S. Douglas Pugh

SERVICE CLIMATE EFFECTS ON CUSTOMER ATTITUDES: AN EXAMINATION OF BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

Our aim in this study was to extend theory on service climate by examining two boundary conditions for the effects of service climate on customer attitudes. We hypothesized that (1) the more proxim...

After the fall: Layoff victims' trust and cynicism in re-employment

The relationship between an individuals psychological contract violation by a former employer and his or her attitudes toward a new employer was examined in a sample of lay off victims (N =141). Violation was negatively related to trust in the new employer, and positively related to employee cynicism. The degree that participants worried about being similarly mistreated by their new employer mediated the relationship between violation and both trust and cynicism.

Following Display Rules in Good or Bad Faith?: Customer Orientation as a Moderator of the Display Rule-Emotional Labor Relationship

Organizational display rules (e.g., “service with a smile”) have had mixed relationships with employee emotional labor—either in the form of “bad faith” surface acting (suppressing or faking expressions) or “good faith” deep acting (modifying inner feelings). We draw on the motivational perspective of emotional labor to argue that individual differences in customer orientation will directly and indirectly relate to these acting strategies in response to display rules. With a survey of more than 500 working adults in customer contact positions, and controlling for affective disposition, we find that customer orientation directly increases “good faith” acting while it moderates the relationship of display rules with “bad faith” acting.