Dysfunctional customer behavior and service employees tactics

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/1983465924984

Keywords:

Dysfunctional customer behavior, services, Customer orientation, Customer sovereignty

Abstract

Dysfunctional customer behavior has grown substantially and has inspired academic research. In this theoretical study, the authors point out that the promotion of the myth of customer sovereignty through the culture of customer orientation is considered to be one of the variables that trigger these behaviors. The frontline employee manages the interactions in services and seeks to serve clients, but within the limitations of the offers. The discrepancy between the customers’ desires and what he obtains causes disillusionment and potentially dysfunctional behavior. Through their experience, employees accumulate tacit knowledge that grounds their assessment of situations and their development of tactics. On the other hand, organizations do not consider the dysfunctional customer behavior nor the tacit knowledge that exists in the service team in their strategies and actions, eventually not making use of this knowledge that could mitigate such behaviors. This is a theoretical article aimed at opening space for the debate of the dysfunctional customer behavior and service employees’ tactics through a theoretical composition that supports propositions and a conceptual model, as well as the suggestion of a future empirical test.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Paloma Antonio, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Doutoranda na área de Marketing pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). Mestrado em Marketing Estratégico pela mesma instituição. Pós-graduada em Relações Internacionais pela Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM) e graduada em Administração pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) e em Comércio Exterior pela Instituição Educacional São Judas Tadeu (SJT). Tem experiência nas áreas de Administração de Empresas e Relações Internacionais, com ênfase em Comércio Internacional.

Lélis Balestrin Espartel, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Possui graduação em Administração pela UFRGS (1995), graduação em Engenharia Civil pela UFRGS (1990), mestrado em Administração pelo PPGA/UFRGS (1999) e doutorado em Administração pelo PPGA/UFRGS (2005). É professor da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul e professor convidado em diversas outras Universidades. Tem experiência na área de Administração, com ênfase em Marketing, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: comportamento do consumidor, varejo e lealdade de clientes.

Marcelo Gattermann Perin, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS

Possui graduação em Ciências da Computação pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (1985), graduação em Administração de Empresas pela Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (1988), mestrado em Ciências da Computação pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (1992), especialização em Marketing pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (1995) e doutorado em Administração pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (2002). Fez estágio pós-doutoral em Marketing na Universidad de Murcia (2009). Foi coordenador do Comitê de Assessoramento de área da FAPERGS. Atualmente é professor titular nos cursos de Mestrado e Doutorado do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, e coordenador do Comitê de Assessoramento de área do CNPq. Tem experiência na área de Administração, com ênfase em Marketing, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: orientações estratégicas, inovação, performance organizacional, e interação Universidade-Empresa.

References

ARGYRIS, C.; SCHÖN, D. Organizational Learning II: theory, method, and practice. Reading/Mass; Addison–Wesley, [s.l.], 1996.

BITNER, M. J.; BOOMS, B. H.; MOHR, L. A. Critical Service Encounters: The Employee’s Viewpoint. Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 58, n. 4, p. 95–106, 1994.

BUNDERSON, J.S.; SUTCLIFFE, K.M. Management team learning orientation and business unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, [s.l.], v. 88, n. 3, p.552–560, 2003.

CELUCH, K.G., KASOUF, C.J.; PERUVEMBA, V. The effects of perceived market and learning orientation on assessed organizational capabilities. Industrial Marketing Management, [s.l.], v. 31, n. 6, pp.545–554, 2002.

DAUNT, K. L.; HARRIS, L. C. Motives of dysfunctional customer behavior: an empirical study. Journal of Services Marketing, [s.l.], v. 26, n. 4, p. 293–308, 2012.

ECHEVERRI, P.; SALOMONSON, N.; ABERG, A. Dealing with customer misbehavior: Employees’ tactics, practical and implicit knowledge. Marketing Theory, [s.l.], v. 12, n. 4, p. 427–449, 9 dez. 2012.

FELLESSON, M; SALOMONSON, N.; ABERG, A. Troublesome travelers – the service system as a trigger of customer misbehavior. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, [s.l.], v. 5, n. 3, p. 256-274, 2013.

FISK, R.; GROVE, S.; HARRIS, L.C.; KEFFE, D.A.; DAUNT, K.L.; RUSSELL-BENNETT, R.; WIRTZ, J. Customers behaving badly: a state of the art review, research agenda and implications for practitioners. Journal of Services Marketing, [s.l.], v. 24, n. 6, p. 417–429, 2010.

FULLERTON, R. A.; PUNJ, G. Choosing to misbehave: a structural model of aberrant consumer behavior. Advances in Consumer Research, [s.l.], v. 20, p. 570–574, 1993.

FULLERTON, R. A.; PUNJ, G. Repercussions of promoting an ideology of consumption: consumer misbehavior. Journal of Business Research, [s.l.], v. 57, p. 1239– 1249, 2004.

GRANDEY, A.A.; DICKTER, D.N.; SIN, H-P. The customer is not always right: customer aggression and emotion regulation of service employees. Journal of Organizational Behavior, [s.l.], v. 25, p. 397-418, 2004.

GREER, D. A. Defective co-creation: developing a typology of consumer dysfunction in professional services. European Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 49, n. 1/2, p. 238-261, 2015.

GROVE, S.J.; VITELL, S.J.; STRUTTON, D. Non-normative consumer behavior and the techniques of neutralization. In: Proceedings of the 1989 AMA Winter Educators Conference. American Marketing Association, [s.l.], p. 135, 1989.

HARRIS, L. C. Service employees and customer phone rage: an empirical analysis. European Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 47, n. 3, p. 463–484, 2013.

HARRIS, L. C.; DAUNT, K. Managing customer misbehavior: challenges and strategies. Journal of Services Marketing, [s.l.], v. 27, n. 4, p. 281–293, 2013.

HARRIS, L. C.; REYNOLDS, K. L. Jaycustomer behavior: an exploration of types and motives in the hospitality industry. Journal of Services Marketing, [s.l.], v. 18, n. 5, p. 339–357, 2004.

HARRIS, L. C.; REYNOLDS, K. L. The Consequences of Dysfunctional Customer Behavior. Journal of Service Research, [s.l.], v. 6, n. 2, 2003.

JAWORSKI, B. J. Toward a Theory of Marketing Control: Environmental Context, Control Types, and Consequences. Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 52, p. 23–39, 1988.

KORCZYNSKI, M.; EVANS, C. Customer abuse to service workers: an analysis of its social creation within the service economy. Work, Employment & Society, [s.l.], v. 27, n. 5, p. 768–784, 25 jul. 2013.

KORCZYNSKI, M.; OTT, U. When Production and Consumption Meet: Cultural Contradictions and the Enchanting Myth of Customer Sovereignty. Journal of Management Studies, [s.l.], v. 41, n. 4, 2004.

LAM, S. K.; KRAUS, F; AHEARNE, M. The Diffusion of Market Orientation throughout the Organization: A Social Learning Theory Perspective. Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 74, n. 5, p. 61-79, 2010.

LOVELOCK, C.H. Services marketing: people, technology, strategy. Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 4.ed, 2001.

MARTOCCHIO, J.J.; HERTENSEIN, E.J. Learning orientation and goal orientation context: relationships with cognitive and affective learning outcomes. Human Resource Development Quarterly, [s.l.], v. 14, n. 4, p.413–434, 2003.

NARVER, J. C.; SLATER, S. F. The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability. Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 54, n. 4, p. 20–35, 1990.

REYNOLDS, K.L.; HARRIS, L.C. The Consequences of Dysfunctional Customer Behavior. Journal of Service Research, [s.l.], v. 6, n. 2, p. 144-161, 2003.

REYNOLDS, K.L.; HARRIS, L.C. Deviant customer behavior: an exploration of frontline employee tactics. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, [s.l.], v. 14, n. 2, p. 95-111, 2006.

REYNOLDS, K.L.; HARRIS, L.C. Dysfunctional customer behavior severity: an empirical examination. Journal of Retailing, [s.l.], v. 85, n. 3, p. 321-335, 2009.

SALOMONSON, N; FELLESSON, M. Publication: Tricks and tactics used against troublesome travelers—Frontline staff's experiences from Swedish buses and trains. Research in Transportation Business & Management, [s.l.], v. 10, p. 53–59, 2014.

SENGE, P. M. A Quinta Disciplina: arte, teoria e prática da organização de aprendizagem. São Paulo: Nova Cultural, 1990.

SINKULA, J. Market information processing and organizational learning. Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 58, n. 1, p. 35–45, 1994.

VARGO, S. L.; LUSCH, R. F. Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing. Journal of Marketing, [s.l.], v. 68, n. 1, p. 1–17, 2004.

VOSS, C.; ROTH, A.V.; ROSENZWEIG, E.D., BLACKMON, K.; CHASE, R.B. A tale of two countries’ conservatism, service quality, and feedback on customer satisfaction. Journal of Service Research, [s.l.], v. 6, n. 3, p. 212-230, 2004.

YAGIL, D. When the customer is wrong: A review of research on aggression and sexual harassment in service encounters. Aggression and Violent Behavior, [s.l.], v. 13, n. 2, p. 141–152, mar. 2008.

Downloads

Published

2019-07-08

How to Cite

Antonio, P., Espartel, L. B., & Perin, M. G. (2019). Dysfunctional customer behavior and service employees tactics. Revista De Administração Da UFSM, 12(2), 302–316. https://doi.org/10.5902/1983465924984

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2019): Apr-Jun

Section

Articles

License

Authors of articles published by ReA/UFSM retain the copyright of their works, licensing them under the Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0), which allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction, provided that the original work is properly cited.

Most read articles by the same author(s)