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The mechanism and boundary conditions of the relationship between customer incivility and service quality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2019

Cheng-Chen Lin Open the ORCID record for Cheng-Chen Lin [Opens in a new window]  and
Fong-Yi Lai Open the ORCID record for Fong-Yi Lai [Opens in a new window]
Cheng-Chen Lin
Affiliation:
Department of Business Administration, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan
Fong-Yi Lai*
Affiliation:
Department of Business Administration, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan
*
*Corresponding author: fylai@mail.npust.edu.tw
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Abstract

This study addresses the causal linkage between customer incivility and service quality through the lens of self-determination theory, according to which need satisfaction as a potential mechanism mediates this relationship. Additionally, it examines the moderating role of surface acting in the relationship between customer incivility and need satisfaction. Dyadic questionnaires were collected from restaurant employees and their customers in Taiwan. A total of 190 employees and 645 customers participated in this study. Results found that need satisfaction mediates the negative relationship between customer incivility and service quality. Surface acting moderates the relationship between customer incivility and need satisfaction as well as the mediation effect of customer incivility on service quality through need satisfaction. Specifically, the indirect effect of need satisfaction on the relation between customer incivility and service quality creativity was more significantly negative at a high level of surface acting than the effect at a low level.

Keywords

customer incivilityself-determination theoryneed satisfactionsurface actingservice quality
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , March 2020 , pp. 201 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

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