When customers become scapegoats: how negative gossip about organizational change can cause negative emotions and displaced aggression

Wenyi Cao is a PhD student at the School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Her research interests include organizational change, leadership and career development.

Lu Chen is a full professor of management at the School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. She is also a research fellow of China Academy of Corporate Governance, Nankai University. She received her PhD in management from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Her research interests include leadership, organizational change, creativity, and innovation. Her research has been published in journals such as Human Relations, International Journal of Human Resources Management, Applied Psychology, and Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.

Rong Tang is a master’s degree student at the School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Her research interests include human resource management, leadership and organizational change.

Dr Xinyuan Zhao is a professor at School of Liberal Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology. His research focuses on organizational behavior and human resource management in the tourism and hospitality industries.

Dr Anna S. Mattila is the Marriott Professor of Lodging Management at the School of Hospitality Management at Pennsylvania State University. She holds a Ph.D. in services marketing from Cornell University. Her research interests focus on service encounters, with particular interests in service recovery, corporate social responsibility, social media, and cross-cultural research. Her work has appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Services Management, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, and Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, among others. She has written numerous book chapters and currently serves on numerous editorial boards of journals specializing in services management.

Jun Liu is a professor at School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology. His research focuses on organizational behavior and human resource management.

Yan Qin is an undergraduate student at the School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Her research interests include human resource management, leadership and organizational change.