Necessary evil: a strategy to manage dysfunctional customer behavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and when used by employees influences witnessing customers’ willingness to spread positive word of mouth (WOM). Design/methodology/approach This research used a qualitative method to develop a typology of necessary evil using two pilot studies and an experimental study to test the theoretical model. Findings The results show that the necessary evil used by employees to manage dysfunctional customers positively influences witnessing customers’ perceptions of distributive, procedural and interactional justice and their subsequent deontic justice perceptions, resulting in their willingness to spread positive WOM. Moreover, the positive influence of necessary evil on witnessing customers’ responses is strengthened when dysfunctional customer behavior (DCB) targets another customer as opposed to an employee. Practical implications This research offers service providers a better understanding of how to manage DCBs. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing literature by introducing necessary evil to the service literature, proposing a new typology of employee response strategies to DCB based on necessary evil and examining how necessary evil drives positive customer responses. Additionally, it is among the first to examine the relationship between deontic justice and traditional justice mechanisms.