships,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45, 357-76.
26.
HartlineMichael D.FerrellO. C. (1996), “The Management of Customer-Contact Service Employees: An Empirical Investigation,” Journal of Marketing, 60 (4), 52-70.
27.
HayesAndrew F. (2013), Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
28.
HoViolet T. (2005), “Social Influence on Evaluations of Psychological Contract Fulfillment,” of Management Review, 30 (1), 113-28.
29.
HogreveJensIsekeAnjaDerfussKlaus (2022), “The Service-Profit Chain: Reflections, Revisions, and Reimaginations,” Journal of Service Research, 25 (3), 460-77.
30.
KahnRobert L.WolfeDonald M.QuinnRobert P.SnoekJ. DiedrickRosenthalRobert A. (1964), Organizational Stress: Studies in Role Conflict and Ambiguity. New York, NY: Wiley.
31.
LatackJames C. (1981), “Person/Role Conflict: Holland’s Model Extended to Role-Stress Research, Stress Management, and Career Development,” Academy of Management Review, 6 (1), 89-103.
32.
LawrenceJennifer M.ScheerLinda K.CreceliusAdam T.LamSiew K. (2021), “Salesperson Dual Agency in Price Negotiations,” Journal of Marketing, 85 (2), 89-109.
33.
LindEdward A.KrayLisaThompsonLeigh (1998), “The Social Construction of Injustice: Fairness Judgments in Response to Own and Others’ Unfair Treatment by Authorities,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 75 (1), 1-22.
34.
LindEdward A.TylerTom R. (1988), The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice. New York, NY: Plenum.
35.
MaelFred A.AshforthBlake E. (1995), “Loyal from Day One: Biodata, Organizational Identification, and Turnover Among Newcomers,” Personnel Psychology, 48 (2), 309-33.
36.
MarvelJohn D. (2017), “Not Seeing Eye to Eye on Frontline Work: Manager-Employee Disagreement and Its Effects on Employees,” Public Administration Review, 77 (6), 904-18.
37.
MastersonSuzanne S. (2001), “A Trickle-Down Model of Organizational Justice: Relating Employees’ and Customers’ Perceptions of and Reactions to Fairness,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 86 (4), 594-604.
38.
MichaelsRonald E.DayRalph L.JoachimsthalerErich A. (1987), “Role Stress among Industrial Buyers: An Integrative Model,” Journal of Marketing, 51 (2), 28-45.
39.
MorrisonElizabeth WolfeRobinsonSandra L. (1997), “When Employees Feel Betrayed: A Model of How Psychological Contract Violation Develops,” Academy of Management Review, 22 (1), 226-56.
40.
NunnallyJum C. (1978), Psychometric Methods, 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
41.
ReichersArnon E. (1985), “A Review and Reconceptualization of Organizational Commitment,” Academy of Management Review, 10 (3), 465-76.
42.
RizzoJohn R.HouseRichard J.LirtzmanSidney I. (1970), “Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Complex Organizations,” Administrative Science Quarterly, 15 (2) 150-63.
43.
RobinsonSandra L.MorrisonElizabeth Wolfe (2000), “The Development of Psychological Contract Breach and Violation: A Longitudinal Study,” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(5), 525-46.
44.
RousseauDenise M. (1989), “Psychological and Implied Contracts in Organizations,” Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2 (2), 121-39.
45.
RousseauDenise M.Wade-BenzoniKimberly A. (1994), “Linking Strategy and Human Resource Practices: How Employee and Customer Contracts Are Created,” Human Resource Management, 33 (3), 463-89.
46.
RuppDeborah E.CropanzanoRussell (2002), “The Mediating Effects of Social Exchange Relationships in Predicting Workplace Outcomes from Multifoci Organizational Justice,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 89 (1), 925-46.
47.
RuppDeborah E.ShaoRuodanThorntonMeghan A.SkarlickiDaniel P. (2013), “Applicants’ and Employees’ Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility: The Moderating Effects of First-Party Justice Perceptions and Moral Identity,” Personnel Psychology, 66 (4), 895-933.
48.
RuppDeborah E.SpencerSharmin (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), 971-8.
49.
SalancikGerald R.PfefferJeffrey (1978), “A Social Information Processing Approach to Job Attitudes and Task Design,” Administrative Science Quarterly, 23 (2), 224-53.
50.
SchepersJeroen J. L.NijssenEdwin J.van der HeijdenGielis A. H. (2016), “Innovation in the Frontline: Exploring the Relationship Between Role Conflict, Ideas for Improvement, and Employee Service Performance,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33 (4), 797-817.
51.
SchulerRandall S. (1975), “Role Perceptions, Satisfaction, and Performance: A Partial Reconciliation,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 60 (6), 683-7.
52.
SicilianoJames (2021), “Banks Can Prioritize Fair Treatment of Consumers,” The Wall Street Journal, January29. https://deloitte.wsj.com/cmo/banks-can-prioritize-fair-treatment-of-consumers-01611864132
53.
SkarlickiDaniel P.O’ReillyJaneKulikCarol T. (2015), “The Third-Party Perspective of (In)Justice,” in The Oxford Handbook of Justice in Work Organizations, CropanzanoRussellAmbroseMarie L., eds. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 235-55.
54.
SmithAmy K.BoltonRuth N.WagnerJanet (1999), “A Model of Customer Satisfaction with Service Encounters Involving Failure and Recovery,” Journal of Marketing Research, 36 (3), 356-72.
55.
SpillerStephen A.FitzsimonsGavan J.LynchJohn G.JrMcClellandGary H. (2013), “Spotlights, Floodlights, and the Magic Number Zero: Simple Effects Tests in Moderated Regression,” Journal of Marketing Research, 50 (2), 277-88.
56.
TajfelHenri E. (1978), Differentiation Between Social Groups: Studies in the Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. London, NY: Academic Press.
57.
TaoKungpoKarandeKiranArndtAaron D. (2016), “How Angry Customer Complaints Influence Salesperson Commitment to Service Quality,” Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 24 (3), 265-82.
58.
TekleabAmanuel G.TakeuchiRikiTaylorM. Susan (2005), “Extending the Chain of Relationships Among Organizational Justice, Social Exchange, and Employee Reactions: The Role of Contract Violations,” Academy of Management Journal, 48(1), 146-57.
59.
ThibautJohn W.WalkerLaurens (1975), Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
60.
Van den BosKeesLindE. Allan (2001), “The Psychology of Own Versus Others’ Treatment: Self-Oriented and Other-Oriented Effects on Perceptions of Procedural Justice,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27 (10), 1324-33.
61.
van JaarsveldDanielle D.WalkerDavid D.RestubogSimon Lloyd D.SkarlickiDaniel P.ChenYueyangFrickéPascale H. (2021), “Unpacking the Relationship Between Customer (In)Justice and Employee Turnover Outcomes: Can Fair Supervisor Treatment Reduce Employees’ Emotional Turmoil?” Journal of Service Research, 24(2), 301-19.
62.
VerbekeWillemDietzBartVerwaalErnst (2011), “Drivers of Sales Performance: A Contemporary Meta-Analysis. Have Salespeople Become Knowledge Brokers?” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39, 407-28.
63.
WilliamsLarry J.CoteJoseph A.BuckleyM. Ronald (1989), “Lack of Method Variance in Self-Reported Affect and Perceptions at Work: Reality or Artifact?” Journal of Applied Psychology, 74 (3), 462-8.
64.
WoDavid X. H.SchminkeMarshallAmbroseMaureen L. (2019), “Trickle-Down, Trickle-Out, Trickle-Up, Trickle-In, and Trickle-Around Effects: An Integrative Perspective on Indirect Social Influence Phenomena,” Journal of Management, 45 (6), 2263–92.
65.
YimChi KinTseDavid K.ChanKimmy Wa (2008), “Strengthening Customer Loyalty Through Intimacy and Passion: Roles of Customer–Firm Affection and Customer–Staff Relationships in Services,” Journal of Marketing Research, 45 (6), 741-56.
66.
ZablahAlex R.CarlsonBrad D.DonavanDavid T.MaxhamJames G.IIIBrownTom J. (2016), “A Cross-Lagged Test of the Association Between Customer Satisfaction and Employee Job Satisfaction in a Relational Context,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 101 (5), 743-55.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
