The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of reprimanding mistreating customers as a solution to mitigate the negative effects of customer mistreatment on frontline employees’ well-being. While previous research has focused on employee responses to mistreatment, there has been limited attention to what organizations can do to directly address customer mistreatment.
This paper presents two studies. Study 1 is a qualitative investigation based on in-depth interviews with employees and managers, aimed at gaining initial insights into the effectiveness of customer reprimands. Study 2 is an experimental study that tests the causal impact of customer reprimands on employee and bystander satisfaction, examining whether this relationship is mediated by deontic justice.
Study 1 offers initial evidence for the effectiveness of a customer reprimand and identifies several antecedents (organizational, individual and situational factors) and reprimand characteristics (linguistic style, severity and communication mode) that seem to influence this effectiveness. Study 2 provides causal support for the effect of reprimanding a mistreating customer, executed by a manager, on employees’ and bystanders’ deontic justice and satisfaction.
This paper offers a novel approach to addressing customer mistreatment directly through reprimands, a topic that has been underexplored in the literature. It contributes valuable insights on the potential of reprimands as an intervention for organizations to support their frontline employees.
