Purpose Research on customer mistreatment typically studies service interactions as isolated incidents. This study aims to expand on the episodic approach by exploring the cumulative effects of negative customer interactions on frontline employees’ (FLEs) behaviour toward subsequent customers. Design/methodology/approach A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine this dynamic with a sample size of 114 participants. The Participants were exposed to a video vignette enacted by a trained actor in a restaurant setting. Findings The results indicate that mistreatment leads to displaced aggression through ego depletion. Self-monitoring and perspective-taking were also identified as significant moderators. This study deepens the understanding of customer mistreatment’s impact on employees and suggests strategies to mitigate its negative spillovers, providing actionable insights for improving organizational policies and training. Originality/value Extant literature on customer mistreatment has taken an episodic perspective in studying this phenomenon, treating each service interaction as discrete and independent of others. The present study adds value on how an instance of mistreatment may affect other customers, a phenomenon often ignored through the dominant episodic perspective. While the use of a laboratory vignette design may limit external generalizability, the findings provide controlled evidence of a regulatory mechanism underlying behavioural spillover in service interactions.
Bellamkonda et al. (Thu,) studied this question.