The impact of customer incivility and verbal aggression on service providers: A systematic review

BACKGROUND:Working in direct contact with the public may involve psycho-social hazards for employees who are frequently exposed to rude or verbally aggressive customers. Negative encounters may undermine employees’ well-being and job performance, impairing the quality of the service provided with tangible costs for organizations. OBJECTIVE:The paper provides a systematic review of research on customer incivility and verbal aggression in service settings using the following framework 1) antecedents of customer misbehavior as reflected in worker perceptions, customer reasons and environmental factors; 2) maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies used by service providers in response to customer incivility and verbal aggression; 3) effects of customer incivility and verbal aggression on service providers’ well-being and work-related outcomes; and 4) practical implications for the management. We present a model of the relationships between these four areas. METHODS:A systematic review was conducted using PsychINFO and Scopus. RESULTS:Fifty-three papers (20 pertaining to customer incivility and 33 pertaining to customer verbal aggression) were included. CONCLUSION:Both customer incivility and verbal aggression may impair employees’ well-being and job outcomes. Current gaps, practical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.