An Examination of the Underlying Mechanisms of Customer Incivility: A Cognitive Approach

Customer incivility (CI) is a pervasive problem in service encounters and involves negative consequences for employees and organizational performance. While prior research has focused on the detrimental effects of CI, there is a limited understanding of its antecedents, especially from the customer perspective. To address this gap, this research examined the customer’s cognitive processes underlying CI. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, this research hypothesized that customer anger mediates the relationships between negative service experiences and CI and that confirmation bias, overconfidence, and social influence moderate the relationships. Using data from consumer surveys (Study 1) and TripAdvisor reviews (Study 2), findings show that conflict with employees is a key driver of CI, mediated by anger. Additionally, Study 1 found that confirmation bias and overconfidence moderate the effect of conflict on anger. Moreover, Study 2 showed that social-influence bias moderates the relationship between conflict and anger. These results have theoretical and practical implications for managing CI.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S., Hotel Administration

Level thesis:degree_level

Master of Science

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Hotel Administration

Grantor

Cornell University

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Kim, Skylar

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Shi, Yuan

• cognitive appraisal theory
• confirmation bias
• customer anger
• customer incivility
• overconfidence
• social influence

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7298/vqs1-2m06

Dc Identifier Other

ProQuest Submission ID: 11769
ProQuest Publication ID: 30486405

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/113901