A little gratitude goes a long way: how customer gratitude promotes employee customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior

Purpose Drawing upon affective events theory and regulatory focus theory, the current study examines the relationship between customer gratitude and customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (customer-oriented OCB), and the mediating role of positive affect and the moderating role of trait promotion focus. Design/methodology/approach Three-wave time-lagged data from 674 nurses nested within 125 department supervisors was collected. Multilevel modeling and Monte Carlo simulation were performed using Mplus 7.1 software to test all hypotheses. Findings Customer gratitude was positively associated with nurses’ customer-oriented OCB, and the relationship was mediated by positive affect. Nurse trait promotion focus strengthened the positive relationship between patient gratitude and positive affect, such that the relationship was stronger for those with a higher level of trait promotion focus. Research limitations/implications This paper extends research on the effects of customer gratitude by extending our understanding of customer gratitude as a positive workplace event that can potentially promote employees’ positive behaviors toward customers, especially those with a stronger promotion focus. Originality/value This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between customer gratitude and employee customer-oriented OCB and uncover potential mechanisms to understand how this relationship unfolds and to whom this relationship is stronger. These findings can inform practices for service organizations.