Although many studies assume that customers monotonically act in both a functional and a good-mannered way during exchange, considerable anecdotal evidence suggests that customers routinely behave negatively and often disrupt otherwise functional encounters. However, to date, rigorous empirical evidence of this phenomenon is lacking. This study synthesizes extant literature from a broad range of areas and advances two alternative conceptions of the factors associated with dysfunctional customer behavior severity. That is, after controlling for a variety of factors, the authors suggest that psychological obstructionism, disaffection with service, and servicescape variables are significantly associated with the severity of deliberate dysfunctional customer acts. The results provide insights for researchers interested in the darker side of service dynamics and generate useful implications for services practitioners charged with reducing the severity and the frequency of episodes of deviant customer behavior.
The majority of research into customer–firm interactions is founded on the assumption that customers act in both a functional and a good-mannered way (e.g., Ringberg, Odekerken-Schröder, and Christensen 2007). This contrasts with practitioner-oriented research that repetitively alludes to customers behaving badly (e.g., Dube 2003) and with intermittent scholarly studies that typically highlight the prevalence of a single form of customer misbehavior, such as shoplifting (Kallis and Vanier 1985) and illegitimate complaining (Reynolds and Harris 2005).
Despite limited academic attention, the pervasiveness of customer dysfunction appears global. Focusing on one individual form of customer misbehavior, Grandey, Dickter, and Sin (2004) reveal that, on average, service employees within the United States fall victim to episodes of customer aggression ten times a day. These findings are comparable to that of a study conducted in the United Kingdom (USDAW 2004), which reveals that front-of-store assistants are subjected to verbal abuse once every 3.75 days, to threatening behavior every 15 days, and to acts of violence every 31 days. Moreover, Bamfield (2006) provides evidence of the ominous rise in thefts by consumers across several countries, including the Czech Republic, Japan, Iceland, and New Zealand. This leads Reynolds and Harris (2006) to argue that customer misbehavior is endemic within the service industry. Fullerton and Punj (2004) suggest that norm-violating behavior is pervasive and representative of everyday customer behavior, rather than constituting a segregate faction of society (see also Harris and Reynolds 2004).
The disparate focus on individual forms of dysfunctional customer behavior is detrimental to a broader understanding of these issues. Indeed, Fullerton and Punj (1993) argue that there is a need to elucidate the range of antecedents and to provide empirical insights into their dynamics. Thus, research that examines the factors associated with dysfunctional customer behavior is littered with calls for future studies to examine its antecedents more thoroughly (e.g., Al-Rafee and Cronan 2006). Fullerton and Punj, 1993 and Fullerton and Punj, 2004 stress the need for “better” data that captures a more inclusive investigative approach. Echoing this, Harris and Reynolds (2003) call for research to examine the antecedents of dysfunctional customer behavior more holistically.
The current research responds to these calls by investigating the factors associated with dysfunctional customer behavior severity, that is the extent to which a customer deliberately behaves in a way that violates the norms and unwritten rules of an individual service setting in a negative fashion. Our aim is to amalgamate previous insights and to examine empirically actual (as opposed to speculative) incidents of customer misbehavior.
In assuming a norm-breaking perspective, we draw on literature from diverse areas, including: sociology, psychology, criminology, ethics, environmental psychology, marketing, and employee deviance that offer insight into the constructs correlated with dysfunctional behavior. Synthesis of these literatures leads to the forwarding of three main constructs that associate with customer misbehavior severity: psychological obstructionism, disaffection with service, and servicescape variables. By integrating insights from wide-ranging literature streams and drawing on multiple theoretical bases, we develop and test our research model and a rival model. Specifically, our research model is founded upon the propositions of Bitner (1992) and Fullerton and Punj (1993). By contrast, our rival model is inspired by literature that approaches customer dysfunction in a linear and direct fashion (e.g., Phillips, Alexander, and Shaw 2005). Further details of which are explored in the later discussion.
The managerial relevance of this study is evident. Our model provides insights into customer dysfunction that may help managers reduce such behaviors. That is, we reveal that managers might manipulate many of the factors that associate with customer misbehavior. Our study is also of interest to marketing theorists. By drawing on diverse research areas, this paper makes a conceptual contribution in deepening the understanding of the factors that relate to customer misbehavior severity. Furthermore, this study makes a methodological contribution through the development and validation of multi-item scales. Finally, this study contributes to the theory of customer deviance by operationalizing and empirically examining conceptual frameworks that depict the constructs associated with dysfunctional customer behavior holistically.
