Customer incivility and emotional labor from the perspective of the transactional model of stress: mediation of customer orientation and moderation of interpersonal conflict

Purpose This study examines the effects of customer incivility on emotional labor through customer orientation and the moderating effects of conflict with supervisors or coworkers. This relationship can be explained using the transactional model of stress. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a two-wave survey of 222 flight attendants working for a South Korean airline. The Mplus macro was used to test the relationship between customer orientation (leading to emotional labor through customer orientation) and the moderating effects of conflict with supervisors or coworkers. Findings Higher levels of customer incivility were associated with lower customer orientation and deep acting. This relationship is moderated by conflicts with one’s supervisor. Originality/value This study focuses on employee conflict, which is underrepresented in service literature. Specifically, it examines the effects of customer incivility on emotional labor when employees experience internal conflict. The findings indicate that interpersonal conflict with one’s supervisor exacerbates the negative effects of customer incivility. The study shows that customer incivility reduces customer orientation and deep acting and, thus, provides insights into the importance of internal organizational conflict and customer interaction in managing service employees.