How and when does customer mistreatment occur? Testing the predictive effect of future focus through construal-level theory

Purpose The question of when and how customer mistreatment occurs remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of future focus among hospitality employees on their high-level construal and subsequent perception of customer mistreatment based on construal level theory. Additionally, this study aims to test daily work meaningfulness as a key boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach This study involved a ten-day daily diary research with hospitality employees. In the first stage, hospitality employees completed measures of future focus and provided demographic information. During the subsequent two-week period, participants completed questionnaires twice daily, measuring their daily construal level, perceived daily customer mistreatment and perceived daily work meaningfulness. The final sample comprised 88 hospitality employees, with a total of 841 surveys. Findings Hospitality employees’ future focus increased their daily high-level construal, which, in turn, enabled them to perceive more daily customer mistreatment. Moreover, daily work meaningfulness weakened the direct relationship between daily high-level construal and daily customer mistreatment as well as the indirect relationship via daily construal level. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that fostering employees’ future focus and enhancing daily work meaningfulness may reduce the negative impact of customer mistreatment, offering actionable strategies for service organizations. Originality/value This research provides a novel perspective to understand how employees perceive customer mistreatment by testing the predictive role of hospitality employees’ future focus and sheds light on the cognitive aspects of customer mistreatment as the underlying mechanism. Furthermore, this research provides effective guidance for mitigating or reducing employees’ perception of customer mistreatment.