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Although the service-profit chain model has been studied widely, little is known about the processes and conditions of store-level relationship conflict to an increase or decrease in customer purchase behavior. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the cumulative effects of relationship conflict on changes in unit-level helping, the effect of salespeople's helping behavior on customer-oriented behavior (COB), and the subsequent impact on changes in customer purchase. To test these relationships, data points were collected from 1,523 salespeople observations and 13,005 customers across 116 pooled stores assessed in six waves over more than 6 years. The findings revealed that stores with a long history of low relationship conflict consistently displayed high helping behavior. Results show that helping growth depends on the degree of conflict intensity and asymmetry; the intensity of relationship conflict led to an increase in helping behavior when conflict asymmetry is high and to a decrease of such behaviors when conflict asymmetry is low. Results also showed that store-level helping behavior had a positive effect on COB, which in turn had a cumulative positive effect on changes in customer purchase behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety culture is a key feature between employees' job performance and organizational commitment. Hotel businesses are an important component of the service sector, and a customer-oriented approach in these businesses increases organizational performance. Therefore, the increased organizational commitment of employees plays an important role in the implementation of a customer-oriented approach. In this study, hotel safety culture, which is one of the important factors for business performance sustainability, is examined. In addition, the effect of hotel safety culture on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and customer-oriented behavior is examined. In this context, the research data were collected from the employees of 5-star hotels operating in Antalya and Doha through a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using PLS-SEM 4.0. As a result of the research, some significant effects were found between the variables in the hypothetical research model. Based on the results obtained, theoretically, in support of the studies in the literature, a positive relationship was found between perceived safety culture and employees' job performance. Accordingly, as practical suggestions, it is recommended that hotel managers take measures to increase the safety culture (staff training, increasing physical measures, making warning signs visible, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal marketing has been developed in various forms in all types of organizations. Mainly, internal marketing has been studied as a motivational strategy in service companies. Goods manufacturing industries have not benefited much from the use of internal marketing in strengthening employees’ extra-role behaviors. Customer orientation is one of the extra-role behaviors of employees, which in turn is the source of value for internal and external customers. When we follow the internal process segmentation approach, the organization is divided into a set of internal suppliers and internal customers. In this case, it becomes important to study the customer-oriented behavior of employees in the exchanges within the organization. To ensure the implementation of internal marketing in manufacturing organizations, in a way that best meets the needs of these organizations, it was necessary to conduct a study specific to manufacturing industries; a study that included the identification of internal marketing components with a customeroriented approach. The purpose of the current research was to identify and introduce the dimensions of internal marketing with a customer-oriented approach of employees in manufacturing industries. This is sequential mixed research in the inductive paradigm that was conducted in qualitative-quantitative phases. Its purpose is practical and its nature is exploratory. The data collection of the qualitative phase was carried out during semi-structured interviews that continued until theoretical saturation, and finally 15 experts and managers of manufacturing industries and university professors in the field of management participated in it. Qualitative phase analysis was done with them analysis approach using MAXQDA software. In the quantitative part, the fuzzy Delphi questionnaire was used to reach the consensus of the expert group on the dimensions identified in the qualitative phase. The results indicate the extraction of internal marketing dimensions with a customer-oriented approach in comprehensive themes (individual factors of employees and managers, organizational factors, motivational factors) and in 9 organizational themes, 1- Demographic characteristics 2- Organizational citizenship behavior of employees and managers 3- Managers’ support 4- Internal communication 5- participatory management 6- Promotion of customer-oriented culture 7- Employee job security 8- Job satisfaction 9- Appreciation and 44 basic themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of meaning, competence, and self-determination on customer-oriented behavior (COB) among hospitality internship students in Indonesia with a particular emphasis on the mediating roles of deep acting and surface acting. The research investigates the contextual role of the sense of purpose that contributes to the relationship between surface acting and deep acting in customer-oriented behavior using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. The data was collected from hospitality internship students who were engaged in internship programs at 4- and 5-star hotels in Indonesia through the implementation of an online questionnaire. The findings indicate that the variables of meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact exhibit a positive effect on deep acting, subsequently resulting in the generation of customer-oriented behavior. The study also found that surface-acting and customer-oriented behavior negatively impact these variables, except for competence. The study suggests that implementing empowerment can be used to reduce false-positive workplace attitudes and promote originality and authenticity. This framework can be used by academic institutions and the hospitality industry to prepare internship students who will succeed in their studies and contribute to the hotel where they intern.

Using the job demands-resources model, this research explores the effects of emotional intelligence (EI) on customer-oriented behavior (COB) among frontline restaurant employees, with a focus on the mediating role of work engagement (WE) in the EI-COB relationship. The study also examines the moderating effects of customer-oriented attitude (COA) between EI and WE and on the mediated relationship. Data from 228 frontline restaurant employees were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro models 4 and 7. The results reveal a positive impact of EI on COB, with WE as a mediator. Moreover, COA strengthens the positive relationships between EI and WE, as well as the indirect effects of EI on COB through WE. This study simultaneously investigates both attitudinal and behavioral aspects of customer orientation, providing valuable theoretical and practical implications for restaurant employees, and laying the foundation for future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to contribute to the literature in professional services by offering a validated instrument that measures role-based image, followed by exploring how role-based image discrepancy affects client loyalty and the boundary conditions that attenuate this relationship. The moderated mediation model from this study examined professional trustworthiness as a mediator; perceived professional authenticity and customer-oriented behaviors were moderators. The target population for this study comprises professionals and clients. Survey data were collected from 347 professionals and 367 clients. Results showed that the discrepancy in role-based image of professional work role between professionals and clients is associated with reduced clients' perceived professional trustworthiness, which negatively affects client loyalty. In addition, the findings of this research also suggested that professionals can attenuate this detrimental effect by demonstrating a higher level of authenticity and customer-oriented behavior during their interactions with clients. Underpinned by the perspective of role-based image and relational exchange, this work is among the first to simultaneously investigate the mediating processes and boundary conditions for the effects of role-based image discrepancy on client loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the specific pathways through which mindfulness influences task performance, focusing on the sequential mediating roles of psychological resilience, customer-oriented behavior, and deep acting. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze data collected from 359 employees in the service industry in Korea. The results confirm that mindfulness has a significant direct and indirect relationship with task performance. Improved resilience through mindfulness can be the basis for fostering customer-oriented behavior and deep acting, which sequentially enhance task performance. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of how mindfulness leads to improvements in task performance and highlights the significance of mindfulness for both customers and service employees. It also expands the existing knowledge of mindfulness by empirically integrating resilience, customer-oriented behavior, and deep acting, which have not been extensively studied in mindfulness research. The findings have practical implications from a managerial perspective, emphasizing the importance of mindfulness resources in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature overemphasizes the negative effects of customer incivility on service employees. However, the positive effects of customer incivility on employee behavior are rarely mentioned. Drawing on affective events theory and attribution theory, we used a moderated dual-mediator causal model to explore the effect of customer incivility on employees' revenge behavior and customer-oriented behavior through hostility and guilt, and the moderating role of customer blame attribution. An empirical study with a sample of 366 employee-supervisor pairs and two-wave, two-source data indicated that customer incivility positively impacts revenge behavior via employees' hostility, and this relationship is reinforced by customer blame attribution. In contrast, customer incivility positively impacts customer oriented behavior via employees' guilt, and this relationship is weakened by customer blame attribution. This study expanded the literature on customer incivility and emotion, and provided significant practical implications for organization on how to help frontline employees deal with customer incivility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salespersons’ customer orientation has attracted considerable attention from practitioners and researchers. By distinguishing customer-oriented attitude from behavior, this study sheds light on customers’ perceptions of salespersons’ empathy, as a missing link between customer orientation and customer-related outcomes. Noting the increasing age diversity among salespersons and customers, this study also investigates whether age differences in salesperson–customer dyads moderate the relationships of salespersons’ customer-oriented attitude and behavior with customer outcomes. Finally, this study examines salespersons’ climate perceptions as antecedents of their customer-oriented attitudes. Results of multilevel modeling with data from 164 salespersons and 405 customers reveal that salesperson empathy, as perceived by customers, is an important facilitator of the customer orientation–satisfaction relationship. When there are large age differences, salespersons’ customer-oriented attitude becomes more important for making customers feel understood by salespersons. Regarding antecedents, salespersons’ customer-oriented attitude is influenced by their perceptions of team-member exchange and age-inclusive climate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research examines the three-component structure of the concept internal market orientation (IMO) and investigates its impact on frontliners’ organizational commitment (OC) and customer-oriented behavior (COB) in the context of airport service in Vietnam. Based on a sample of 294 frontliners working in various airports, SEM analysis reveals that IMO has a strong impact on OC. It also has direct and indirect impacts on COB. Moreover, the empirical result supports the component structure of IMO. It is, therefore, suggested that IMO is powerful to enhance both internal employee management and external marketing performance in the research context.

Purpose: To explore the effect of internal marketing on customer orientation behavior of librarians with mediation of attachment and emotional commitment in public libraries. Method: 135 librarians, selected by random cluster sampling completed four questionnaires including: 1) internal marketing questionnaire, 2) Customer-oriented behavior, 3) job attachment and emotional commitment. The data was analyzed using structural equation analysis with AMOS and PLS software. Findings: Firstly, the findings showed that the model has a good fit. Secondly, the results showed that internal marketing has a significant effect on customer oriented behavior. Internal marketing also affects job attachment and emotional commitment. Job attachment and emotional commitment also have a significant effect on customer oriented behavior, Finally, job attachment has a positive and significant effect on emotional commitment. Originality / Value: The merit of this research is the ability of proposing a model to simultaneously assess the internal marketing variables, occupational attachment, emotional commitment, and customer oriented behavior that have not yet been included in a model. Public libraries also have to be committed to human resources according to their vision.

While previous studies have demonstrated that organizational pride (OP) enhances frontline employees' customer-oriented behavior (COB), they have neglected to address the dynamics of the relationship. This research helps close this gap by elaborating on a theory of spirals positing that the extent of COB depends not only on current levels of OP but also on the direction and rate of OP change. In addition, the authors challenge the prevalent view that OP affects COB unidirectionally, instead predicting reciprocal loops. Hence, they propose that increases in OP repeatedly amplify COB and trigger an upward spiral, whereas decreases trigger a downward spiral. The results of a six-wave panel study support these predictions. Furthermore, the authors identify lower and upper boundaries of the spiral: while a certain threshold of OP is required to create momentum, the effects of further increases in the same variables diminish at high levels of OP and COB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship of a firm's customer orientations, salesperson customer-oriented behavior and customer intimacy with customer commitment. For the purpose of this study, the interpersonal relationship marketing model and the interpersonal attraction investment model are employed to propose the conceptual model. The conceptual model suggests that (1) firm's customer orientation positively influences the salesperson customer-oriented behavior; (2) salesperson customer-oriented behavior positively influences the customer intimacy; (3) customer-oriented behavior positively mediates between customer orientation and customer intimacy; and (4) customer intimacy acts a positive mediator between the salesperson customer-oriented behavior and customer commitment. Through the course of this study, the proposed conceptual models were tested with the data collected from the firm and customer dyads. Moreover, the data is collected from the food sector of Pakistan. Furthermore, the Smart-PLS is used to test the standardized dyadic data sets. Results have provided substantial support for the proposed conceptual model. There is strong support for the salesperson customer-oriented behavior, and customer intimacy as mediator. Additionally, the results validate the interpersonal relationship marketing model and the Rusbult investment model as well. From a managerial perspective, this study can help organizational policy makers to understand the importance of salesperson behavior, and customer emotions for a long-term relationship with the targeted customer of the specific firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the significance of frontline employees increases in the foodservice industry, organizations are paying more attention to internal marketing and customer-oriented behavior for the success of their business. Thus, this study surveys restaurant employees to investigate the impact of development and rewards on job satisfaction and customer-oriented behavior from the perspective of restaurant employees. This study not only supports aspects of previous literature, but also proposes a testable and parsimonious research model by exploring development, rewards, job satisfaction, and customer-oriented behavior simultaneously and revealing how those factors are correlated. Finally, limitations and future research directions are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Background: Healthcare is a profession that requires a high level of emotional labor (EL). Nurses provide frontline services in hospitals and thus typically experience high levels of EL. The quality of services that nurses provide impacts on how patients evaluate the service quality of hospitals. Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore the relationships among EL, job involvement (JI), and customer-oriented behavior (COB) in the context of the nursing profession. Methods: The participants in this study were nurses at eight hospitals, all located in Taiwan. This study used a self-reporting questionnaire. Research data were gathered at two discrete periods (A and B). Questionnaire A collected data on EL and JI, and Questionnaire B collected data on COB. Five hundred questionnaires were sent out to qualified participants, and 472 valid questionnaires were returned. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Results: The expression of positive emotion (EPE) and the suppression of negative emotion (SNE) were found to positively affect the patient-oriented COB. Furthermore, the EPE was found to positively affect the task-oriented COB. In terms of the moderating effect of JI, JI was found to relate positively to the EPE, patient-oriented COB, and task-oriented COB. In addition, higher values of JI were found to weaken the relationship between the SNE and the task-oriented COB. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: It has become an increasingly popular practice for hospital organizations to work to promote the COB of their nursing staffs. The results of this study prove empirically that a relationship exists among EL, COB, and JI in nurses. This study contributes to the related literature, enhances the knowledge of hospital and nursing administrators with regard to EL and COB, and offers a reference for hospital managers who are responsible for designing and executing multidisciplinary programs and for managing hospital-based human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Front-line employee (FLE) attitudes and behaviors while interacting with consumers largely determine the success or failure of service organizations. To better understand how this happens, this research moves beyond the oversimplified argument that managers either must hire or specifically train for workers to be customer oriented and to perform customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). A third path is proposed and empirically explored that suggests managers use work design to influence FLEs at work motivation to perform COBs. Specific work design levers managers can employ – manager support and serial/investiture socialization – are shown to impact FLE organizational commitment and role clarity with customers. Through these individual internal processes service organizations motivate front-line workers to perform desired COBs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Customer-oriented behavior is an important approach by the organization in order to achieve higher quality service. Recently, many companies have started to enhance customer-oriented behavior on their employee especially frontline employees in various industries namely insurance, logistic, banking and healthcare. However, previous literature provides limited discussion on the relationship between customeroriented behavior (COB) and other variables such as affective commitment and job satisfaction especially in the Malaysian healthcare context. Aim: The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual analysis of the relationship between job satisfaction, customer-oriented behavior and affective commitment among the nurses in Malaysian context. This paper applies the Affect Theory of Social Exchange and Self Determination Theory to examine the relationship between the study variables. Results: This conceptual analysis proposes that individuals who possess high level of job satisfaction will demonstrate high level of customer-oriented behavior. On the contrary individuals who possess low level of job satisfaction will demonstrate low level of customer-oriented behavior. In addition, those individuals who are strong in affective commitment will have positive outcomes on job satisfaction and exhibiting better customeroriented behavior. Research Implications: This paper attempts to introduce affective commitment as a moderator on the relationship between job satisfaction and customer-oriented behavior. The outcome of this study may guide future empirical study in various healthcare centers such as public clinics, community clinics and dental clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to examine the mechanism of action of ethical leadership by testing the direct and indirect effects of ethical leadership on employee work outcomes (i.e. individual job satisfaction, work engagement and customer-oriented behavior) and the moderating effects of group job satisfaction on the relationship between ethical leadership and its consequences. Design/methodology/approach – A hierarchical linear model is used. The valid sample is composed of 285 front-line service personnel in 56 work groups from five hotels and five golf clubs in South China. Findings – Results indicate that group job satisfaction has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between ethical leadership and employee work engagement. That is, compared with that in groups with high job satisfaction, the relationship between ethical leadership and employee work engagement is significantly more positive in groups with low job satisfaction. Employee work attitudes (including individual job satisfaction and work engagement) mediate the effect of ethical leadership on employee customer-oriented behavior. Research limitations/implications – The main limitations are as follows. First, some of the reported relationships may be affected by common method bias, as our study collected data from a single source. Second, whether the findings can be generalized to other industries in other countries remains unknown. Third, as the current study is based on a cross-sectional design, establishing causality is difficult among the study variables. Practical implications – The findings show that the managers in hospitality and tourism companies should adopt ethical leadership to enhance employee customer-oriented behavior by improving positive work attitudes. At the same time, hospitality and tourism companies should improve group job satisfaction as a substitute for ethical leadership in the absence of ethical leadership. Originality/value – A key contribution of this research is demonstrating how and when the effects of ethical leadership occur by analyzing the mediating and moderating effects in the same study. This study systematically examines the mediating effect of employee work attitudes on the influence of ethical leadership on employee work behavior and discusses the moderating effect of the group-level variable. The findings extend ethical leadership theory and make a contribution to the existing research on discussing the substitutes for the leadership model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant research provides valuable knowledge about how firms can satisfy their customers. However, it is unclear how customers themselves contribute to their satisfaction. From a basis in the job demands-resources model, the authors propose a customer demands-resources model. In this model, customer demands (negative customer behaviors) and customer resources (positive customer behaviors) affect customer satisfaction through frontline employees' customer-oriented attitudes and customer-oriented behaviors. Using dyadic data from 141 frontline employees and 375 customers, this study identifies customer behaviors as an important source of customer satisfaction. Customer demands impede frontline employees' customer-oriented attitudes and customer satisfaction through frontline employees' emotional exhaustion, whereas customer resources indirectly increase customer satisfaction. Customer resources also buffer the negative effect of customer demands on frontline employees' customer-oriented attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Most studies on internal marketing and customer-oriented behavior have not examined the correlation of these factors with emotional labor, and there are even fewer papers focusing on this subject with respect to airlines in particular. Thus, this study is to include flight attendants' emotional labor in the model and test its mediating effect between internal marketing and customer-oriented behavior. This study treats two measures of internal marketing as antecedent variables and treats surface acting and deep acting in emotional labor as mediators to construct a model of customer-oriented behavior. A survey of flight attendants from six airlines was conducted, and the research validated the model by SEM, demonstrating that internal marketing significantly and positively influences customer-oriented behavior. In the analysis of the mediating effects of emotional labor, surface acting and deep acting show a partially significant mediating effect on the “relationship between value of needs and customer-oriented behavior”. However, surface acting and deep acting show a more significant mediating effect on the “relationship between authorized autonomy and customer-oriented behavior”. Finally, this study proposes managerial implications and suggestions for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many studies have argued and successfully verified the positive effects of leader-member exchange on organizational citizenship behaviors, using justice theory. However, we argue that accountability theory provides a prospective view of an employee's organizational citizenship behaviors in a given leader-member exchange relationship, while justice theory provides a retrospective view. In addition, we contend that the employee's customer-oriented behaviors should be treated as a type of organizational citizenship behaviors directed to customers. Based on responses from 256 service employees in 54 full-service restaurants in a metropolitan city in Korea, we show the positive effects of two dimensions of leader-member exchange on two types of organizational citizenship behaviors and customer-oriented behaviors, using multivariate analysis of variance. The new approach to understanding the relationship between leader-member exchange and organizational citizenship behaviors provides valuable insights to academic researchers as well as industry practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]