The effects of deviant customer-oriented behaviors on service friendship: The moderating role of co-production

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to test the effects of deviant customer-oriented behaviors (deviant service adaptation, deviant service communication, and deviant use of resources) on the building of service friendship through customer-based indebtedness perception. Furthermore, this study empirically examines the moderating role of customer co-production in positively enhancing the effect of customer indebtedness on service friendship. Three hundred forty-five completed questionnaires were collected from retail bank customers in the Republic of Korea. Results showed the positive role of deviant customer-oriented behaviors as a type of relationship-building strategy for building commercial relationships with customer-contact employees from the customer's perspective. Additionally, our findings showed that when co-production is high, the indirect effects of deviant customer-oriented behaviors on service friendship are stronger, suggesting the importance of co-production in strengthening the service friendship. Considering the positive-rebound effect of deviant customer-oriented behaviors, service managers should recruit empathetic employees and allow them to take risks, within an acceptable range, during service-encounter behaviors. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd