If Employees "Go the Extra Mile," Do Customers Reciprocate with Similar Behavior?

Abstract

This study proposes an integrated framework depicting the effects of two types of employee behavior (employee citizenship behavior and employee dysfunctional behavior) on customer satisfaction, which in turn, influences customer commitment. Customer satisfaction and commitment are then expected to affect two types of customer behavior (customer citizenship behavior and customer dysfunctional behavior). A survey of matched responses from 123 employees and 590 customers reveals that employee citizenship behavior, employee dysfunctional behavior, customer satisfaction, and customer commitment are important predictors of customer citizenship behavior and customer dysfunctional behavior. Furthermore, this study identifies variables (relationship age, group size, and communication frequency) that moderate the relationships being considered. The results show that the effects of two types of employee behavior on customer satisfaction are stronger when relationship age and communication frequency are higher. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.